The Baltimore Sun has informed us all about the “big beautiful” new law that does dozens of things, among them some big and ugly. In case you missed it, there are new rules and restrictions to Medicaid and affordable health insurance which are estimated to affect 229,000 Marylanders (“House passes Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ that Maryland Democrats railed against,” July 3).
There are cuts to food assistance that will affect 370,000 Maryland families. The Child Tax Credit — a proven tool to reduce poverty — is now expanded for people who already have money and not for those who truly need it. It’s estimated that 229,000 Maryland kids, 17.9%, will now be ineligible for the full CTC. In Baltimore, the number of newly ineligible kids is 47,000, or 31.6% of kids.
True, there are also tax cuts, but those cuts primarily benefit people with higher incomes. Those with lower incomes benefit far less and those same people are in danger of losing their health and nutrition assistance. So any tax savings they gain will need to be spent on food and health care. The Sun wrote about folks with grave medical needs who now worry about losing their medical coverage.
Thank you to U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume and U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks and all Maryland members of Congress who voted “no” on this new law. They stood for decency and fairness.
As for U.S. Rep. Andy Harris who voted “yes” (“Here’s why Andy Harris changed his mind on Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill,'” July 3), he says he and President Donald Trump will need to “mitigate some of the problems with” this new law. This new law is neither decent nor fair.
So, dear elected officials, get busy! We are counting on you to remedy this big new law’s big problems. Voters are going to feel pain and will remember what you did and what you do next.
— Jan Kleinman, Baltimore
Add your voice: Respond to this piece or other Sun content by submitting your own letter.
