The massive domestic policy law known as the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, and as much of the act’s impact will be seen in years to come, many in Illinois are looking ahead either optimistically or cautiously.

U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, a Republican from Murphysboro serving this coverage area, voted in favor of the bill as it made its way through the House of Representatives.

A press release shared by his office detailed his support, describing that the bill will permanently extend 2017 tax cuts, provide over $175 billion for border security and eliminate taxes on tips and overtime – tipped and overtime workers will be able to deduct $25,000 and $12,500, respectively, from their income.

“President Trump and conservative majorities in Congress were elected to shut down the border invasion and put America’s taxpayers first,” Bost said. “I voted to lock in the Trump tax cuts and avert the largest tax hike in our nation’s history, while securing the border and kicking fraudsters off benefits intended for families in need. I’m proud to work closely with President Trump to deliver on our promises to the American people.”

Democrat officials have been substantially less positive about the policy, pointing particularly to cuts to Medicaid and new work requirements that could make it more difficult for people to access Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

One such official is U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Springfield, who voted against the policy in the Senate.

“Republicans are abandoning American families to give tax breaks to billionaires,” Durbin said. “There’s nothing ‘beautiful’ about slashing health care coverage for 17 million Americans, closing rural hospitals, and taking food off the table for children, seniors, and veterans.”

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, also a Democrat, expressed a similar sentiment.

“More than half a million Illinoisans will lose health coverage and hospitals, health clinics and nursing homes across the country will shut down,” Duckworth said. “Adding insult to injury, the legion of middle-class and working-class Americans who lose their livelihoods will be unable to receive safety net support precisely because of the Republicans who voted for this awful legislation that killed their jobs. There is nothing beautiful about this catastrophe of a bill—it is fiscally and morally irresponsible.”

Per a July 10 article by Peter Hancock for Capitol News Illinois, the cuts to Medicaid are set to total over $1 trillion at the federal level over the next decade, with Medicaid in Illinois estimated to lose roughly $48 billion in federal support.

Another Capitol News Illinois article from July 3 notes that the $48 billion cut is about 20 percent of what Illinois would have received, among the largest reductions of any state.

That same article references a comment from Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, suggesting that more than 330,000 Illinois residents would lose Medicaid coverage.

A key concern among opponents of the law regarding the cuts to Medicaid funding are the ramifications for hospitals in rural areas where more of the population is covered by Medicaid.

Locally, Deaconess, the organization which owns Red Bud Regional Hospital as well as a number of hospitals throughout Southern Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky – offered a statement on the cuts, noting that more reliance will be placed on a piece of state legislation providing hospitals with discounted access to medications.

“Coverage losses are expected which will likely cause an increase in uncompensated care,” Deaconess stated in a response. “For rural hospitals like ours, which already operate on narrow margins, that means fewer resources to sustain essential services close to home. As these financial challenges grow, non-taxpayer funded programs like 340B will become even more critical to help support and maintain essential services for patients who need them most. We appreciate efforts by Illinois policymakers to improve provider rates and protect the 340B program, but these steps cannot fully offset the scale of federal cuts.”

Sparta Community Hospital CEO Joann Emge also spoke with the Republic-Times to comment on the Medicaid reduction, noting the hospital will continue to focus on its service though concerns center on patients receiving the regular care they need.

“The concern is if people are not covered by Medicaid, will they be uninsured, and if so, will the focus be on episodic care meaning they’re not gonna seek healthcare until they’re very sick?” Emge said. “Which then is gonna mean higher costs and poor outcomes. As patients come, we’re gonna continue to treat them, and we’ll continue to take care of them. The concern is, will that preventative care – which is so important – be lost because they don’t have coverage?”

Alongside the cuts to Medicaid, another major concern among opponents of the new law is the addition of work requirements to SNAP benefits as well as a change in how this program is paid for.

Per a July 8 article by Ben Szalinski for Capitol News Illinois, the work requirements which previously only applied to people ages 18-54 will now also apply to people up to age 64 as well as homeless individuals, veterans and young adults leaving foster care.

The requirements demand SNAP beneficiaries perform 80 hours of paid, unpaid or volunteer work each month to qualify.

Estimates from Illinois indicate 360,000 individuals could be at risk of losing eligibility.

Per U.S. Department of Agriculture data, about 1,882,000 individuals in Illinois participated in SNAP in April 2025, receiving a total of about $370,126,000. The average amount received for an individual, then, was just under $200 for the month.

According to the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Randolph County SNAP office – which also serves Monroe County – assisted 5,251 individuals in May 2025.

Regarding the financial support of the program, SNAP benefits have historically been covered by the federal government while states take care of some administrative expenses.

The new domestic policy law will now see states paying for more as those states with substantial error rates in overpaying or underpaying on benefits.

Per the Capitol News Illinois article, Illinois had an error rate of 11 percent in fiscal year 2024, thus falling above the 10 percent threshold that require states to cover 15 percent of the cost of benefits.

As over 1.8 million individuals in the state received about $4.7 billion in SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2025, the state could have to pay about $705 million.

Pertinent to farmers in Monroe County, the law also touches on a number of agricultural matters as discussed in an article by Tammie Sloup for FarmWeek.

The article notes that, while the law doesn’t serve as a proper replacement for a five-year Farm Bill – the most recent of which was passed in 2018 and has received several extensions from Congress – it does add to the farm safety net with up to $66 billion over the next 10 years along with crop insurance programs potentially seeing $6.3 billion in increased spending over a decade as well.