{"id":34700,"date":"2025-06-11T15:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T19:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firstfocus.org\/?post_type=news&p=34700"},"modified":"2025-06-11T15:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T19:31:10","slug":"budget-bill-targets-the-nations-children-analysts-say-in-capitol-hill-briefing","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/firstfocus.org\/news\/budget-bill-targets-the-nations-children-analysts-say-in-capitol-hill-briefing\/","title":{"rendered":"Budget bill targets the nation’s children, analysts say in Capitol Hill briefing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cuts to health care and food programs disproportionately hurt children<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Rural areas, southern states will bear the brunt<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The budget reconciliation bill currently making its way through the Senate will disproportionately hurt the nation\u2019s children by cutting the programs that benefit them most, experts said today on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe keep hearing this rhetoric that none of the bill targets kids, that these changes do not hurt kids. That\u2019s impossible,\u201d said First Focus on Children health policy expert Abuko Estrada at \u201cInvest in Kids,\u201d a briefing hosted by First Focus on Children, the Congressional Dads Caucus and the Congressional Mamas\u2019 Caucus. \u201cYou can\u2019t take a third of the funding for a program that mainly serves kids and say it doesn\u2019t hurt kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The budget proposal passed by the House of Representatives would cut more than $800 billion from Medicaid and the Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and would cut nearly $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Senate is likely to maintain many of these cuts, panelists said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federal spending on children accounts for just 8.87% of the total U.S. budget<\/a>, according to Children\u2019s Budget 2024, although children make up 23% of the population. But the programs Congress has targeted disproportionately serve children<\/a>: 20% of Medicaid funding goes to children, 43% of SNAP funding goes to children, and of course, 100% of CHIP funding goes to children and pregnant women. Cuts to these programs will almost certainly push the share of spending on children much lower. During the first Trump Administration, the president proposed reducing this share to a record low of 7.32%<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The budget bill under consideration in the Senate would significantly alter Medicaid and CHIP, jeopardizing health care access for over 37 million children, by including waiting periods, lock outs for parents who can\u2019t keep up with premiums, and caps on annual and lifetime benefits. The package also would reduce the federal matching rate for adults in Medicaid expansion states to 80% if the state provides health care benefits to residents who are ineligible because of their immigration status \u2014 even if the states are using money from their own taxpayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are resurrecting barriers for children,\u201d First Focus on Children\u2019s Estrada said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill also threatens the food security of at least 4 million children<\/a> who live in households that could lose their benefits as a result of increased work requirements. The bill would also shift hundreds of millions of dollars in program and benefit costs to the states, said Salaam Bhatti, SNAP director at the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), and revise the formula that determines benefits in a way that reduces the amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf states cannot afford these cost shifts, they will pull out of the program,\u201d Bhatti said. \u201cFood insecurity has increased three years in a row. And the one program that fights hunger is getting cut. It doesn\u2019t make any sense.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panelists also criticized the bill\u2019s Child Tax Credit provision. Supporters focus on the increased amount of the credit \u2014 from $2000 per child to a maximum of $2500 per child \u2014 but other changes would deny the full credit to an additional 5 million children<\/a>. Rural areas and states in the South would be hardest hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese changes are not centered on children and families,\u201d said Michelle Dallafior, First Focus on Children senior vice president for budget and tax. \u201cAnd they do not help children most in need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To view the recorded briefing, visit Children’s Week 2025-Invest in Kids Briefing. <\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cuts to health care and food programs disproportionately hurt children Rural areas, southern states will bear the brunt The budget reconciliation bill currently making its way through the Senate will disproportionately hurt the nation\u2019s children by cutting the programs that benefit them most, experts said today on Capitol Hill. \u201cWe keep hearing this rhetoric that … 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