How Kentucky’s leaders are responding to passage of the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’
The massive budget bill to extend tax credits and cut spending for Medicaid passed a vote in the House of Representatives on Thursday. It awaits a signature from President Donald Trump, who has dubbed the legislation the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
Two members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation crossed party lines to oppose the bill with Democrats, while most of the state’s Republicans in Congress championed it as more policy promises kept.
Here’s how those leaders and other Kentuckians are reacting to the bill’s passage.
In a statement posted to social media, Kentucky Center for Economic Policy Executive Director Jason Bailey called the bill’s passage “a shameful moment.” KyPolicy is an independent, nonpartisan research center producing analysis of key issues and policy options about a variety of topics.
“The bill will take health coverage and food assistance from hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians, the biggest such cuts in history,” Bailey’s post says. “It will increase hardship, worsen health and weaken our economy. And it does so to pay for just a portion of tax cuts that go overwhelmingly to the wealthy and powerful.”
The bill is primarily focused on tax cuts, about $4.5 trillion worth, most of which apply permanently to those who are already wealthy and temporarily to tips, overtime wages and interest payments on select loans. Child tax credits are increasing under the bill, but low-income families do not qualify for the full payments. It’s also adding provisions allowing some businesses to write off the cost of equipment and research.
Also in the bill are allocations for the Trump administration’s national security and border agenda, which includes building a wall on the country’s southern border with Mexico, paying for more beds in detention facilities and hiring thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. It’s also providing billions more dollars to the Pentagon for several projects, including the “Golden Dome” missile system.
As is typical for bills relating to spending and tax cuts, something has to give to offset projected revenue loss. In the case of this big bill, sponsors included funding cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs like SNAP, a move Republicans said was meant to weed out fraud and give states more fiscal control.
Andy Beshear, KY Democrats
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has been vocal since the bill’s introduction that it was dangerous in more ways than one.
“Americans were betrayed with the passage of the ‘big, ugly bill.’ Jobs will be lost, hospitals will close, rural communities will suffer, living costs will go up and — worst of all — people will die from being thrown off their health coverage,” Beshear posted to social media after the bill passed. “This vote puts politics over people, and our country deserves better.”
The Kentucky Democratic Party condemned the state’s Republicans for voting yes.
“Our commonwealth will lose more than $12.3 billion in rural health care funding — more than any other state — shutting down as many as 35 rural hospitals and firing 20,000 health care workers,” said KDP Chair Colmon Elridge in a statement. “The long-term outcome of the GOP’s gross betrayal is an indefensible truth: Rural clinics, hospitals, nursing homes and addiction recovery programs will disappear outside of big cities, and Kentuckians who would otherwise have health care will lead shorter, sicker lives.”
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement that the bill was “the latest and loudest declaration of the fact that (the Kentucky House Republicans) will always prioritize serving Republicans’ billionaire campaign donors at the expense of the children, families, and workers they’re supposed to represent.”
Other advocacy groups
Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates CEO Jennifer Allen said the bill’s passage “is the fiercest attack on Planned Parenthood yet.”
“Congress just chose to give billionaires tax cuts over protecting people who elected them to govern with compassion and integrity,” she said. “They voted to gut cancer screenings, STI testing, and birth control access — putting millions at risk and deepening existing health inequities. Let’s be clear: This bill doesn’t cut costs — it cuts care. And every lawmaker who voted for it is on the chopping block.”
Also part of the bill is an amendment that makes permanent a tax incentive for Thoroughbred breeders and owners. The same amendment also alters gambling tax rules in a way that makes it harder for horse players to turn a profit.
The total depreciation allows those in Thoroughbred ownership and breeding to deduct the cost of assets, like their racing prospects, equipment, land improvements and barns on their taxes. It’s one of the ways the industry gives people an incentive to operate their horse farms like a business, said the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. The bill passed Thursday solidifies the bonus at 100% as was part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Language was changed in the final version of the bill to protect small-business loss carryovers, which allows the industry to actually capitalize on the 100% bonus depreciation. When a business experiences revenue loss in one year, they can deduct those losses from a future year’s profit, which is a way to “average” profitability over time for tax reasons. This is considered net operating loss carryover.
”Thanks to the leadership of Senators (John) Thune and (Mitch) McConnell, and particularly the efforts spearheaded by Congressman Barr, Thoroughbred racing will come away with significant gains from the One Big Beautiful Bill,” the NTRA said in a statement. “... Those changes to the excess business loss carryover would have wiped out many gains that those in the horse industry would have seen with 100% bonus depreciation.”
The NTRA said though, “there is still work to be done to offset some losses by horse players in their ability to deduct tax losses.”
Kentucky’s congressional delegation who voted no responds
Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who has represented Louisville and Kentucky’s 3rd Congressional District since 2023, voted no on the bill Thursday amid an attempt to sway his Republican colleagues to join him. Since the bill’s introduction, McGarvey has cited its impact to those on Medicaid as his primary reason for opposing it in full.
“This Republican budget is a slap in the face to Kentucky and all of rural America,” said McGarvey, the state’s sole Democrat in Congress. “It will kick millions off their health insurance, take food away from Kentucky families, kids and seniors, and add trillions to the national debt.”
One of the other no votes from the Kentucky delegation came from Rep. Thomas Massie, who was joined by just one other Republican in opposing the bill. The Northern Kentucky congressman’s refusal to vote yes has angered the president even further.
“Although there were some conservative wins in the budget reconciliation bill (OBBBA), I voted No on final passage because it will slightly increase U.S. budget deficits in the near term, negatively impacting all Americans through sustained inflation and high interest rates,” Massie posted on social media after the bill’s passage.
Sen. Rand Paul had similar reasons for voting no earlier in the week before final passage Thursday. On the floor June 29, he urged his colleagues to ask themselves if the country’s deficit would be higher or lower next year as a result of the bill.
“Throughout the Vote-a-rama, I was working all night to stop Congress from adding to our debt,” he posted to social media July 1. “I met with (Vice President JD Vance) and I reiterated my offer to vote for the bill — if it included a 90% reduction in the debt ceiling. No earmarks. No handouts. Just real fiscal reform. I wasn’t looking for favors. I wasn’t horse trading. I was fighting for the American people and against out out-of-control debt.
“Bottom line: I offered my vote for fiscal sanity. Congress chose to sell out taxpayers instead. Only once the bill is released, we will know what the true price was.”
Cherlynn Stevenson, the former Lexington state representative running for Rep. Andy Barr’s seat, said in a statement, “This bill will unleash severe pain on communities across the state and hard-working families who have done nothing wrong will pay a steep price.”
Those who voted yes
The rest of Kentucky’s congressional delegation — Reps. Barr, James Comer, Brett Guthrie, Hal Rogers and Sen. McConnell — voted yes in their respective chambers.
“Today, Kentucky families, workers, and small businesses got a historic tax cut — jet fuel for our economy and a boost for Kentuckians still recovering after four years of Bidenflation,” said Barr, who represents Lexington and Kentucky’s 6th District in Congress. “This is the latest and greatest chapter of the Trump economic comeback — and the theme is promises made, promises kept.”
In his statement, Barr lists a number of Trump-backed promises to end federal taxes on tips, expand child care tax credits and “Make Manufacturing American Again.” Also on the list of promises Barr said the bill delivers on are funding border security, crop insurance for family farms all while “protecting and strengthening Medicaid for Kentuckians who truly need it — not ineligible recipients or illegal immigrants.”
Rogers had a similar statement and said the bill “delivers on our promise to provide historic tax relief for the American people, lowers interest rates, reduces the deficit by $2.8 trillion over 10 years, protects vital programs like Medicaid and SNAP benefits, makes our nation more secure, boosts our military defense, and puts America first for job creation and energy production.”
In a video outside his office, Guthrie said the bill encompasses cuts to taxes and parts of it make sure the country is positioned to “unleash America’s energy dominance.” He chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
“We also secure the border and make sure we build the wall and we continue the effort at the border to keep illegals from flowing into our country,” he said. “We also make sure that able-bodied Americans who get free health care if they’re able to work for it (that) they work for it like every other American has to get up and go to work every day for their health care.”
This story was updated to include statements from the DCCC, Guthrie, Planned Parenthood and the National Thoroughbred Association. This is a developing story and may be updated again. Herald-Leader News Intern Quezia Arruda helped report this story.
This story was originally published July 3, 2025 at 4:26 PM.
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