Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05) has responded to statements from Governor Tony Evers regarding the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, accusing the governor of spreading misinformation about the legislation’s impact on Wisconsin residents.
“Governor Evers is trying to scare taxpayers with false claims about the One Big Beautiful Bill, just as Vice President JD Vance visits Wisconsin to highlight how it’s delivering real results for hardworking Americans, farmers, and manufacturers. His claim that the One Big Beautiful Bill will ‘increase costs for Wisconsin taxpayers by over $284 million’ misrepresents reality. Here are the top five falsehoods he’s spreading, and the facts that set the record straight,” said Fitzgerald.
Addressing Medicaid coverage and costs, Fitzgerald stated: “Governor Evers claims the One Big Beautiful Bill creates barriers to Medicaid and increases costs. Governor Evers is wrong, as usual. Wisconsin’s Medicaid program is going to work better for children, pregnant women, the disabled, and the elderly by ending system waste, fraud, and abuse. CBO estimates that work requirements for able-bodied adults will save taxpayers nearly $326 billion over the 2025-2034 period. We also secured a historic $50 billion investment for America’s rural hospitals through the Rural Health Transformation Program. The One Big Beautiful Bill ensures taxpayer dollars support those who truly need care, not illegal aliens or able-bodied adults refusing to work.”
On food assistance programs such as SNAP, Fitzgerald commented: “Governor Evers says the One Big Beautiful Bill makes it harder for parents, children, and seniors to get food assistance. This is, again, a false statement. The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers the most significant SNAP reforms in history, protecting benefits for those in need while ensuring the program operates as Congress intended. Since 2019, enrollment has surged 17% while costs ballooned 83%. Because the federal government entirely funds SNAP benefits, there is minimal incentive for states to control costs, enhance efficiencies, and improve outcomes for recipients.States, who administer the program, collectively make over $10 billion per year in erroneous SNAP payments. The national average error rate of 11% has nearly doubled since 2019. Our reforms to SNAP save taxpayers nearly $200 billion by introducing a modest, incentive-based state benefit share, expanding work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, controlling runaway state administrative costs, and restricting eligibility for illegal aliens.”
Fitzgerald also addressed education and nutrition programs: “Governor Evers claims that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminates cost-saving education programs designed to help keep people healthy. What he fails to mention is that he’s defending SNAP-Ed, a program that costs taxpayers $500 million a year without improving nutrition or reducing obesity among participants. Even the Government Accountability Office confirmed it doesn’t work. It’s the definition of bloated government spending. Our focus is on restoring integrity to SNAP, keeping it strong for families who truly need help, and finally putting Washington’s spending habits on a diet.”
Regarding concerns about state budget impacts raised by Governor Evers: “Governor Evers argues Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services can’t absorb the so-called ‘increased costs’ of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Translation: he’s upset that it forces blue-state governors to reduce wasteful spending instead of passing the bill to Wisconsin taxpayers. The One Big Beautiful Bill makes programs work better for the Americans they’re supposed to serve by ensuring states take responsibility for reducing their own inefficiencies.”
Finally addressing other elements of what he described as omissions from Governor Evers’ statements: “Finally, Governor Evers conveniently ignores everything else the One Big Beautiful Bill delivers for the American people. It delivers historic tax relief by boosting take-home pay, makes the Trump Tax Cuts permanent, eliminates taxes on tips and overtime, provides seniors eligible for Social Security tax relief, increases the child tax credit, and protects family farms from the death tax. It also fully funds President Trump’s border wall and increases staffing for ICE and Border Patrol to keep our communities safe.”
“From putting more money in the pockets of hardworking Americans to making our national security a top priority, this legislation delivers on what Wisconsinites need most. Governor Evers’ misleading claims can’t change that,” said Fitzgerald.
Scott Fitzgerald was re-elected in both 2020 and 2022 general elections with more than sixty percent of votes each time.
