Abilene, TX – House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) hosted a roundtable discussion with local leaders, elected officials, and advocates in Abilene in support of H.R.1, the One Big Beautiful Bill, legislation passed by Arrington out of the House and signed into law by President Trump on Independence Day.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill not only secures President Trump’s America First Agenda while delivering the largest spending reduction in American history, it delivers critical conservative reforms that will be a game changer for Rural America,”said Chairman Arrington.“Today’s discussions across West Texas were an invaluable opportunity to meet with community leaders, local businesses, and working families to celebrate the tremendous wins for West Texas and our great nation. I’m honored to represent the good people of West Texas in our nation’s capital, and I will never stop fighting for them and all of Rural America.”
Participants Included:
State Representative Stand Labert
Taylor County Sheriff Ricky Bishop
Maj Gen John Nichols (ret) – Abilene Military Affairs Committee
Blen Pugh – Owner of Lone Star Tactical Services
Doug Robinson – Natura Resources
Tim Richars – Abilene Gun Wors
Background:
The One Big Beautiful Bill is full of major conservative wins:
· Tax Cuts
The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers historic tax relief for the American people:
Delivers on President Trump’s promises for no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, additional tax relief for seniors, and no tax on car load interest;
Permanently extends the double standard deduction and provides an additional $1,500 increase for families beginning in 2025;
Permanently extends the doubled Child Tax Credit and provides an additional $400 for a family of four beginning in 2025;
Permanently extends the 20-percent Small Business Deduction for family-owned farms and 30 million small businesses; and
Makes permanent the three major Tax Cuts and Jobs Act business provisions: 100-percent immediate expensing, R&D expensing, and the more favorable deduction for interest.
· Spending Reform
The One Big Beautiful Bill achieved the largest spending cuts in the history of the United States - by two-fold:
Strengthens Medicaid for the most vulnerable Americans by prohibiting non-expansion states from increasing current provider taxes or increasing the base tax to cover new services. It also caps the state directed payment amount for states that have expanded Medicaid at 100 percent of the Medicare payment rate, and requires states to establish community engagement (work) requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents under age 14 - individuals must work, complete community service, participate in a work program, enroll in an educational program, or complete a combination of these activities for at least 80 hours per month.
Restores accountability and prioritizes the dignity of work in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), saving taxpayers nearly $130 billion by reinforcing work, rooting out waste, and instituting long-overdue accountability incentives to control costs and end executive and state overreach.
Agriculture
American farmers and ranchers have faced years of hardship spurred on by record inclement weather, low commodity prices, and input costs that skyrocketed during the Biden Administration. The Farm Bill had not been updated since it last passed Congress in 2018, and the refusal by Senate Democrats to update the Farm Bill in 2023 and 2024 left farmers with an outdated farm safety net while SNAP investments skyrocketed.
The One Big Beautiful Bill secures a $66 billion investment in Agriculture, with $59 billion allocated to the farm safety net. Specific reforms include:
Investment in Titel I reference prices;
Boosts crop insurance;
Cracks down on state abuses of SNAP;
Increases work requirements for able-bodied adults; and
Promotes agricultural trade.
Energy
President Trump and Congressional Republicans ran on restoring American energy dominance, after the Biden Administration’s all-out assault on oil and gas production left the U.S. with higher gas and energy prices.
The One Big Beautiful Bill delivered on rolling back stringent regulations on the oil and gas sector, reducing tax burdens on the sector, streamlining permits, and ending the special treatment that the IRA gave to solar and wind producers, specifically:
Eliminates major Green New Deal provisions;
Repeals methane fee on oil and gas producers for 10 years;
Permitting reform;
Unlocks millions of acres of federal lands for energy production;
Increasing oil and gas lease sales;
Intangible drilling cost tax relief; and
Immediate expensing for R&D and permanent deduction of interest expenses.
Border/Immigration
President Biden’s wide-open southern border resulted in over 8 million illegal border crossings, of which roughly 6.7 million have occurred in Texas, costing the state government billions.
The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers major investments in border security, including:
$46.55 billion to finish construction of the southern border wall;
$4.1 billion for the hiring and training of 3,000 new border patrol agents, 5,000 new Office of Field Operations customs officers, and other urgently needed personnel;
$29.85 billion to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for activities including the hiring and training of new removal officers, transportation costs related to alien removals, and detention facility upgrades; and
$13.5 billion to reimburse Texas and other border states that bore the brunt of Biden’s open border disaster.
National Defense
In order to confront the challenges of the 21st century, the United States must have the most lethal, capable, and well-equipped military in the world.
The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers major wins for our servicemembers, including:
$8 billion towards improving quality of life for military personnel;
$29.17 billion towards accelerating America’s shipbuilding capacity to modernize our naval forces;
$8.6 billion to improve American air capabilities;
$15.8 billion to modernize and advance our nuclear deterrent – included in this total is $4.5 billion to accelerate the production of B-21 bombers to be based at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas; and
$15.69 billion to restock U.S. munitions and expand our ability to produce munitions independent of other countries.
Also included in the One Big Beautiful Bill were tremendous conservative victories, such as defunding Planned Parenthood, safeguarding our 2nd Amendment Constitutional Rights, and codifying 28 of President Trump’s Executive Orders.
