Washington County Democratic Party Slams Reckless GOP Bill That Strips Healthcare, Food, and Jobs From Tennesseans While Rewarding Billionaires
The Washington County Democratic Party (WCDP) strongly denounces the passage of the Republican-backed “Big Beautiful Bill,” calling it a cruel assault on everyday Americans, especially working families, seniors, and children in Tennessee. This reckless legislation will rip away healthcare from 16 million people, slash food benefits for millions more, raise energy costs, and devastate rural communities, all to hand out massive tax breaks to billionaires and Big Oil.
“This bill is nothing short of economic sabotage for Washington County and all of Tennessee,” said Sylvain Bruni, Chair of the Washington County Democratic Party. “It’ll take food off the tables of thousands of our neighbors, close our rural hospitals, raise our utility bills, and leave many of us without healthcare… just to bankroll billionaires and corporate polluters. This isn’t governance. It’s greed, plain and simple.”
The so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” will end SNAP benefits for 10,500 Washington County residents, shut down Meals on Wheels for over 500 local seniors and veterans, and raise average household energy bills by $170 per month by cutting clean energy programs. It will jeopardize the rebuild of the Unicoi County Hospital and close other medical facilities, leaving thousands without nearby emergency care, and end healthcare coverage for over 310,000 Tennesseans. Even Republican donors like Ballad CEO Alan Levine have warned of the devastating consequences of the bill to healthcare in our region. At the same time, the bill lavishes $1 trillion in tax breaks on the wealthiest 1% and hands $18 billion in subsidies to Big Oil corporations, all while adding $3.4 trillion to the national debt.
This bill also strips states and local communities of their right to regulate AI and Bitcoin, undermining democracy at the state and local level, right at a time we are fighting to protect our neighborhoods from the devastation of crypto mining facilities. It even eliminates free direct tax filing for working families, forcing more people to pay for basic services just to file their taxes.
Senators Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn, along with Representative Diana Harshbarger, all voted in favor of this disastrous bill, thereby betraying the very people they were elected to represent. Their votes directly attack working families, seniors, veterans, and small businesses in Washington County and across Tennessee.
WCDP calls on every Tennessean to fight back at the ballot box. We need leaders who will protect working families, not sell them out. Register to vote, show up at every election, and help us elect candidates who will reverse this disaster. Visit https://wctndp.org to get involved, volunteer, and help us turn outrage into action.
