Ferguson calls One Big Beautiful Bill a ‘grotesque betrayal’

The passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” late last week capped off months of challenging negotiations by federal lawmakers, marking the first major legislative win of the second Trump administration.

However, while federal Republican lawmakers celebrated in a Fourth of July ceremony at the White House, many state lawmakers have long worried about what the bill could mean for the budgets of Washingtonians already struggling to make ends meet, including the state itself.

Following the bill’s passage in the House of Representatives, Gov. Bob Ferguson called the legislation “one of the worst bills of my lifetime.”

“A grotesque betrayal of the American people,” Ferguson wrote on X. “Appalling.”

The post prompted a response from Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner of Spokane, who quoted it and challenged Ferguson to a TV debate in Seattle.

“You can defend your largest tax increase in WA history and I’ll defend the largest tax reduction in American history. We can each do our part to inform the citizenry in a good old timey civil debate about who has a better future vision for governance – Republicans or Democrats?” Baumgartner posted Thursday. “Consider this a debate challenge between our state’s most prominent Republican and Democrat politicians, respectively.”

As of Monday evening, Ferguson has not responded to Baumgartner’s proposal.

Following the bill’s passage, though, Ferguson released multiple statements condemning the legislation, saying it will have far-reaching impacts on the state’s budget and the health care on which thousands rely, among other negative effects.

“It is impossible to overstate just how devastating this legislation will be for Washingtonians,” Ferguson said in a statement Thursday. “This morally bankrupt decision will cause our most vulnerable Washingtonians to lose their health care coverage and likely force hospital closures across the state, all to pay for tax breaks for the richest Americans.”

Here’s a look at what the bill could mean for Washington – and its budget – in the coming months and years.

Impacts on Medicaid

For months, state lawmakers have warned about what cuts to the program would mean for Washington.

During a March visit to the state Capitol, Sen. Patty Murray said Washington received more than $12.5 billion in funding for Medicaid in fiscal year 2023, which accounted for 57% of the total federal funds the state received.

The program, Murray said, provides coverage for one in five people in the state through Apple Health, the state’s Medicaid program. According to state Sen. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, more than a third of Spokane County residents are enrolled in Medicaid.

“Make no mistake, Medicaid saves lives,” Murray said. “And do you know where it saves lives the most? Rural and red communities.”

The bill, in its final form, includes more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid over the next decade by imposing new work requirements and other reforms. According to Ferguson, estimates show the state will lose between $31 billion and $51 billion in federal Medicaid funds in the next decade, which averages at least $3 billion per year.

During a June 26 news conference in the Tri-Cities, Ferguson said his office had prepared for what the potential cuts could mean for the state, though he cautioned the state lacked the funds to backfill the loss of federal funding.

“There would be no way to avoid drastic cuts to individuals in our state,” Ferguson said. “I wish I could say something different, right? But I have to deal in facts and reality.”

The loss of funds stands to have far-reaching effects and will result in hospital closures in rural areas, a loss in coverage, longer wait times and a lack of services for those who struggle with either substance abuse or mental health, according to the governor’s office.

The governor’s office said across the state, at least 250,000 residents will lose Medicaid coverage, while around 150,000 people will be priced out of the state’s health care exchange.

While Washington reported the lowest uninsured rate in the country in 2024 at 4.8%, the governor’s office said the funding cuts will “balloon that number into double digits.”

The effects, the governor’s office said, will be largely felt by the state’s youth and elderly.

Across the state, more than 800,000 children rely on Apple Health for their medical coverage, with many counties heavily reliant on the program.

In Adams County, for example, more than 90% of children rely on Apple Health for healthcare. According to the governor’s office, the program insures 60% of nursing home residents and more than a quarter of those with disabilities.

“There will be real impacts and real harms to real Washingtonians,” Ferguson said on June 26. “That is, unfortunately, the case.”

The changes to the program will result in an administrative burden that is likely to “cost the state tens of millions of dollars,” Ferguson said.

Potential impact on the state budget

Lawmakers already looked to cut costs and raise taxes during the legislative session to cut a deficit some projected as high as $16 billion. As they crafted a budget, Democratic lawmakers, including Ferguson, frequently voiced concern about what a loss of federal funding would mean for the state’s bottom line.

While legislators ultimately adopted a balanced budget, that doesn’t mean they’re out of the woods, yet.

A new estimate predicts that the state government will collect $720 million less over the next four years than the Legislature assumed when it passed a budget this spring.

Following the latest projection, Ferguson said the forecast “makes it abundantly clear” that the state cannot absorb all of the potential cuts from the federal government, including to Medicaid, education, and food benefit programs.

“As I’ve often said, we have big budget challenges as a state, but those challenges will truly turn dire if cuts like this are coming from the federal government,” Ferguson said of the Medicaid cuts during the June 26 news conference. “I think it’s too soon to speculate, but no, there’s not some magic wand that I have that I can wave that’s going to solve this problem. Not by any stretch of the imagination.”

As of now, Ferguson has said he does not plan to call lawmakers back to Olympia for a special session ahead of the 2026 session. However, another negative revenue forecast in the fall or additional cuts to federal funding could prompt more consideration.

Following the latest revenue forecast, Ferguson said his office is “closely monitoring developments from the federal government that could force me to revisit that question.”

A loss in green energy funding

As Washington lawmakers continue to push for green and renewable energy, the passage of the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ means the state could lose funding for investments in the technology.

According to the governor’s office, the bill’s passage puts more than $8.7 billion in clean energy investments in the state “at risk.”

According to Brionna Aho, a spokesperson for Ferguson, the figure represents the estimated capital investment of projects that are announced, operating, or under construction in Washington that will lose access to direct and indirect tax credits.

The investments are largely from the private sector, Aho said, including utility-scale solar and wind projects, among others.

The U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan organization of 24 governors founded by Former Gov. Jay Inslee, estimates that 21,800 Washingtonians will lose their jobs by 2030 due to cuts to clean energy and manufacturing tax credits. The alliance estimates that the loss of wind and solar energy tax credits would also raise Washington households’ electricity costs by $115 per year by 2029.

“This bill is anything but beautiful for Washington. It’s a fossil fuel wish list that penalizes clean energy and favors pollution,” Ferguson said in a statement.