Durbin Meets With AARP Illinois As Congressional Republicans Threaten Cuts To Medicare, SNAP
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Alan Hollenbeck, State President of AARP Illinois, to discuss the impact of Republican’s budget reconciliation bill which will slash Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP for millions of Americans. Republicans’ so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act will raise prices and slash Medicaid and Medicare coverage for working Americans in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, Republicans’ reconciliation bill will force 16 million Americans to lose their health insurance.
Durbin and Mr. Hollenbeck also touched on Durbin’s Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act, which would help prevent scammers from stealing Americans’ savings through cryptocurrency schemes. Each year, Americans, especially seniors, lose tens of millions of dollars to scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs, and this legislation would crack down on crypto scams by adding layers of protections to crypto ATM transactions and requiring greater transparency from cryptocurrency ATM operators.
“Many seniors in Illinois rely on Medicare and SNAP to lead a healthy life, but Republicans are willing to slash these programs in order to offer a substantial tax break for billionaires,” said Durbin. “In my meeting with AARP Illinois leadership today, I made clear that I will push back against this atrocious, dangerous proposal to eliminate health care coverage for 16 million Americans and nutrition benefits for millions more.”
A photo of the meeting is available here.
Under Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, people earning $40,000 a year will see an average tax decrease of $442 per year while people making more than $1 million will see their taxes go down by $79,000 per year. The Congressional Budget Office’s latest analysis found that the lowest-income households in the U.S. would lose $1,600 a year in federal resources while the highest-income households would see a $12,000 annual boost from tax cuts paid for by slashing Medicaid and SNAP benefits.
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