Tafoya praised Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, even as Minnesotans got battered with its consequences. Cuts to SNAP in the Big Beautiful Bill were slated to cost Minnesota over $100 million every year, and an estimated 18,000 Minnesotans had already lost food benefits since the bill's enactment. What's more, the OBBB's trillion dollar Medicaid cut endangered healthcare coverage for 140,000 Minnesotans. Still, Tafoya pledged to uphold the law in the Senate, and she even supported repealing the Affordable Care Act, which more than 139,000 Minnesotans rely on for coverage.
[VIDEO] Tafoya Praised The Big Beautiful Bill. “I'm thrilled that the big, beautiful bill reaped some results for a lot of Minnesotans. I've talked to people whose tax returns were better, whose tax bills were lower this year. But it's astonishing to me that Democrats could say we're the affordability party when they have done nothing but increase our taxes. Here. We had a Democrat here who was saying, you know what, you don't pay enough for those tabs, those registration tabs for your cars. Let's raise those by about five times. I mean, this is affordability. They have made it so difficult for businesses to continue to do business here. The people that create jobs and pay people to work, they have run these people out of town.” [Big Ben Show, 5/6/26]
Tafoya Pledged To Fight Any Attempted Repeal Of The “Working Family Tax Cuts” (Big Beautiful Bill). According to Tafoya’s campaign website, “Protect working families’ tax cuts. The far left wants to repeal the Working Family Tax Cuts that just put thousands of dollars back in Minnesotans’ pockets. As our Senator, Michele will oppose any tax increase on the middle class and stand up for us, not the IRS.” [Micheletafoya.com, 8/13/26]
[AUDIO] Tafoya Said The Affordable Care Act Was “One Of The Most Expensive Things That People Have To Deal With.” “Michele Tafoya: There are so many ways. I think we have to look very clearly at health care. And the Affordable Care Act did not make health care more affordable. It is one of the most expensive things that people have to deal with. Of course, bringing down the price of gas, which will bring down the prices of a number of things. But health care is a big driver and there are so many layers of unnecessary regulation and health care that need to be ferreted out of that system.” [MPR News Politics Friday, 4/24/26]
[AUDIO] Tafoya Called For Replacing The Affordable Care Act With A “More Transparent And Much More Patient Oriented” System. “Brian Bakst: What would it be replaced with? Michele Tafoya: Well, I think what we need is a system where it's much more transparent for patients and much more patient oriented. What we've seen is that it's becoming much more corporate oriented so that companies can purchase all of these health care providers and systems and make it paperwork intensive so that the patients aren't the ones getting the most attention out of this. The corporations are to me, it's like getting rid of so much fat and waste and layered bits in that system that don't allow us transparent access to what we're actually spending on health care. What does it cost me to go and get a vaccine? What does it cost me to go and get a checkup? What does it cost me to go and get my kid's appendix out? What is that going to cost? And who is going to take care of what? You know, what insurance? I think it's been one size fits all through the ACA, and that is not the way to insure a nation.” [MPR News Politics Friday, 4/24/26]
The OBBB Cut Medicaid By $1 Trillion, Endangering Healthcare Coverage For 140,000 Minnesotans. According to MPR News, “The new federal law includes the largest cut to Medicaid in history, reducing funding by $1 trillion. As a result, nearly 12 million Americans are expected to become uninsured over the next decade, and according to Minnesota health officials, an estimated 140,000 Minnesotans are likely to lose health coverage. These upcoming cuts come in addition to a federal hold on $243 million of Medicaid funding that the Trump administration imposed because of possible fraud in state programs.” [MPR News, 4/17/26]
The OBBB’s SNAP Cuts Were Slated To Cost Minnesota Over $100 Million Per Year, Already Having Caused 18,000 Minnesotans To Lose Their SNAP Benefits. According to the Minnesota Reformer, “The law, which President Donald Trump named the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, requires states to pay more for SNAP, which provides food assistance to low-income people and families. States with a higher rate of erroneous payments must pay a higher percentage of SNAP benefits in their state. […] Based on the 2024 payment error rate, the state projected $168 million in new costs over the next two years. With the new, higher payment error rate, that projection is now around $250 million over two years, not including increased administrative costs. […] Blaha said at least 18,000 Minnesotans have lost SNAP benefits since Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Independence Day last year.” [Minnesota Reformer, 7/2/26]