What We Believe:

• Now more than ever, it’s critical to fight for health care, nutrition assistance, housing, child care, and other essential services that help millions of families meet their basic needs and thrive.
• Everyone in America deserves stability and security. As the cost of living rises, people are falling on hard times, oftentimes through no fault of their own — whether due to job loss, illness, or struggling to keep up with everyday expenses.
• Substantial cuts to basic needs services designed to support us during tough times threaten the well-being of our nation’s children, families, and communities.
• A more efficient government does not have to be one that abandons the services that support people when they most need it.
• The “One Big Ugly Bill” guts health care, nutrition assistance, school meals, child care, housing, and other essential services through the largest cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history.
• Slashing billions from Medicaid and food assistance will raise costs and cause millions of low-income people, children, seniors, and people with disabilities to suffer — all while giving massive tax breaks to the wealthy.
• We should be strengthening and improving basic needs programs — not taking them away.
• As the One Big Ugly Bill is implemented across the country, we should focus on helping families who need support to afford health care, food, and other basic needs — not making it harder for them to get by.
• Instead of gutting services to fund tax breaks for the wealthy, lawmakers should ensure the wealthy pay their fair share and invest in making essential services work better for children, families, seniors, and others who need them most.

Why We’re Defending Medicaid: 

• Health care is a basic need, and Medicaid is an essential lifeline for tens of millions of Americans. It supports the core needs of low-income families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities across the country.
• The One Big Ugly Bill approved massive cuts that will take away health coverage and raise health care costs — leaving millions without access to life-saving treatments, routine care, and necessary medications.
• About 14 million people will lose health care coverage and be left uninsured. It also raises costs for more than 20 million people in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces.
• As the new law takes effect, new paperwork requirements will take Medicaid away from people who cannot meet them — including sick children, seniors, veterans, and people receiving long-term care or living in nursing homes.
• Many working people and legal immigrants will also lose coverage because of bureaucratic hurdles or job instability — such as having hours reduced, being laid off, or taking time off to care for a loved one.
• These cuts threaten the health care infrastructure of entire communities. When hospitals close and providers leave, even people with private insurance will struggle to get care.
• We should be strengthening health care access and making it work better for everyone — not cutting the programs that keep our communities healthy and strong.r with chronic illnesses will be the most likely to be hurt by losing their jobs AND their health care.

Why We’re Defending SNAP: 

• Many families already feel the pressure of rising costs of basics like milk and eggs, and SNAP is a crucial support for millions.
• The One Big Ugly Bill slashes SNAP funding by nearly 30%— cutting or eliminating food assistance for millions of families at a time when grocery prices are already high.
• This massive cost shift to states could force some to reduce the number of people receiving help, slash benefits, or drop out of the program entirely. For the first time, most states will be required to cover a share of SNAP’s food benefit costs.
• The bill also adds new red tape for vulnerable groups — including veterans, people experiencing homelessness, youth aging out of foster care, and now adults aged 54–64. It even makes it harder for parents with older children to access SNAP.
• Cuts to SNAP also mean cuts to school meals. When children lose their SNAP benefits, they lose automatic eligibility for free school lunches — putting more kids at risk of going hungry and forcing schools to shoulder unpaid meal debt.
• SNAP and child nutrition programs are among the most effective tools to fight hunger, support educational outcomes, and reduce long-term health care costs. Cutting these lifelines is not only misguided — it’s economically shortsighted and morally indefensible.
• SNAP doesn’t just help families afford food — it supports local grocers, farmers, food pantries, and small businesses. Smart investments in food and nutrition strengthen our local economy and help build stronger communities across America.m.

Why We’re Defending Child Care and Housing

• Safe, affordable child care and housing are both basic needs — and both are under threat.
• Republicans claim they “delivered on child care,” but this law will devastate the child care system, the workforce, and the families who rely on it. Nearly 28% of early educators and 42% of children under six rely on Medicaid, and 43% of early educator families depend on programs like Medicaid or SNAP to make ends meet.
• At the same time, new housing cuts are putting even more families at risk. The 2026 appropriations bills could cause more than 400,000 people — including children, seniors, and people with disabilities — to lose affordable housing.
• Housing assistance reduces homelessness, improves health and education outcomes, and strengthens families and communities. These cuts will make it harder for state and local agencies to issue housing vouchers promptly and help families stay housed.
• When children and families lose access to child care and stable housing, entire communities suffer. We need to protect and strengthen these basic needs programs, not dismantle them.tion strengthen our local economy and help build stronger communities across America.m.

Why We’re Against Work and Paperwork Requirements

• Newly enacted paperwork requirements will lead to fewer people working and more people losing health care for no good reason.
• These rules punish people who lose their job by taking away their health care too. Individuals in poor health or with chronic illnesses will be the most likely to be hurt — losing both their income and their coverage.
• We all want a more efficient government, but cutting the heart out of programs like Medicaid and SNAP doesn’t eliminate waste — it creates bigger problems down the road, leading to higher costs and more strain on American families and local economies.
• Instead of burdening families with red tape, we should be making basic needs services work better — so when someone falls on hard times, they can get the support they need to get back on their feet.r with chronic illnesses will be the most likely to be hurt by losing their jobs AND their health care.

About the Partnership for Basic Needs

The Partnership for Basic Needs is a coordinated network of stakeholders ready to link arms to center people with low incomes in this historic fight to block cuts to programs that support families struggling to meet their basic needs. A wide variety of health, disability, nutrition, housing, and economic leaders sit at the campaign table, including the Center for American Progress, Center for Law and Social Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Coalition on Human Needs, Community Change, and the National Women’s Law Center.