Where Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' leaves Michiganders on Medicaid, tip tax, EVs

• The Senate approved a bill extending some tax cuts, restricting spending on Medicaid and food stamps, and altering environmental programs.
• Medicaid and SNAP beneficiaries face potential cuts and new work requirements, while states may bear increased costs.
• The bill's financial impact is debated, with Republicans claiming it will boost economic growth and Democrats arguing it favors corporations and increases the deficit.

After an all-night session, the U.S. Senate on July 1 narrowly approved sweeping legislation President Donald Trump likes to call his "big, beautiful bill" that extends earlier tax cuts while slashing others, restricts spending on Medicaid and food stamps and gets rid of environmental programs while hiking the debt the nation can pile on.

It now heads back to the U.S. House, where it will likely be approved a final time this week before being whisked to the White House to be signed into law by Trump, who has made it the center of his legislative agenda. While that's happening, here's a handful of details Michiganders should know, since they may well be personally impacted:

• First, it extends, adds to or makes permanent many of the tax cuts Congress put in place in 2017, during Trump's first term (and which were set to expire) such as reducing individual tax rates and increasing the standard deduction and child tax credit while also keeping lower taxes for corporations in place.
• But it doesn't stop there: Through 2028, the bill provides an additional $6,000 tax deduction for any tax filers over 65 (which phases out for individuals with adjusted gross income, or AGI, of more than $75,000 a year or jointly filing couples making more than $150,000) until 2030. And the annual deduction for state and local income taxes increases from $10,000 to $40,000 (though it reverts back in 2030).
• And, as Trump promised on the campaign trail, it includes a tax deduction on tipped income through 2028 (though it's limited to $25,000 and phases out for individuals with AGI over $150,000 and couples filing jointly with AGI over $300,000); another deduction for overtime pay (again, through 2028, and it's capped at $12,500 per taxpayer and phases out similar to the one for tipped income); and a deduction — capped at $10,000 a year — for interest paid on a new car loan through 2028 (though the car has to have been assembled in the United States and it phases out for AGI over $100,000 individual/$200,000 couples filing jointly.)
• Meanwhile, not only does the legislation scrap a tax break of up to $7,500 to encourage the sale of electric vehicles (EVs), it moves up the date those consumer subsidies end to Sept. 30 of this year. Also gone are breaks for installing EV chargers and deductions for other clean energy projects will be terminated or phased out. And while a proposal to eliminate former President Joe Biden's strict tailpipe emission standards for cars and light-duty trucks — which Trump and Republicans have called an EV mandate — didn't end up part of the bill, it now includes a provision that reduces civil penalties for automakers that violate fuel economy standards set by the federal government to zero.
• Despite Republicans' denials to the contrary, the biggest losers in the legislation, according to nonpartisan congressional scorekeepers, appear to be those who receive health benefits through Medicaid, the government-funded insurance plan for low-income individuals and families, and those who get assistance though the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, otherwise known as food stamps. Nationwide, some 11.8 million people are expected to lose health coverage by 2034, the vast majority of whom are on Medicaid, with rules requiring able adults (including those with children over age 14) show they are working, going to school or receiving training 80 hours a month or lose benefits. There are similar new work requirements for SNAP and limits on states providing waivers unless they have high unemployment. States (meaning state taxpayers) are also expected to shoulder more of the cost of the programs as well.

As a reference point, Michigan has about 2.6 people on Medicaid and about 1.5 million people on SNAP.

Republicans have insisted throughout that their changes strengthen Medicaid and SNAP, protecting them for people who need them most. Democrats, meanwhile, have argued that putting more bureaucratic barriers in place blocks some who need the benefits from accessing them.

Then, there's the much-debated question as to what the ultimate impact of the legislation will be on the nation's finances: Trump and most Republicans in Congress have argued it will be a boon, that greater tax cuts will spur more growth in jobs and economic activity. But Democrats say most of those benefits go to corporations and the wealthy; even some Republicans balked at the Medicaid cuts and others say the legislation only cuts $1 trillion or so while adding more than $3 trillion to the deficit.

Former Trump adviser and Tesla head Elon Musk was so incensed by the cost he even said he'd again consider starting a third political party and funding primary challengers to Republicans who voted for the bill, touching off another verbal battle with the president.

A handful of measures did fall out of the bill — like a proposal to restrict states from regulating artificial intelligence technology and another that would have limited when courts can enforce a contempt order in certain cases (and was seen as a way of restricting interference in Trump's attempts to ramp up deportations and fire federal workers). But it also reached into other areas, adding funds and resources for securing the Southern border from immigrants and prohibiting Medicaid payments for gender transition or abortions.

Republicans widely praised the bill: In a joint statement with House Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders, U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, said the House owes it to the public to pass the bill quickly. "The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years of Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay," they said.

Democrats continued to press the case against its passage.

“The bill that Republicans just passed will rip health care away from hundreds of thousands of Michiganders, make it harder for families across the country to afford food and pay their energy bills, and balloon our deficit by trillions of dollars," said U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who voted against it. "This bill is reckless, irresponsible and an unconscionable betrayal of American families.”

Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on X @tsspangler.

This story has been updated to correct a misspelling.