Trump’s Bill Controversial in Bloomington

By: Coles Brown

News Reporting

​    President Donald Trump’s self-described “big, beautiful, bill” recently became law after he signed it on July 4, 2025. This lengthy bill, spanning nearly 900 pages, contains tax cuts for people and businesses, tightened requirements for benefits programs like SNAP EBT and Medicaid, increased funding for national defense and immigration enforcement, ending tax credits for clean energy investments, and a tax on university endowments. Although this bill’s passage signals a major victory for Republicans in advancing their policy goals, Democrats have widely condemned it. Both this political division and a simple lack of knowledge over the specific contents of the bill are identifiable in the Bloomington community.

    ​“The provisions I know of, mainly, I know about the gambling. All the other stuff I’m not too familiar except the broad ideas” said an anonymous source.

    They are referring to the provision that changes gambler’s ability to deduct 100% of their losses from taxes into 90% of their losses. While the effect will likely be negligible for amateur bettors, it will have a significant effect on high-volume gamblers according to Wayne Taylor, an assistant professor of marketing at Southern Methodist University.

    “I would say, if I had to choose, I would say I don’t support it. I would like a couple of things to be changed, because I’m not, I don’t want to rack up any more debt” said the same anonymous source.

    The Congressional Budget Office, an objective and impartial organization dedicated to providing information related to the federal budget and economy to Congress, predicts that this bill will increase the budget by $3.3 trillion by 2034.

     Opeyemi Olofintuyi, a student at Indiana University, said she understood that bill contained “Tariffs, taxes, and some things based on that”.

    While the bill doesn’t modify existing tariffs, the Trump administration is well known for imposing aggressive tariffs on countries around the world to help benefit the U.S. economy, even though some of the countries held strong trade relations with the U.S.

    “I hate it. I hate it a lot cause I see what he’s doing with immigration and ICE. I don’t think that’s the point of America at all. I think it’s going to hurt a lot of people financially, economically, and stability wise as well” continued Olofintuyi. This is not an uncommon opinion. According to the Pew Research Center, around 49% of Americans oppose it, while only about 29% support it.

    A second anonymous source said they knew Trump’s bill contained “a 64 years old [age limit] for the insurance program and cutting tax for the billionaires and adding more tax for lower-income people”. The CBO estimates that the wealthiest households will see around a $12,000 increase in income, while costing the poorest households around $1,600, primarily due to reductions in Medicaid and SNAP EBT.

    “[The bill is] not great, but it is good. I see a lot of low-income people, as I run a liquor store and a gas station, basically I see they get free [benefits], too much money. They don’t want to work” they said later. In addition, they like the work requirements for the benefits as they feel “everyone should work”. Throughout the Bloomington community, there are many people with different opinions on this large bill, reflecting one small part of a huge national debate.