American families already know that the tax code and the state of our nation’s healthcare and social services are deeply linked. We are in a massive fight over taxes because most of a 2017 tax law enacted by Donald Trump and a Republican Congress is set to expire at the end of 2025. If we permanently extend all of the expiring parts of that law it will mostly benefit the wealthy and we’ll lose trillions of dollars in revenue we could instead invest in healthcare, and other social services like childcare. Instead, because Congressional budget rules require these cuts be paid for,  Trump and his Republican allies are proposing deep cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other services. 

If we let those provisions expire and enact other reforms that better tax billionaires and corporations, we’ll have the resources we need to better invest in American communities, all while protecting Medicaid, SNAP, and other benefits millions of American families rely on.

What’s At Stake

Right now, Congress is considering a budget that will shrink programs millions of Americans rely on, including cuts toMedicaid, SNAP, education, and other human-needs programs. These cuts are meant to help pay for $4.5 trillion in tax giveaways largely benefiting the ultra-rich and corporations. 

The budget resolution recently passed by the House of Representatives specifies at least: 

• $880 billion in cuts from the Energy and Commerce Committee (which has budget authority over Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act)
• $230 billion in cuts from the Agriculture Committee (SNAP)
• $330 billion from the Education and Workforce Committee (Student loan repayment and forgiveness programs, free/reduced student lunch programs)

And these numbers are floors, not ceilings, meaning the cuts could be even higher. 

The Big Tax Debate of 2025

When President Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress pushed through their tax law in 2017  – with zero Democratic support – they made parts of it temporary to disguise its full cost. Those temporary provisions expire at the end of this year. Permanently extending them all would add almost $5 trillion to the national debt and mostly benefit the rich. 

The Trump-GOP tax law has been an expensive failure. It has already cost us nearly $2 trillion in lost revenue; helped the ultra- wealthy; and provided none of the economic payoffs that were promised – such as higher wages and faster economic growth.

How Much Tax Reform Could Raise for Healthcare & Social Service Funding

If we succeed in blocking the extension of Trump tax cuts for the wealthy and eventually enact progressive tax reforms instead, we could raise trillions of dollars to better fund healthcare, childcare, and nutritional programs across the country.

• Raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% would raise $135 billion a year, enough to invest in permanent childcare subsidies for every family. 
• Creating special taxes on the handful of the nation’s wealthiest households would raise around $50 billion a year, enough to offer Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies averaging $800 a year and provide expanded Medicaid coverage to patients in 10 states that have yet to sign onto the ACA expansion. 
• Closing two loopholes in how we tax the investment income of the wealthy households would raise almost $30 billion a year, more than enough to improve and expand Medicaid home- and community-based services for older and disabled people.

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Contact Liz Zelnick with more questions about how to get involved in the crucial fight to tax billionaires and invest in our communities.

lzelnick@americansfortaxfairness.org