Senator says Big Beautiful Bill will have impact here

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy on Thursday made a lively defense of the Big Beautiful Bill Act, pointing to what he said will be economic benefits and rejecting claims about the impact on Medicaid recipients.
"I'm so proud of it," the Louisiana Republican said at a joint event by Chambers of Commerce from St. Mary, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes in Thibodaux. "You will immediately see the impact. The American economy will immediately see the impact."
Among the accomplishments in the act, passed July 4 and cited by Kennedy:
--Extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, an average tax savings of $2,135 for an individual taxpayer.
Failure to extend the tax cuts "would have tanked our economy," Kennedy said, including $15 billion reduction in Louisiana's gross domestic product.
--Tax reductions on tips, Social Security payments and overtime.
--A deduction for auto loans for some taxpayers.
--An increase in the standard deduction on tax returns.
--Expanded school choice tax credits and college savings accounts.
--Immediate expensing of business investment rather than requiring depreciation over the course of years.
--An increase in the federal lifetime gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions to $15 million per person.
--An additional $150 million for payments from the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which provides funds to Gulf Coast states for work such as preventing coastal erosion.
--Eliminating Biden-era green energy tax credits.
--Requiring the Department of the Interior to conduct 30 offshore energy lease sales over the next 10 years.
--Changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. The Big Beautiful Bill Act phases in an increased state share of the cost of program.
Kennedy also took aim at charges that the Medicaid changes in the legislation will eliminate 10.9 million people from the program's rolls.
He said 90 million Americans are on Medicaid, and spending on the program has risen by more than half since 2019. Meanwhile, Kennedy said, the Biden administration virtually eliminated eligibility requirements. One result: the Louisiana legislative auditor found 1,600 people enrolled in Medicaid even though their incomes are over $100,000 a year.
The new Medicaid work requirement is needed, he said. "Everyone who loses their Medicaid under this bill was not entitled to it in the first place."
Others in the public arena either dispute the claims made by supporters of the Big Beautiful Bill Act or point to additional challenges, and not just on the left.
Both the conservative Tax Foundation and the libertarian Cate Institute foresee growth in the nation's gross domestic product because of the tax cuts. But both also predict big increases in borrowing. Cato predicts a $4 trillion increase in the national debt over 10 years when increased interest is factored in. The Tax Foundation predicts increased debt of $3 trillion over 10 years.
Also, presenting the tax savings for individuals as one all-inclusive average tends to overstate the benefits for income groups below $100,000.
The Tax Policy Center, which describes itself as nonpartisan, calculates that the extension of the Trump Tax cuts means an average savings of $1,781 for household incomes of $66,801 to $119,200.
For households with incomes of $34,601 to $66,800, the savings amount to $750. Families with incomes at or below $34,600 will get a $150 tax cut on average.
KFF, formerly known as the health care think tank the Kaiser Family Foundation, also sounds a warning about the Medicaid work requirement, pointing to Georgia's experience with its own work requirement.
The Georgia Pathways to Coverage Program has essentially the same requirements as the new federal rules: work, school or 80 hours a month as a volunteer.
But the complexity of the verification system and the need for frequent re-verification has created red tape that "can be costly for states to run, frustrating for enrollees to navigate, and disruptive to other public benefit systems," KFF's website says. "Georgia’s budget for marketing is nearly as much as it has spent on health benefits."