THE “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which President Donald Trump signed into law on the Fourth of July, secured important wins for the people of the Marianas, U.S. Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds said in her latest weekly e-newsletter.
“The legislation provides lasting economic relief for working families by permanently increasing the maximum Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $2,200 per child,” she said. “It also eliminates federal taxes on tips and overtime pay, and raises tax deductions for seniors. Crucially, H.R. 1 preserves funding for the CNMI’s Medicaid and Nutrition Assistance Programs. While the bill seeks to root out fraud in federal welfare programs through various reforms, these changes will not affect our block grants. The bill keeps the CNMI’s Medicaid funding structure intact with an 83% federal match rate and roughly $66 million, while our nutrition assistance program grant, negotiated between the CNMI and USDA, is also untouched.”
King-Hinds said she “worked to ensure the reconciliation bill would not affect these vital programs that so many of our residents depend on. Additionally, President Trump’s tax and spending plan allocates increased resources for border protection, bolsters funding for national defense initiatives, and safeguards key taxpayer-funded programs.”
Work requirement
In an interview with reporters on Wednesday, King-Hinds expressed concern about the work requirement “because we don’t have jobs right now [in the CNMI]. The economy is in such poor state, businesses are closing, work hours are being reduced and we are going to require people to work to be able to avail themselves of healthcare when there are no jobs.”
But she also noted that the new law counts community service and job training as “jobs.”
There is going to be a certification process for those seeking Medicaid coverage and nutrition assistance to prove they are looking for work or getting job training and doing community service, she said. “As to how all these rules are going to be implemented — that remains to be seen,” King-Hinds added.
She said her office is “going to track this and see what impact this new law will have on the CNMI.”
She added that her job “is to make sure that I’m focused on what impact it may have on the CNMI and that I stay on top of it.”
