Lu Hill: State leaders must act to protect people in Eastern Washington from harmful Congressional actions

By Lu Hill

Spokane is 2,489 miles from Washington, D.C. Apparently that’s far enough for our elected leaders in Congress to forget that most families here work hard, pay what they owe in taxes, and believe in leaving things a little better than they found them. In return, we expect to have the tools we need to build good lives for our loved ones, like child care and quality schools; health care; food assistance; parks and playgrounds; safe roads and bridges.

Congress is cutting some of those basic services to pay for a tax cut for the richest people in the country. Here in Washington, the wealthiest 5% of people (those earning over $447,400 annually) will get over $7 billion in tax breaks!

If you’re scratching your head, you’re not alone. I’m also wondering why those who make the most are getting a tax break while those who have the least are expected to pay for it.

HR1, which the president and Congressional Republicans dubbed the One Beautiful Bill Act, will have a big impact on families in Washington. It will not be beautiful, it will be really ugly. Congress is cutting nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years. As a result, our state will lose about $41 billion in funding over the same time period. Translation: Up to 250,000 Washingtonians could lose health care coverage. Thousands more whose coverage isn’t terminated outright will likely see their premiums increase and may not be able to afford insurance. For example, a family of four making $65,000 a year who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act will see costs more than double. These cuts to Medicaid will have a devastating ripple effect: At least 14 hospitals in rural Washington could close, including hospitals in Chewelah, Odessa and Grand Coulee. Thousands of people in Eastern Washington rely on rural hospitals for everything from emergency care to annual wellness checks for children, physical and mental health therapy, medication management, and cancer treatment.

As someone whose job is to address the health of our community, this is heartbreaking news. I know the impacts will be enormous for my friends and neighbors around Spokane and force many people, especially parents, people with chronic conditions and cancer, and elders, to make very difficult choices.

Congress is also slashing funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a food assistance program for low-income families (which includes many children, veterans, people with disabilities and seniors). This will take food off the table for about 517,000 people across Washington. These cuts to SNAP will include an estimated 33,000 refugees and people who came to Washington seeking asylum. This will affect our Ukrainian, Ethiopian, Somali and other refugee neighbors who have found safety and community in Spokane.

My family has lived in Spokane for five generations. I thought that if we worked hard and played by the rules, we’d all be able to have access to and afford the basics. But the future is very uncertain for the next generations if hospitals and even grocery stores are forced to close because certain politicians have traded basic amenities for working families to hand out tax cuts to the wealthy.

While some members of Congress have sold us out, I hope state leaders will have our back. They can decide whether to backfill the cuts made by Congress or let them stand and see people suffer. I ask the governor and state legislators to lead with courage and do what this moment requires: ask the wealthy and massive corporations in our state to pay more of what they truly owe in taxes so everyone in our community can get what they need to thrive.

Last session, legislators continued the important work of fixing our upside-down tax code, a common theme of my past columns. Legislators updated the estate tax, raised the capital gains tax to apply to bigger stock market gains, and adjusted the B&O tax. Next session, they’ll have to go further to neutralize harmful cuts coming from Congress and make sure our tax dollars are invested in things that help all of us, not just millionaires and billionaires.

Lacrecia “Lu” Hill is a fourth-generation Spokanite who has long been involved in supporting the community in the nonprofit, philanthropic, and small business sectors. She currently is the community engagement and strategy director at Waters Meet Foundation. These thoughts are her own.