This story was originally published by Barn Raiser, an independent source for rural and small town news.

Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.

The House majority will be advancing their bill to the floor in the next few days. With their narrow majority, it will need every vote to pass.

As the Communications and Policy Director for the Rural Democracy Initiative, I’ve been hearing from rural leaders across the country about the devastating impacts this bill would have. The good news is it’s not too late. But there is little time to spare.

Last Friday, five Republicans in the House Budget Committee — including four members of the conservative Freedom Caucus — joined all Democrats on the committee in blocking the bill from reaching the House floor. But some of the opposition want even deeper cuts to programs like Medicaid to offset exorbitant tax cuts for the rich.

Overnight on Sunday, the House Budget Committee barely passed the bill out of committee by promising that changes would be made, including additional work requirements for Medicaid recipients, an increase in state support of Medicaid, and a quicker end to clean energy tax credits.

The House vote is expected this week.

Now is the time to make sure every member of the House of Representatives knows how we feel.

Congress is working to pass this sweeping bill using a budget maneuver called “reconciliation.” While this process allows the bill to pass the Senate with fewer votes, it also complicates the process by only allowing policies that impact the budget to be included. President Trump and congressional Republicans have also decided that, rather than passing multiple pieces of legislation, they will enact major changes to government in a giant, fast-tracked bill that will have sweeping impacts across the country.

This is an incredibly nontransparent, partisan, inefficient way to enact legislation. Still, it is nearly their only option to enact extremely unpopular changes that will raise prices and take away critical programs that benefit working people to give tax breaks and handouts to the rich.

The Stakes for Rural People

This dangerous reconciliation bill would increase costs for rural working families by thousands of dollars per year, leaving millions hungry and without healthcare, to provide tax breaks and handouts to the wealthy and special interests. Here are just six of the worst provisions:

1. Guts rural healthcare

The bill will take healthcare away from 13.8 million Americans and increase the cost for millions more. In some states, 50% of rural children get healthcare from Medicaid. Millions of people rely on access to clinics and hospitals that would likely close because of these cuts.

2. Takes food off the tables of rural people

The plan includes approximately $290-$319 billion in cuts to SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) even as the cost of groceries continues to escalate. More than 15% of families in small towns and rural areas rely on this support to feed their families.

3. Shifts costs to states and local governments

State and local governments in rural states depend more on federal funding from programs like SNAP and Medicaid than other states. Slashing federal funding to states will create new burdens for rural states that are already struggling to provide critical public services like healthcare, transportation, and emergency response services to local communities.

4. Takes away local control

Landowners have fought to stop the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines by passing bans and moratoria, as well as enacting county setbacks and safety requirements to protect their communities. The bill would create a new federal process that overrules state and local laws and ordinances, overrides local voices, and deprives residents of a fair opportunity to evaluate the adverse impacts of pipeline construction and operation. The bill preserves the tax credit that is driving carbon pipeline proposals, and it would set up a “pay to play” system under which companies can pay for pipeline, mining, and drilling permits, and avoid public comment and legal challenges.

5. Ends clean energy and infrastructure tax credits and funding

The bill would phase out the tax credits for wind, solar, batteries, geothermal, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. It would also rescind $262 million in funding for energy efficiency and conservation grants as well as transportation infrastructure. Ending the tax credits is projected to increase household energy costs by 2-7%, which are already higher in many rural communities. These changes are projected to reduce clean energy projects by 57-72%, and jeopardize the $522 billion of investment in clean energy manufacturing facilities and installations.

6. Provides handouts to agribusiness and mega farms

Leaders in Congress have failed to negotiate a new farm bill because they continue to prioritize increasing payment triggers known as reference prices for a small number of mega farms rather than reforming the farm safety net to support all farmers. Now they are using the budget reconciliation process to eliminate payment limits and give those big farms a $50 billion windfall with no plan to pass a farm bill this year. Add the heightened pressures and instability caused by the Trump administration’s erratic trade policy, more farmers will lose their farms, while big farms continue to grow.

While GOP leaders insist that they are cutting trillions in healthcare, food assistance, clean energy, and more in order to root out “waste, fraud and abuse,” taking away basic services and making life more unaffordable does nothing to address any of these. Rather than making it harder for people to meet their basic needs and take care of their families, Congress should address waste and fraud by stopping corporate price gouging, curbing profits, breaking up monopolies that abuse consumers, and making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share of taxes like the rest of us.

Rural Voices Matter

Hearing directly from rural voters will have a significant impact on whether this bill moves forward and what it ultimately includes. Here are three actions that you can take right now to ensure we apply the maximum amount of pressure on members of Congress:

• Post on social media platforms and tag your congressional representatives.
• Encourage your entire community to call or write Congress about this bill. The Congressional Hotline is available in English and Spanish 866-426-2631. You can also use this line to organize a volunteer phone bank.
• To make sure you’re heard, visit your local congressional office yourself or with a group to express your opinion.

This legislation contains many unpopular ideas and terrible trade-offs for working families, but those who will be most impacted by the devastating changes to Medicaid, food stamps, energy policy, etc., are largely unaware. It’s up to us to alert our communities and engage constituents in taking action in-district, where they can have the greatest influence on their representatives.

Michael Chameides is Rural Democracy Initiative’s Communications and Policy Director and supports a rural network to engage communities and advocate for meaningful policy.