Sen. John Thune’s tax cuts for the wealthy will hurt South Dakotans. He isn’t solving a crisis. He’s creating one.
I was deeply disappointed in Senate Majority Leader John Thune when I saw the Senate revise the House reconciliation bill in a way that makes it even more damaging to South Dakota. Congress has a choice: continue tax relief for working families or pay for tax cuts for the wealthy by gutting programs that support our most vulnerable—seniors, children, and people with disabilities.
Thune should stand up for South Dakotans by letting $1.1 trillion in tax cuts for the rich expire. Instead, he could champion middle- and low-income families by preserving their tax relief. That is leadership. That’s the correct path forward.
When you have a distant politician in Washington, they don’t know how to make the best decisions for South Dakotans.
Here’s the truth, 95% of South Dakotans could keep their tax cuts without losing access to health care and food assistance, and putting important rural jobs on the line.
If this deceptively named “Big Beautiful Bill” passes as written, it will devastate working families. The modest tax breaks for everyday South Dakotans don’t come close to covering the higher costs the bill imposes on them.
Health care on the chopping block
Under this bill, an estimated upwards of 16,000 South Dakotans would lose Medicaid coverage—60% of whom live in rural areas. That’s not just a number. It means shuttered clinics, lost jobs, and families driving hundreds of miles for care. Community healthcare centers are often the largest employers in their regions. When they close, the whole town suffers.
Medicare isn’t spared, either. One in six Medicare enrollees depends on Medicaid to cover their premiums. That coverage can increase their monthly income by 10 to 20%—a lifeline for many seniors and people with disabilities. But if Congress keeps tax breaks for the wealthy and drives up the deficit, automatic cuts through the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act (PAYGO) will hit Medicare, too.
And don’t overlook the Affordable Care Act. Thousands of South Dakotans—farmers, small business owners, working families—depend on ACA coverage. This bill makes significant changes that complicate enrollment, add red tape, and cause premiums to climb higher. Congress hasn’t addressed the enhanced tax credits set to expire this year. If they vanish, up to 16 million people could lose coverage by 2034.
In total, over 30 million Americans could lose access to care.
Leader Thune recently said, “the best health care is a job.” That might work in theory. But in much of rural South Dakota, the only jobs with health insurance are at the local clinic, hospital, or senior center—the very places this bill threatens. He’s clearly out of touch with rural life.
SNAP cuts hurt families—and Main Street
The bill also slashes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a program 8% of South Dakota households rely on. Nearly 14,000 South Dakotans—including 8,700 children—could lose food assistance. Families stand to lose up to $262 per month in benefits.
The bill would also shift costs to states, mandate work requirements, and block benefit increases even as food prices rise. That instability affects not just families, but the 48 local grocery stores and retailers that accept SNAP. In small towns, these businesses—and the farmers who supply them—are vital to the local economy.
Thune isn’t solving a crisis. He’s creating one
Once again, Leader Thune is siding with billionaires over rural communities, over working families, over the South Dakotans who deserve access to health care, food, and economic security.
This bill isn’t finished. There’s still time to speak out.
Now is a critical time to be heard. Call Leader Thune and tell him to let the tax cuts for America’s wealthy expire and preserve the tax cuts for South Dakota’s working families. It’s time the rich paid their fair share. South Dakotans should not pay with our health, our jobs, and our futures.
Nikki Gronli is a consultant and small business owner from rural Dell Rapids and the former State Director for USDA Rural Development.
Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons
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