Members of the progressive advocacy group Indivisible took to the Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library on Wednesday, July 9, to hear Rep. Sean Casten and state Rep. La Shawn Ford speak out against President Donald Trump’s reconciliation bill, often dubbed the “big, beautiful bill,” which he signed into law on July 4.
“I was on [W]TTW yesterday, and they asked me, ‘Are there any good parts of the bill?’ and I said, ‘You’re sitting there. Someone’s serving you a horseshit cake, and you’re asking me whether it was a free-range egg that you used,’” Casten said, eliciting laughter from many of the 80-or-so attendees. “Don’t get bogged in the details. It’s the biggest cut in health care in our country’s history. It’s the biggest cut in food assistance in our country’s history. It’s the biggest tax cut for billionaires in our country’s history.”
The bill will result in an estimated 12 million Americans losing their health insurance over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, due to cuts in who is eligible for coverage through Medicaid, including through work requirements, and newly required re-enrollment every six months instead of each year.
The bill affects who can receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and requires states to contribute financially to the program, which will make it harder for low-income people to afford to eat. It also allocates $100 billion to funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement through 2029, making it the largest federal law enforcement agency, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Both representatives said these changes, alongside others, will affect everyday people on multiple fronts and could be “weaponized” against the governing bodies that have to deal with the consequences.
“When President Obama was president, he fought for the Affordable Care Act … He really helped Illinois’ budget. It really helped the county budget, because it took the burden off the state and the counties and provided health care for those that were not eligible for health care. Before Obamacare, they relied on emergency room care, and emergency room care was harmful to the state, city and county budgets,” Ford said. “If the funds are not coming down from Washington, then Illinois has to have a budget to protect Illinoisans, so where do we get the money? What’s scary for me is, it may cause us to raise taxes on people in Illinois to meet the needs of the most vulnerable.”
As the conversation turned to the effects of the Medicaid cuts on hospitals — Medicaid accounts for 19% of all spending on hospital care, NPR reported — Casten pointed out that everyone will feel the blow.
“Even if you have the absolute best private-insurer, no-deductible plan in the world, your quality of care is going to go down,” he said. As more people become uninsured, he said, they will lose affordable access to preventative health care, meaning emergency rooms will become inundated with patients with more severe injuries or ailments.
“I want to give an example of how these things ripple through. They have layers of evil. Let’s say, right now, you’re a parent who works. You are not Medicaid eligible, but just barely. You’re struggling to get by, and you got a special needs kid who goes to a day program that is funded by Medicaid. When your kid goes to that day program, that’s when you work,” Casten said. “Now, Medicaid shuts off that day program, so then, kid’s at home, so now you got to stop working. You go to Medicaid and say, ‘Hey, I got to get on Medicaid.’ Now, they say, ‘Well, we got work requirements.’ Like, think of how evil this is, right?”
The meeting was hosted by the West Suburban Chicago chapter of Indivisible, which spans Brookfield, LaGrange, LaGrange Park and Western Springs, but it drew attendees from across the region.
Kelly Kilboy, a Villa Park resident, told the Landmark her fears about increased ICE funding pushed her to attend.
“We have a large Hispanic community throughout the area. I’m scared because I have a niece that’s Hispanic with a Mexican last name and [who] looks Hispanic. I’m afraid she’ll get abducted right off the street. That’s my biggest fear right now, so I’m doing whatever I can to be involved,” she said.
Kilboy said she hoped Illinois officials, especially Gov. JB Pritzker, would work to require ICE agents within the state to identify themselves as such and not wear masks obscuring their faces.
Meg Phinick, who lives in Indian Head Park, said she felt “especially compelled” to hear from Casten as a regular attendee of his town halls. She said “every single thing” in the reconciliation bill worried her, but she named the Medicaid cuts as her top issue.
“I have an elderly father. I’m worried about the effect of that on nursing homes,” she said.
Bob Mankiewicz, a teacher who lives in Berwyn, said he felt the need to attend due to his area of specialty.
“I’ve been teaching history, social studies for a long time. I’m very concerned with our democracy, with where we’re headed, with the Constitution being shredded, it feels like. The fact that my neighbors, my friends, my family members are under threat from this regime that wants to be authoritarian — I think we all need to do something to stop it.”
Update, July 17, 2025, 2:03 p.m.: This story was updated to include links to Indivisible West Suburban Chicago’s website and a recording of the meeting.
