Rep. Shontel Brown Slams GOP 'Big Beautiful Bill' as Cruel 'Unfunded Mandate'

Opposition to the Rule and Underlying Bill

• 🚨 Representative Shontel Brown rises in strong opposition to the rule and the underlying bill, calling it an unfunded mandate.
• 💡 The bill would, for the first time, force states to pay for a portion of SNAP benefits and increase their administrative costs.

Devastating Consequences and Cruelty

• 💔 The costs are described as staggering, the consequences devastating, and the cruelty deeply disturbing, punishing those who can least afford it.
• 💸 This policy forces states into a corner, potentially leading them to cut benefits, eligibility, or essential programs like public safety, education, housing, and mental health.
• 🎯 The speaker frames this as a values decision, questioning why the goal is to take from the hungry to give to the wealthy.

Financial Impact and Disparities

• 💰 The bill aims to slash SNAP benefits by about $6 per day while providing a quarter-million-dollar tax break to the top 1%.
• 📊 The financial impact on states is significant: $400 million in North Carolina (more than its child development and early education budget), $500 million in Georgia (double its child welfare spending), and $300 million in Ohio (four times its transportation budget).
• 📉 The speaker warns that when the money runs out, food runs out, leading to hungry children, skipped meals for seniors, and turned-away veterans, working moms, and dads.

Call to Action

• 🚫 Brown urges colleagues to reject the provision, the rule, and this "betrayal."
• 👏 The plea is to not reward the rich on the backs of hungry Americans.