Latest news with #FMAP
The Hill
2 days ago
- Health
- The Hill
Trump's megabill hits more trouble as Senate conservatives demand changes
The Senate version of legislation to enact President Trump's agenda is hitting new turbulence as conservatives led by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are demanding deeper spending cuts to address the nation's $2.2 trillion annual deficit. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has focused this week on addressing the concerns of Senate GOP colleagues such as Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who raised alarms about cuts to federal Medicaid spending. But Thune has to worry about his right flank as Johnson and his allies are threatening to hold up the bill unless GOP leaders agree to deeper cuts to federal Medicaid spending and a faster rollback of the renewable energy tax credits enacted under former President Biden. Johnson, Lee and Scott are threatening to vote as a bloc against the bill next week unless it undergoes significant changes. Thune plans to bring the bill to the floor Wednesday or Thursday next week, but he may not have enough votes to proceed on the legislation, say Republican senators. 'There's no way I vote for this thing next week,' Johnson told reporters. 'I don't want to go the Nancy Pelosi route, 'You got to pass this bill to know what's in it,'' he added, referring to the Democratic Speaker emerita who represents California. Johnson noted that senators are taking a closer look at a proposal offered by Scott to significantly reduce the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), or the federal government's share of Medicaid spending, in states that expanded the program under former President Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA). Lee is pushing for a fuller phaseout of the renewable energy subsidies enacted by Democrats in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). 'Mike is handling the IRA provisions of this, Rick Scott is handling the Medicaid. You need to satisfy those two, too. All three of us have to be yes or none of us are yes,' Johnson said. Scott, who founded the Columbia Hospital Corp. and went on to run Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., one of the world's largest health care companies, wants to dramatically cut the 90 percent federal match for states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA. 'The focus should be on how do we take care of what Medicaid's original purpose was? It's children and the chronically ill,' he said. Scott argues that able-bodied low-income adults are drawing far too much of Medicaid spending in states that expanded the program, such as California and New York. 'Half the people, half the adults that are on Medicaid under the expanded FMAP are not working,' he said, adding that these people are not disabled. 'We're running $2 trillion deficits.' Scott says Medicaid shouldn't pay out more than Medicare and that states should not be eligible for expanded federal Medicaid payments for new enrollees after two years. He also wants to further crack down on states' use of health care provider taxes to increase their share of federal Medicaid spending. That sets up a fight next week with Senate Republican colleagues who have balked at the cuts to Medicaid spending unveiled Monday by Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). The current Senate bill would reduce the maximum permitted provider tax rate from 6 percent to 3.5 percent by 2031. The Florida senator said colleagues such as Hawley and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who are worried about limiting health care provider taxes, have a 'legitimate concern' about the fate of rural hospitals. But he argued that the high rate of Medicaid spending won't solve their problems. Collins has proposed a 'provider-relief fund' to the bill to help offset Medicaid cuts for rural hospitals, nursing homes and community health centers. Lee, the Utah Republican, meanwhile is calling for a more rapid and complete phaseout of renewable energy subsidies in the bill and for tougher language to keep tax benefits from going to immigrants who entered the country illegally. 'Green New Deal subsidies that don't terminate by 2028 will effectively become permanent. If you don't want them to be permanent, tell your senators!' Lee posted on social platform X. Language released Monday by the Senate Finance Committee would extend tax credits for hydropower, nuclear and geothermal energy into the 2030s. A faster and broader phaseout of clean energy subsidies would be opposed by Republican senators such as Murkowski, Jerry Moran (Kan.), John Curtis (Utah) and Thom Tillis (N.C.), who warn that a sudden termination of federal support would disrupt the renewable fuel industry, cost jobs and strand billions of dollars in investment. Yet Senate conservatives are ready for a showdown, arguing the deficit poses a major threat to the U.S. economy. 'The deficit will eat us alive if we don't get it under control. If not us, who? If not now, when?' Lee posted Thursday on X. Johnson said Trump promised to balance the budget but argued 'the bill before us does not do it' and will instead worsen deficits over the next decade. He said while the spending cuts in the legislation are 'the most spending reduction we've had ever,' the 'spending increase is unprecedented, 10 times more.' 'Look at the numbers,' he said. The Congressional Budget Office unveiled a new projection that the House-passed bill to enact Trump's agenda would add $3.4 trillion to the debt.
Axios
4 days ago
- Business
- Axios
House passes reconciliation bill
The House passed its budget reconciliation bill early Thursday morning after Republicans made a last-minute slate of changes to win the votes of conservative hardliners. Why it matters: The 215-214 vote advances a GOP policy agenda that includes Medicaid work requirements, a phaseout of IRA energy tax credits and a reauthorization of the FCC's spectrum auction authority. It came after President Trump pressured the holdouts to move the bill forward, giving House Speaker Mike Johnson just enough room to push it through with his razor-thin GOP majority. What's inside: The revised bill would start Medicaid work requirements faster than originally planned — moving up the start date to the end of 2026 — but doesn't contain the cuts to federal share of costs for the Medicaid expansion, or FMAP, that conservatives were seeking. It also includes a major change to the Affordable Care Act marketplaces that would have the effect of reducing the federal subsidies that defray premium costs. On energy, the amended bill would move up the end of the investment and production tax credits to phase them out for projects that come onto the grid after 2028. What they're saying: "A yes vote gets America's economy moving again, allows President Trump to continue fighting for the hard-working families," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said before the vote.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State plans to decrease its payments to the needy
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota Department of Social Services has announced its intention to cut by 10% the amount of welfare aid paid to several thousand households receiving public assistance. DSS will hold a public hearing on Friday, June 20, at 11:00 a.m. CT at state government's new One Stop Center at 1501 S. Highline Avenue in Sioux Falls. The number of South Dakota families receiving payments from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program varies month to month, according to DSS statistics. In April, the most recent month for which data was publicly reported, there were 2,487 families. That was down from a 12-month high of 2,567 in October. New Spring Creek owner shares golf course plans The department's proposed TANF cuts come at the same time that the Legislature gave state government employees a 1.25% pay raise that takes effect July 1. State aid to K-12 education and for health-care providers will rise 1.25% as well. DSS officials say the proposed cuts result from the Legislature reducing the department's general funding for the coming year by $5.3 million. Actually, then-Gov. Kristi Noem had recommended in her December budget proposal a $5,168,200 general-fund reduction for the economic assistance division in DSS that oversees TANF payments. The department, in turn, planned to use a similar additional amount of federal funds as an offset, according to page 20 of a presentation made on January 21 to the Legislature's Joint Committee on Appropriations. That presentation referred to the maneuver as 'Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Fund Swap.' The document made no mention of any proposed cut to TANF payments. The department's then-chief financial officer, Jason Simmons, didn't speak about it either. 'This year, in working with the governor's office and BFM (Bureau of Finance and Management), with revenues down and having to fund things like FMAP (federal medical assistance percentage) change and different things, our directive is to spend down some of that carryover. So this would be more of a temporary solution,' Simmons told the committee. He continued, 'This is not something that we're going to be able to do for many, many years, but it's something we can do in a pinch for a few years to get us through, to spend down that carryover and continue to deliver these services.' Five minutes later, DSS Secretary Matt Althoff expanded on those remarks. Responding to a question from Democratic Rep. Erik Muckey, Althoff said, 'We're going to examine our benefits and say, Is there a way we can reduce those as well? So we'll continue to look at that. We've got a preliminary plan that, as recommended, would take effect July first.' One of the panel's co-chairs, Republican Rep. Mike Derby, asked Simmons to go through the mechanics of the TANF fund swap one more time. Simmons explained that money left over from the federal block grant that the department receives each year can be placed in a carryover account. Simmons said the department gets $21.2 million of federal funds each year and state government puts in $8.5 million for a total TANF funding of $29.7 million. At the end of fiscal 2024, the department had $23.4 million of carryover funds available. Simmons said the plan was to tap the federal carryover to offset reductions in state general funds, spending the oldest layer of federal funds first. Noem's $34,665,498 recommendation of general funds for the new budget year that starts July 1 would have returned the division's general funding to roughly the $34,415,895 actually spent in 2024. State lawmakers in March ultimately appropriated $34,517,352 of general funds to the economic assistance division for the 2026 budget year. That was slightly more than the amount actually spent in 2024 and slightly less than the amount Noem had recommended. Asked Monday about the proposed TANF cuts, Republican Sen. Ernie Otten told KELOLAND News that he expects to see the department make reductions in other areas too. Otten and Derby co-chair the Legislature's Joint Committee on Appropriations that assembles state government's budget each year. DSS never came back to the committee with a detailed plan or a change from what they presented, according to information that Derby received from the Legislature's chief fiscal analyst Jeff Mehlhaff and forwarded on Tuesday to KELOLAND News. Mehlhaff told Derby, 'We have reached out to the Secretary of DSS multiple times with no response.' An average of 2,460 households per month received TANF payments during the 2024 budget year, according to the DSS fiscal note that was prepared for the proposed 10% cut. The average monthly amount was $518.06. Altogether, those payments totaled $15,293,131.20 in annual TANF costs, the department said, and a reduction of 10% from the current TANF payment standards equals $1,529,313.12. A statement signed by Secretary Althoff says the proposed financial cuts in TANF payments would have 'no impact' on small businesses. 'TANF is a needs-based program for families with children under age 18 (or under age 19 if the child is in high school) who need financial support because of the death of a parent; a parent is absent from the home; or the physical or mental incapacity or unemployment of a with serious financial needs may qualify for TANF monthly payments,' the statement says. Public comments at the June 20 hearing about the TANF reductions can be made in person at the Sioux Falls One Stop Center or by telephone at 1-605-679-7263 and using conference code 183 579 146 #. Written public comments can be sent through June 30 to Teresa Schulte, Administrative Rules C219, Department of Social Services, 1501 S. Highline Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57110 or can be emailed to DSSAdminRules@ Many lawmakers also were upset during the 2025 legislative session after learning about the Noem administration's decisions to enter long-term leases for new One Stop centers in Sioux Falls and Rapid City. Most of state government's local offices including those of DSS in the two communities have since moved to the centers. Noem resigned as governor in January after she received U.S. Senate confirmation as the new federal Homeland Security secretary. After she left, the Legislature unanimously adopted a new law requiring lawmakers' approval of any lease longer than 15 years and costing more than $5 million in total or more than $50,000 per month. Leases for One Stop centers in Sioux Falls and Rapid City are for 30 years and will cost an estimated $200 million more during that time than had state government continued with previous leases for locations scattered throughout the communities. The new law however doesn't apply to any past lease agreements. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hardline House conservatives swing for fences in asks to Senate GOP on megabill
Hardline conservatives in the House are making a broad swath of recommendations to make the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' of President Trump's tax cut and spending priorities even more conservative. A 10-page memo labeled to Senate Republicans from 'House Conservatives' — with input from members of the House Freedom Caucus while not being officially from the group — and shared with The Hill shows the hardliners swinging for the fences with numerous suggestions to change the megabill. Those include some controversial suggestions that were previously rejected by the House, like putting restrictions on the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) that was expanded under ObamaCare; and further reigning in the ability of states to extract more federal Medicaid matching dollars through provider taxes imposed on health care providers. They call for ramping up the repeal of green energy incentives — a position opposed by just over a dozen House GOP moderates, who wrote to the Senate last week to request that leaders 'improve' the green energy tax credits rather than eliminate them The memo calls to scale back the increase to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which the bill increases from $10,000 to $40,000 with a phase-out for income above $500,000 — a compromise reached after intense and testy negotiations with blue-state republicans, and a measure considered critical to ensuring the bill makes it to the president's desk. And it pitches increasing a new 3.5 percent tax on remittances that migrants send to their home countries, among other measures — some of which were not fully explained. 'While the House OBBB limits certain benefits for illegal aliens, it does not fully end all taxpayer-funded benefits they receive, and it should,' the memo says. It closes: 'Other Matters Deserving of Consideration That We Are Not (Sufficiently): a) Fed pays interest to banks (Trillions), b) Higher remittance fees (up to point, Billions), c) Prohibition on foreign / China land ownership not restricted enough, d) Other.' The House cleared the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' last month, moving it through a special budget reconciliation process that bypasses the need to get Democratic support in the Senate. Senate Republicans are expected to make changes to the bill, which the House will have to vote again to approve before it heads to Trump's desk. Leaders have set a goal of rubber-stamping the bill by July 4 — a timeline seen as ambitious by many in the GOP and their allies outside Congress as different factions in the party jockey over its provisions. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
10-06-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Hardline House conservatives swing for fences in asks to Senate GOP on megabill
Hardline conservatives in the House are making a broad swath of recommendations to make the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' of President Trump's tax cut and spending priorities even more conservative. A 10-page memo labeled to Senate Republicans from 'House Conservatives' — with input from members of the House Freedom Caucus while not being officially from the group — and shared with The Hill shows the hardliners swinging for the fences with numerous suggestions to change the megabill. Those include some controversial suggestions that were previously rejected by the House, like putting restrictions on the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) that was expanded under ObamaCare; and further reigning in the ability of states to extract more federal Medicaid matching dollars through provider taxes imposed on health care providers. They call for ramping up the repeal of green energy incentives — a position opposed by just over a dozen House GOP moderates, who wrote to the Senate last week to request that leaders 'improve' the green energy tax credits rather than eliminate them The memo calls to scale back the increase to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, which the bill increases from $10,000 to $40,000 with a phase-out for income above $500,000 — a compromise reached after intense and testy negotiations with blue-state republicans, and a measure considered critical to ensuring the bill makes it to the president's desk. And it pitches increasing a new 3.5 percent tax on remittances that migrants send to their home countries, among other measures — some of which were not fully explained. 'While the House OBBB limits certain benefits for illegal aliens, it does not fully end all taxpayer-funded benefits they receive, and it should,' the memo says. It closes: 'Other Matters Deserving of Consideration That We Are Not (Sufficiently): a) Fed pays interest to banks (Trillions), b) Higher remittance fees (up to point, Billions), c) Prohibition on foreign / China land ownership not restricted enough, d) Other.' The House cleared the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' last month, moving it through a special budget reconciliation process that bypasses the need to get Democratic support in the Senate. Senate Republicans are expected to make changes to the bill, which the House will have to vote again to approve before it heads to Trump's desk. Leaders have set a goal of rubber-stamping the bill by July 4 — a timeline seen as ambitious by many in the GOP and their allies outside Congress as different factions in the party jockey over its provisions.
