Faith leaders in Bloomington-Normal came together Wednesday in Uptown Normal in protest and prayer, asking local members of Congress to vote no on the Republican tax cut and spending bill.
The “Block the Big Billionaire Bill” rally was hosted by the McLean County Reentry Council. Leaders from Bethel and Wayman African Methodist Episcopal [AME] churches, Live Free Illinois and the McLean County Reentry Council led the protest and prayer vigil.
Demonstrators gathered outside U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood’s office on East Beaufort Street.
Among the key issues for organizers of the protest were proposed cuts of Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP] benefits.
Elexis Thomas, pastor of Wayman AME Church in Bloomington, said she was hearing feelings of devastation, concern and worry among her congregation, regardless of their income level.
“I have a mixed congregation, so you have the higher income who recognize this will now come out of their pockets, you have the lower income who are concerned of death if they can’t pay for their bills, if they can’t live. They’re already having troubles,” she said. “Here in Bloomington-Normal, they’re already struggling with the rent bills and policies, so to now know that the little help they were getting will now be taken away, it’s very devastating.”
Medicaid provides health care for bout 70 million low-income, elderly and disabled Americans. Estimates have said around 11 million people could lose coverage under the proposed work requirements to qualify for the program, according to NPR.
Thomas reiterated, despite her high-income congregants being the recipients of tax breaks, they still have concerns for others, as the Bible teaches them to have.
“The Bible very much tells you that we have to take care of the lonely. We believe God is the god of the oppressed as well,” Thomas said. “We’re thankful for those that are higher income that you have the ability to afford a life and help others, so to not think that you’re effected, or you shouldn’t be effected by others, it would be ungodly.”
Thomas said the bill will affect everyone, regardless of if they are in an assistance program or not.
Medicaid work requirement
Gaynett Hoskins is a community organizer and social worker with Sisters by Experience, a community resource and advocacy organization that educates people on organizations so they can feel confident using their benefits.
Sisters by Experience has roughly 45 clients in Bloomington-Normal. Hoskins said everyone she works with will be affected by the proposed cuts.
“Due to this being simply the only way they can get the help they need, the mental health support that they need, the medications that they need, for them to be able to eat,” she said.
The deepest cuts to health care spending come from a proposed Medicaid work requirement that would cut off coverage for millions of enrollees who do not meet new employment or reporting standards.
The proposed work requirements would require able-bodied adults under 65 to work 80 hours a month to retain or qualify for their benefits. Hoskins said the requirement is not feasible.
“Some of these people, they wouldn’t have a physical disability, but they have mental disabilities that would prevent them,” Hoskins said. “Some of them can’t even live communally because of the way their mind processes their interactions … even for a volunteer opportunity may be so overwhelming, it could actually plummet their mental health.”
Hoskins said every person is too fragile to get rid of the programs because anyone can be on them at one time.
“We’re one car accident away, one fire away, one death away. Any medical condition could cripple us, bankrupt us and cause us to have to utilize these resources,” Hoskins said. “We have to understand that with this economy, regardless of what’s going on, we could all find ourselves in a situation that my clients are seeing themselves in.”
Food assistance
As for SNAP benefits, Hoskins said they help provide food for people, especially the unhoused and families, when nothing else is certain.
“This is how we can consistently make sure that they are safe, and they are fed and that we can give them nutritious options, to be able to take meds, to function,” she said. “The kiddos, we’re looking at families. They’re making for minimum wage, they depend on those SNAP benefits to compensate for what they lack at their employees, to be able to feed their kiddos.”
Under the bill, a wider range of SNAP aid recipients would be required to obtain work. Hoskins said the loss of SNAP benefits will increase poverty rates among children and families.
Pastor Deric Caples is the statewide policy and organizing manager for Live Free Illinois, based in Chicago and representing more than 125 church congregations — five of them in Bloomington-Normal. Caples said numerous congregations across the state rely on Medicaid and SNAP.
“Cutting these programs or lessening the amount given to these programs is going to directly affect them and their ability to work and do what they need to do to take care of their families,” he said.
With the bill now back in the House after winning Senate approval, Thomas said her church is already thinking of ways to help when these cuts begin impacting people in Bloomington-Normal.
“Right now, we’re trying to figure out where do we help, how can we help, what pockets do we help?” Thomas said. “It’s no longer a denominational thing, it’s very much of how do we build in this Bloomington-Normal community and how do we say we need to come together to make sure everyone gets the resources they need.”
Caples said other churches are having the same conversations, but he said it may be difficult as they already are struggling to provide full support with the programs in their current state.
“Throughout the state, there is this problem of not having enough resources,” Caples said. “So, churches are going to continue to do all that they can do for their congregants, but we need the help definitely of the state and of the federal government to be able to fund some of these programs, because … there’s no way they can do it alone.”
McLean County Reentry Council board member Keith Green said it was important to encourage LaHood and other lawmakers to help “kill the bill,” though LaHood has supported the bill and voted for it once before.
“These representatives, they’re not representing us at all,” Green said. “We need this type of resource, Medicaid, health care, health insurance.”
Pam Pilcher-Spencer of Normal attended the rally. She is a former social studies teacher and congregant of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bloomington.
“I call Mr. LaHood’s office often,” she said. “We have to say no to this bill, we need after-school programming, we need a Department of Education, we need SNAP, and we need Medicaid.”
Pilcher-Spencer said while the more well-known provisions of the bill are important, she is concerned about others — like making the Trump 2017 tax cuts permanent.
“What about the taxes on the super wealthy?” she said. “They’re trying to protect the super wealthy, and there’s so many other things hidden in this bill that we don’t even know about … I hope Mr. LaHood can think for himself and does not have to go along with the bully of a president we have.”
LaHood's response
When asked for comment on the Medicaid cut increases put into the bill after its time in the Senate, LaHood reiterated his support.
He remains supportive, and said he is committed to prioritizing the nation’s most vulnerable populations.
"House Republicans are focused on strengthening and investing in Medicaid for those who need it most by ensuring the program continues to provide high-quality patient care for expectant mothers, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly," said LaHood.
"To protect Medicaid for future generations, we must establish a common sense approach to address waste, fraud, and abuse.”
