Arkansas politicos reacts to Senate passage of ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill” in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday brought reactions from both Arkansas politicians and political groups.

The bill passed after a marathon voting session, as senators worked to get the bill before the president on its imposed July 4 deadline. With its passage in the Senate, it now returns to the House to approve the changes made by the Senate after its initial passage in the House.

If the House makes any changes to the bill, it will have to return to the Senate for approval before being sent to President Trump’s desk for signature into law.

Republican Arkansas Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman both came out in support of its passage. Cotton took to Twitter to state he was proud to support the bill.

Cotton cited the bill’s “largest tax cut in history for working and middle class Americans” and its provisions for increased security.

Boozman released a statement shortly after the bill’s passage, also promoting its tax cut and security provisions. Boozman, the Chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee also spoke to the controversial SNAP changes in the bill.

“We make commonsense reforms to SNAP to ensure the program operates efficiently, is accountable to the taxpayers and helps those who truly need it,” the senator said. “There is also good news for hardworking farmers, ranchers and producers who for too long were forced to operate under outdated policies.”

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, which has opposed the bill due to its Medicaid and SNAP cuts, issued a statement from its Executive Director Keesa Smith-Bradley.

The statement in part: “It [the bill] provides working-class Americans with relatively small tax cuts that would, in many cases, be more than overshadowed by the reduction or even loss of essential services like Medicaid and SNAP, along with the continually increasing costs of everyday goods. Its approximately $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts threaten our state’s overall health system because they could lead to hospital closures that would affect everyone, regardless of what type of insurance they have.”

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Attorney General Tim Griffin earlier issued statements regarding their support for the bill and the last-day removal of the moratorium on states making AI laws for 10 years provision.