JustLeadershipUSA decries the Congressional passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Last week, Congress passed the Senate-amended version of H.R. 1, entitled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The reconciliation bill primarily aims to renew and expand expiring tax provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, and moves forward a wide variety of current administration priorities.

For people returning from incarceration and those surviving from the impact from the criminal legal system, last week’s decision is a devastating cut to key resources for satisfying basic human needs. In response to passage of the legislation, JustLeadershipUSA released the following statement:

Last week, Congress turned its back on the millions of people across the country living with the impact from a conviction history. The policies found within this massive tax and spending package only exacerbate the disproportionate harms already felt by those closest to the problem but who are furthest from the resources to make change happen. These harms are felt throughout many of the most basic human need categories from nutrition and healthcare to housing and economic stability.

Last week, Congress turned its back on the millions of people across the country living with the impact from a conviction history.

Here are just some of the negative results this legislation will have:

• Assaults on access to healthcare for millions — including those pursuing continuity of care in reentry. Additional processes and policies will make it much more difficult to navigate the landscape to obtain coverage in reentry and beyond. It will not only impact continuity of care during reentry, it will also impact the quality of available providers and service coverage related to correctional healthcare.

 

• Shifts nutrition assistance costs to states — many of which have already signaled the potential inability to continue offering SNAP benefits. Too many people impacted by the criminal legal system already struggle to access nutrition due to carve outs for felony drug convictions. This bill moves us in the wrong direction and leaves those reentering society, at the mercy of bureaucracy.

 

• Reduces options for federal student loan repayment — regardless of economic hardships.

 

• Hampers expanding employment pathways in energy and transportation, and misses the mark on much-needed funding for housing stability in an uncertain economy.

 

• Slashes the necessary resources for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to enforce consumer protections.

 

• Expands the carceral state with billions of dollars in investments for ICE detention facilities while negatively impacting the social determinants of health for people reentering.

At a time when impoverished families are already spending thousands of dollars a year to support loved ones who are incarcerated, the added losses estimated for families puts everyone in impacted communities at risk.

In light of the passage of this harmful piece of legislation, we implore Congress to now advance effective policies for holistic reentry supports that recognize the connection between economic mobility, wellness, and safety.

Learn more about how we are elevating issues impacting the 70+ million Americans with lived experience at the Federal level through the JustUS Coordinating Council (JCC) at justuscc.org.