The following is a statement from Matt Hildreth, Executive Director of RuralOrganizing.org.
Let’s be clear: every rural American better come to grips with the fact that the passage of this Republican bill is the “Rural Destruction Bill.”
Trump’s bill will only increase daily expenses for Rural America at a time when people can least afford it. Ronnie Dunn said it best, “The cost of livin’s high and goin’ up.”
For years, rural Americans have been squeezed by rising costs. Groceries, gas, childcare, housing, healthcare—you name it, it’s gone up. And through it all, rural families have continued to do what we’ve always done: making tough choices, working multiple jobs, and stretching every dollar to keep our communities going.
Now, with the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Republicans have taken that struggle and made it worse. After promising rural voters for months that they would never support Medicaid cuts, Republicans in both the House and Senate have successfully passed the most significant Medicaid cuts in history.
This bill doesn’t lower costs for rural America – it does the opposite. It cuts critical rural programs that are the backbone of small towns and rural communities across America, and gives tax cuts to wealthy Americans on the backs of those already carrying the heaviest load. And make no mistake – there will be a disproportionate impact on our communities.
Cutting $930 billion from Medicaid to pay for billionaire tax cuts won’t help rural families—it’ll force local hospitals to close, meaning longer drives and higher bills for basic care. Slashing food assistance doesn’t make groceries cheaper—it just means more parents skipping meals so kids can eat. Eliminating tax credits for clean energy and electric vehicles doesn’t lower energy bills—it increases them.
At RuralOrganizing.org, we hear from people across rural America who are asking themselves tough questions like, “Should we have a second child, even if the hospital’s an hour away?” or “Can we afford to move home and take care of our parents? And “Is now the right time to start that small business or go back to school?
This Republican bill makes it harder for everyone to answer those questions. It amplifies the uncertainty that millions of Rural Americans are already facing in a moment when families are already overwhelmed by economic instability, climate disasters such as wildfires, floods, or droughts, and shrinking safety nets.
And what makes it even worse is that this was supposed to be the moment for solutions. This was the Republicans’ big opportunity to invest in the voters who elected them into office. Instead, they passed a bill that strips away support from those who need it most to benefit those who need it least.
We’ve spent the last few months working against this legislation, and we’re not done fighting. Many of the bill’s worst provisions don’t take effect immediately. And we’re going to use every minute we’ve got to fight back, organize locally, and protect the services that keep our rural communities alive.
We will hold accountable every politician, especially those in swing districts, who voted to raise costs, cut care, destroy markets, and cut services. Republicans made a choice, and they chose to stand with their big donors in big cities and screw over Rural America.
We won’t wait any longer. We are organizing right now, day and night, to ensure that by November of 2026, every rural voter in swing districts will know exactly why their cost of living is going up while their access to critical services is going down.
We are done just surviving. We’re organizing to win so we can thrive.
About RuralOrganizing.org
RuralOrganizing.org is a national network of passionate small-town civic leaders working to enact bold policy changes that lower the cost of living and improve the quality of life in rural communities across America. We believe rural people deserve a fair shot and a strong voice in the decisions that shape their lives—from healthcare and education to jobs, infrastructure, and the future of our democracy.
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