Laramie’s nonprofit leaders warn Big Beautiful Bill will hurt the city’s most vulnerable
The Senate passed the federal budget bill Tuesday morning. Its impacts on Medicaid, Medicare and SNAP will likely drive more Laramigos to the Downtown Clinic and Laramie Interfaith.
The U.S. Senate just voted on the so-called “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” — a federal budget bill that touches on every aspect of American life, from renewable energy to taxes to healthcare and aid programs.
The bill passed with a 51-50 vote (with the vice president serving as tie-breaker) and now heads to the House, its supporters hoping to put the sweeping policy package on the Resolute desk for President Trump’s signature by Independence Day at the end of this week.
In general, the bill provides tax breaks, especially for the rich, while slashing spending on federal aid programs, bankrolling Trump’s deportation regime and awarding significant funds to planned military projects.
In Laramie, nonprofit leaders are warning that the planned cut of more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Act spending will “devastate” rural communities.
In an opinion column published by WyoFile, Albany County Commissioner and Downtown Clinic executive director Pete Gosar writes the cuts represent a “callous lack of compassion.”
“The predictable outcome is a further funneling of wealth into the pockets of high earners, at the direct expense of the already threadbare social safety net that supports communities across our nation,” Gosar writes. “We strive to provide high-quality, integrated healthcare, but when the Congressional Budget Office estimates that this bill would remove 10.9 million people from Medicaid and 5.1 million from the Affordable Care Act, it forces a chilling question: Where will these 16 million vulnerable Americans go?”
The Downtown Clinic serves uninsured patients, providing free healthcare to those who would otherwise have none. Gosar notes in the op-ed that 90 percent of the clinic’s funding comes from private donations, but warns a steep influx of newly uninsured patients could overwhelm the nonprofit.
The funding bill does include a five-year $25 million rural hospital fund, but Gosar writes this is “a disingenuous band-aid — an admission by our representatives in Congress that they recognize the harm this bill will inflict upon rural communities.”
“This meager fund doesn’t begin to cover the projected losses, nor will it prevent the eventual shutdown of vital rural hospitals,” Gosar writes.
The Senate rejected an amendment from Maine Sen. Susan Collins to double that fund and pay for it by taxing those making more than $25 million a year.
The Big Beautiful Bill will also target SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (better known as food stamps) by adding work requirements and shifting much of the burden away from the federal government to the states. The program helps to feed 40 million Americans, including 16 million children, across the nation.
The White House argues the overhaul “protects and strengthens” SNAP, but opponents estimate the cut will kick up to 7 million people, including 2 million children, out of the program.
Laramie Interfaith executive director Josh Watanabe says these cuts “will ruin communities, families, and lives.”
“I can tell you that it is not only the Downtown Clinic who will feel the impacts of this bill,” Watanabe writes in a post sharing Gosar’s op-ed. “Dozens of the amazing nonprofits in Laramie will be affected by these cuts as service requests and needs increase while we [are] asked to continually do more with less.”
Laramie Interfaith, a food pantry whose motto is “neighbors helping neighbors,” has a reach far greater than many might assume.
“In 2024, Laramie Interfaith assisted more than 1,300 households with food and/or housing and utility assistance — more than 3,000 individuals in Laramie alone,” Watanabe writes. “A number that, while large enough, still doesn’t represent the full need and number of individuals who need our help already.”
The SNAP cuts will negatively impact food security in Laramie, Watanabe writes.
“We cannot make up for the thousands of dollars in SNAP benefits,” he writes. “Our pantry will suffer as we try to offer the basic essentials to families while many may go hungry.”
An unrelated provision in the Big Beautiful Bill affecting public lands was scrapped in the past week following popular, and loud, public opposition.