What’s in the House reconciliation bill, and how will it affect Georgia?

Medicaid and health care

The legislation would introduce new work requirements for able-bodied adult Medicaid recipients starting in 2026. Initially, these changes were delayed until 2029, but some hardline Republicans pushed for the change to happen sooner to save more money.

Georgia’s Medicaid program already has some work requirements built in for certain populations, but the reconciliation bill could require more people to meet these standards. Critics say these types of provisions usually don’t lead people to find jobs but instead cause them to lose coverage.

The bill also creates new out-of-pocket costs for Medicaid enrollees. Hospitals and health clinics that are not allowed to turn people away even if they can’t afford to pay are likely to see an increase in uncompensated care provided.

Medicaid recipients will be required to resubmit paperwork more frequently to verify their information and income. That is likely to lead to people losing coverage if they fail to meet deadlines or don’t have the required documentation.

The bill would allow a federal tax credit to expire that subsidizes the cost of insurance for Georgians who purchase coverage on the health care exchange created through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. And it ends marketplace coverage for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients and legal immigrants.

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 610,000 Georgians, an increase of 5%, could become uninsured if the reconciliation bill passes in its current form.

Food stamps and agriculture

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is commonly referred to as food stamps and helps low-income families pay for groceries. About 1.4 million Georgians are enrolled in the program. The reconciliation bill imposes some of the most sweeping changes to the program in decades.

The legislation requires states to pay at least 5% of SNAP benefit costs, but that amount increases on a sliding scale that relates to the error rate in each state. The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute estimates the state could be on the hook to pay $325 million in SNAP costs in 2026. State leaders would have to either find money in the budget to cover the costs or make adjustments to lower SNAP usage.

The reconciliation bill also expands work requirements to include more nondisabled adults who are SNAP recipients, which could cause some people to lose eligibility. This could have a trickle-down effect on grocery stores and other retailers frequented by SNAP recipients.

Language taken from proposals to renew the five-year Farm Bill was also added to the package. That includes money to stabilize crop prices, provide crop insurance and improve agriculture technology. These farm bill provisions are likely to be seen as a boost for Georgia’s agriculture industry.

Border security and immigration

The bill calls for increased spending on border security and immigration enforcement by roughly $300 billion. The Trump administration envisions more arrests and detentions of immigrants across the country.

The bill also increases fees for immigrants applying for asylum, work permits and humanitarian protections. It creates a new fee for families who want to sponsor an unaccompanied immigrant minor. These fees could make these resources out of reach for some families in Georgia.

Clean energy

The bill modifies or eliminates most of the clean energy tax credits found in the Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2022 during the Biden administration. This includes ending tax credits for purchasing electric vehicles and an early phaseout of initiatives to boost the production of wind, solar and nuclear power plants.

Democrats say these measures were put in place to slow climate change and create more green energy sources to offset the use of coal and oil.

It is estimated that 82,000 Georgians have jobs working in the clean tech industry, and many of those jobs were created since the Inflation Reduction Act became law. Advocates say these changes could lead to job losses in Georgia and other Republican-led states that benefited the most from these provisions.

Taxes

The bill permanently extends the tax cuts passed in 2017 during Trump’s first term while restoring or expanding other tax cuts. Taxpayers will continue to enjoy a larger standard deduction and lower income tax rates.

Language preventing taxation on tipped wages and overtime is included, which was one of Trump’s campaign promises. The legislation also creates a new $4,000 tax deduction for Americans over age 65 to address the president’s efforts to end taxation on Social Security benefits.

The child tax credit is increased by $500, and for the next four years, parents can invest in the stock market using a $1,000 “Trump account” credit for any babies born.

In total, these provisions would add $3.8 trillion to the national deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Republicans also finalized language for an increase in the cap for State and Local Taxes deduction, also known as SALT. This mostly benefits states on the East and West coasts, where high-income taxpayers want to offset local income taxation.

Conservative GOP members also successfully lobbied to add language to the package that eliminates a $200 tax on gun silencers that has existed since Congress passed the National Firearms Act in 1934.

World Cup

The bill includes $1.6 billion for local and state preparation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Olympics. The Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles.

The World Cup includes sites across Canada, Mexico and the United States, including Atlanta.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the most recent changes to the bill.