What’s in the ‘big, beautiful bills’ and how do they impact Georgia?

Medicaid and health care

Total health coverage losses in Georgia under the Senate version of the bill may stay similar to the House version: About 310,000 Georgians are expected to lose health insurance.

The bill the Senate passed both echoes and expands the House’s cuts to Medicaid enrollment. Where the House bill was estimated to cut Medicaid spending over 10 years by $793 billion, the Senate version cuts it by $1 trillion. That’s the largest spending cut in the legislation.

Georgia’s portion of that cut would result in the state losing about $10 billion, according to the health research organization KFF. That’s an increase over the House version’s $7 billion cut to Georgia.

A major cut to Georgia Medicaid funding would come from decreasing the amount of extra money facilities like hospitals and nursing homes can draw down from special funding pools.

Headlines across the country about the bill have focused on Medicaid losses through work requirements for most adult recipients. But Georgia already has work requirements.

Instead, Medicaid enrollment in Georgia would be decreased mostly as a result of the bill increasing red tape for those people and others on Medicaid. KFF estimates 56,000 Georgians would lose Medicaid in the House bill, and it might be similar with the Senate bill.

Some of those cut from the program are DACA recipients — also known as immigrant “Dreamers” — who up to now have been eligible.

Georgia’s biggest health insurance coverage loss would come not through Medicaid but through changes to the Affordable Care Act exchange, also known here as Georgia Access. About 1.5 million Georgians are currently insured through Georgia Access. By increasing the red tape for those people, the bill is expected to result in about 250,000 Georgians losing coverage, according to KFF.

Extra pandemic-era ACA “enhanced” subsidies are set to expire at the end of this year. If Congress allows them to expire, that 250,000 number losing ACA coverage would be expected to increase to 690,000, according to KFF.

Food stamps and agriculture

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps, helps low-income families pay for groceries. During the 2024 fiscal year, approximately 13% of Georgia’s population received SNAP benefits. SNAP is currently funded by the federal government, but the Senate reconciliation bill, like the House bill, would require states with a payment error rate above 6% to fund part of SNAP, and Georgia has a very high payment error rate of 15.65%.

Georgia may be eligible for a temporary delay of cost-sharing. The Senate bill was amended to delay cost sharing for states with high payment error rates.

The Senate reconciliation bill still requires more aid recipients to work, which could cause some individuals to lose eligibility. Fewer people getting food aid would mean a cost savings. But the decrease in food stamp aid could have a trickle-down effect on the financial bottom line for retailers that accept food stamps.

Farm provisions in the House bill were also passed by the Senate, modifying the Federal Crop Insurance Program. These are expected to boost Georgia’s agriculture industry.

Clean energy

The Senate bill would give companies slightly more time, roughly a year, to take advantage of green energy tax credits passed during the Biden administration. This more gradual phaseout of these incentives has angered House conservatives who pushed hard in their version of the bill to end the programs quickly and prevent companies from starting projects that could be eligible for federal dollars.

As a result, the 82,000 Georgians who have jobs working in the clean tech industry would see slightly less risk if the Senate version become law. Still, both bills envision ending these incentives.

Taxes

The House and Senate bills have different approaches to extending the tax cuts passed during Trump’s first term and implementing new ones he championed ahead of his second.

The tax cuts in the Senate version increase the deficit more, a total increase of $3.4 trillion. That’s $10,000 per capita.

The bills have slightly different formulas for boosting the standard deduction, and the House bill extends business tax cuts for four years while the Senate makes them permanent.

The House bill would add $4,000 to the standard deduction for taxpayers over age 65 while the Senate increases that number to $6,000. This is to address the president’s efforts to end taxation on Social Security benefits.

Both bills have language preventing taxation on tipped wages and overtime, but the Senate caps the amount that can be deducted and limits the benefit further for those making more than $150,000 a year.

The House bill allows for a temporary $500 increase in the child tax credit for four years. The Senate version has a permanent boost of $200 per year.

Border security and national defense

Overall, there is little difference between the two versions when it comes to boosting money for immigration enforcement and for the Armed Forces.

The Senate did allocate slightly more money toward national defense, which helped contribute to the increase in the overall price of the package.

World Cup and Olympics

Both versions includes $1.6 billion for local and state preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

The bill includes $1.6 billion for local and state preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

The Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles. The World Cup includes sites across Canada, Mexico and the United States, including Atlanta.