The sun sets on the U.S. Capitol on March 8, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
Iowa’s House delegation voted in favor of the House GOP budget resolution, despite criticisms from members of some Iowa groups who said the proposal will cut Medicaid and food assistance benefits for Iowans.
The concurrent resolution passed 217-215 Tuesday. The measure does not directly spend money, but is a blueprint to lawmakers to plan for how much money the federal government intends to collect through taxes and fees, and how much will be allocated to government programs in the next decade.
The measure proposes $2 trillion in spending cuts and $4.5 trillion in tax breaks, alongside raising the nation’s debt limit by $4 trillion.
Iowa’s House delegation, all Republicans, voted in support of the measure. U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn said in a statement Tuesday he supported the plan because it will keep federal taxes down. In a news release on the vote, he said reinstatement of the 2017 tax cuts will help prevent a $1,981 tax hike for an average Iowa family and the loss of more than 6,000 jobs in Iowa.
“Unless Congress acts, Iowa families, farmers, and small business owners will face a massive tax hike at the end of this year– adding insult to injury after four years of skyrocketing prices for everyday goods,” Nunn said in a statement. Iowans cannot afford any delay in receiving much-needed relief. That’s why I voted today to prevent tax hikes for the average family and protect jobs. This is a necessary step to ensure more money stays in Iowans’ pocketbooks, invest in our communities, and get our economy back on track.”
But some Iowans with Fairness for Iowa, a group targeting Nunn’s voting record, criticized the GOP plan, anticipating cuts to funding for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). While Trump and other Republicans, including Nunn, have said they do not support cuts to Medicare, the federal insurance program for people over age 65 and Americans with disabilities, the budget proposal could result in cuts to Medicaid, the government program providing health coverage for low-income and disabled residents.
Robyn Agu, an Altoona resident who works for REM Iowa in a “host home” program providing 24-hour care for adults with disabilities, said cuts to Medicaid could leave the people she works with without coverage for the care they need.
“We are terrified of the consequences of losing Medicaid coverage,” Agu said in a statement. “Nunn promised to defend Medicaid when he was campaigning, and now he won’t side with the people he made those promises to. He needs to remember who he works for: all Iowans, including the most vulnerable, not unelected billionaires trying to play king.”
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks was also criticized for supporting the measure. She and Nunn, who represent more purple districts than Reps. Ashley Hinson and Randy Feenstra, both had protesters gather outside office locations in Iowa.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the House Democrats’ campaign arm, said in a news release Miller-Meeks’ vote showed she prioritized “her D.C. party bosses and billionaires over Iowans.”
“Mariannette Miller–Meeks just sealed her political fate by inflicting this massive pain on Iowa families, and no amount of her desperate lies will save them from the political fallout of this vote,” DCCC Spokesperson Justin Chermol said in a statement.
Miller-Meeks said in a social media post Tuesday her vote for the budget resolution was “to ensure that Iowans do not see their paychecks shrink,” claiming if Democrats stand in the way of House Republicans’ spending plans that almost every Iowan would see their taxes increase.
“Small businesses and farmers could see a 20% tax increase and families would see the child tax credit cut in half,” Miller-Meeks wrote. “This is the first step for (Trump’s) America First Agenda of lowering costs, American energy dominance and securing our border.”
Ernst, Miller-Meeks introduce bill on government project disclosures
Miller-Meeks, alongside U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, introduced legislation this week that they say would “expose” government waste by requiring public disclosures on government projects.
The “Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act” would require public disclosure of information related to government projects that are at least $1 billion over budget or five years behind schedule. The measure would require the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance to agencies requesting information on these projects including their current cost estimate and the federal share of their cost, explanations for delays and any changes to the project’s requirements.
Ernst said in a statement Thursday saying the bill will help ensure government spending is efficient, pointing to spending on California’s high-speed rail project and purchases for new U.S. Postal Service vehicles that have encountered significant delays while retaining funding.
“Bureaucrats always find a way to pay a whole lot more for planes, trains, and automobiles—and just about everything else. I am slamming the brakes on boondoggles and bringing them to a squealing halt,” Ernst said in a statement.
Ernst has brought forward the measure in previous years, with the Senate approving the measure in 2024 but the House ultimately failing to pass it. Miller-Meeks introduced a companion bill in the House, praising the bill as part of an effort to save taxpayers’ money.
“Republicans were elected on a platform to tackle waste, fraud, and abuse,” Miller-Meeks said in a statement. “As Members of Congress, we are entrusted to be stewards of taxpayer dollars and government projects that are excessively costly and delayed must be held to account. Our bill will increase transparency — along with ongoing efforts by President Trump — to ensure we aren’t wasting billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”