June 27, 2025

– U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., today wrote to Republican leaders that their budget bill’s proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or letting the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits expire for 3 million small businesses would be a disaster for families and small businesses. 

More than 40% of small business owners surveyed by Small Business For America’s Future are concerned that health care cuts would make it harder to compete with large companies, hurt local economies, and result in higher employee turnover and lower productivity. Small business owners are working entrepreneurs who fuel local economies and create jobs. Gutting these lifelines to give more tax breaks to billionaires is an insult to the workers and business owners who keep our communities going. 

Wyden and his Democratic colleagues wrote Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S. D., and Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho,

“The Republican prescription to cut lifeline health care programs will clobber small businesses making every ounce of effort to keep their lights on,” Wyden said. “I’ve heard firsthand from Oregonians in red and blue communities alike that losing health care coverage will mean one more extra cost that’s hard to afford. As the ranking member of the Finance Committee, I am fighting tooth and nail so working families in Oregon and across our country have the coverage they need to put food on the table and care for their loved ones.”

Small businesses owners surveyed by Small Business For America’s Future expressed fears that the Republican tax scam will hurt their ability to compete and retain employees, squeeze their bottom lines, and ultimately threaten the survival of their businesses and their access to essential health care. The survey also found that:

The text of the letter is here.