Delivering for American Families

Today, the House passed H.R. 1, transformative legislation that cuts taxes for working families, secures our border, invests in our armed services, lowers costs for families, and eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid. I wanted to provide you with an update on this bill, which has generated a lot of discussion, and ensure you have the facts about what the bill that passed both the House and the Senate contains.

The federal government’s spending level is unsustainable. As we work to address our broader spending challenges, I am committed to protecting important programs, including Social Security, Medicare, and veterans benefits. This bill provides more than $1 trillion in savings while protecting these programs.  
 
Below is a quick breakdown of some of the major provisions that I voted yes on: 

Securing our Border

In the past six months, border security has improved significantly. Thanks to strong border policies now in place, Border Patrol apprehensions at the Southwest border dropped from 117,905 in May 2024 to just 8,725 in May 2025—a 93% decrease.

H.R. 1 builds on these reforms by: 

• Investing $175 billion to keep Americans safe
  • Hiring 3,000 new Border Patrol agents and 5,000 new Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers to address illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and human trafficking
  • Allocating more than $46 billion to build and modernize the wall

Every year, more than 1,400 Wisconsin residents lose their lives to opioid overdoses. In Kenosha County alone, we have lost more than 250 individuals to a drug overdose since 2020. Many of us know a friend, family member, or neighbor who has been affected by substance abuse. H.R. 1 allocates $6 billion to expand cutting-edge border technology, helping CBP intercept dangerous opioids like fentanyl before they enter the U.S. and enhancing border surveillance capabilities. 

Lowering Costs

This bill reduces taxes for hardworking families.  Under current law, without changes, taxes would have increased 22% for Wisconsin families at the end of this year—equivalent to $1,500 per family. H.R. 1 prevents this tax hike and goes further—delivering real tax relief for families.

This bill also: 

• Provides a new $6,000 tax deduction for seniors, up to $75,000 annually for single filers or $150,000 for joint filers. 
• Helps American workers by ending taxes on tips and overtime.
  • Ends taxes on tips up to $25,000 for individuals making $150,000 or less annually 
  • Ends taxes on overtime up to $12,500 for individuals making $150,000 or less annually 
• Makes the Child Tax Credit permanent and increases it to $2,200 per child 
  

I'm proud to support these initiatives and will continue working to reduce costs for American families. 

Investing in National Defense

In an increasingly dangerous world, it is more important than ever to make meaningful investments in our armed services and national security to keep our servicemembers and country safe. H.R. 1 does just that. 
 
The bill invests nearly $150 billion to modernize our military and strengthen national defense. It supports our servicemembers by providing $9 billion in funding to increase allowances and special pay and renovate military barracks and housing. The bill dedicates over $7 billion to improve servicemember quality of life, including expanded childcare assistance, military spouse licensing support, and upgraded healthcare access.  
 
The bill bolsters our defense industrial base:

• $29 billion for shipbuilding and maritime infrastructure
• $25 billion for integrated air and missile defense
• $20 billion to expand our stockpile of advanced munitions and strengthen supply chain resiliency. 

Additionally, it invests in cutting-edge technologies such as unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, while improving readiness, cybersecurity, nuclear deterrence, and Indo-Pacific capabilities. 

Unleashing American Energy

We need an all-of-the-above strategy to meet our nation’s energy demands.  

The bill restores American energy dominance, helping lower costs for families and boosting job creation across the country. For example, it reinstates quarterly onshore oil and gas lease sales, mandates at least 30 lease sales on the Gulf Coast over the next 15 years, and requires six additional sales in the Cook Inlet of south-central Alaska. It also resumes leasing for energy production in the National Petroleum Reserve and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as well as coal leasing on federal lands. These measures will help unleash American energy, strengthen our energy independence, support American workers, and provide reliable and affordable energy for years to come. 

The bill also eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse in energy subsidies that were passed during the Biden administration, saving taxpayers over $550 billion. For example, the bill repeals the Electric Vehicle Tax Credit, a program that provided a $7,500 subsidy for the purchase of an electric vehicle. 

In the media, there has been discussion of federal land sales. The final bill does not authorize the sale of federal lands. 

Strengthening Medicaid

H.R. 1 will strengthen Medicaid by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse and ensuring citizenship verification for program recipients while preserving Medicaid for every American whom the program was designed to serve. The bill will protect critical care for pregnant women, children, and disabled Americans. This legislation ensures vulnerable populations will continue to receive the Medicaid assistance they need.

Unfortunately, many states have abused the Medicaid program to expand its benefits far beyond the intended purpose of the program. H.R. 1 will bring other states more in line with Wisconsin, which runs its Medicaid program more efficiently and effectively than most other states.

H.R. 1 implements commonsense work requirements for able-bodied, working-age adults without young dependents. To be clear, the bill’s work requirements do not impact pregnant women, children, seniors, disabled adults, individuals with mental health or substance use disorders, adults with dependents, or primary caregivers of individuals with a disability. These work requirements are flexible, allowing individuals to work, volunteer, go to school, or seek work for just 20 hours a week to meet the standards. This provision makes sure that able-bodied, working-age adults without young dependents are contributing to their community to receive Medicaid dollars.

H.R. 1 makes many other fixes to Medicaid that improve the program and save taxpayer dollars. These changes include: 

• A new Rural Health Transformation Fund, which will provide a minimum of $100 million to Wisconsin’s hospitals annually, offering additional support for providers in rural and low-income communities; 
• A new Medicaid waiver to assist states in implementing and expanding their home- and community-based services programs, ensuring disabled Americans can receive care within their own communities. 

Lastly, the bill addresses instances of fraud by preventing enrollment in more than one state’s Medicaid program, removing deceased individuals from Medicaid rolls, and improving eligibility checks to ensure that we are not wasting taxpayer dollars. 

Even with these changes, according to multiple estimates, spending on Medicaid will continue to increase over the next decade under this bill. For example, this year Medicaid spending is projected to be just over $650 billion. Under this bill, estimates project that Medicaid spending will exceed $800 billion by 2035. 

Preserving SNAP

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food benefits to low-income families. In 2024, the federal government provided Wisconsin $1.4 billion in SNAP benefits for 700,000 recipients. This bill ensures SNAP remains effective and sustainable for whom the program was designed to serve. The bill implements work requirements and addresses waste, fraud, and abuse in the program.

The bill reduces waste, fraud, and abuse by holding states accountable for payment errors. The average SNAP payment error rate is approximately 10%, with some states reporting rates as high as 25%. H.R. 1 sets a clear accountability threshold, requiring states with error rates above 6% to take corrective action. Wisconsin’s current error rate is 4.47%, meaning it would not be impacted—so long as it continues to administer the program responsibly. 

H.R. 1 removes eligibility for illegal immigrants and institutes work requirements for able-bodied, working-age adults without young dependents. The bill exempts requirements for pregnant women, children, seniors, and disabled adults. It is important to note that Wisconsin already has work requirements in place, and federal law requires it to check the eligibility of SNAP recipients by verifying their employment income levels at least twice a year. In short, H.R. 1 ensures that other states are operating similarly to Wisconsin and encouraging work.

These commonsense updates preserve support for families facing hardship while safeguarding taxpayer dollars and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the program.

Conclusion

Again, today the House passed transformative legislation that cuts taxes for working families, secures our border, invests in our armed services, lowers costs for families, and eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid. All of these important reforms ensure that Wisconsin workers and families can keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. I look forward to continuing to find ways to lower costs for families.

This bill now heads to the President's desk for his signature.

As always, feel free to contact my office if you have any questions, want to share an opinion, or are having trouble with a federal agency. 

On Wisconsin,

Bryan Steil
Member of Congress

Click here to subscribe to my e-newsletter