CENTRAL VALLEY – Congressional representatives for the Central Valley voted along party lines as the United States House of Representatives passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a signature piece of legislation in President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Reps. Tom McClintock, R-El Dorado Hills, Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, and David Valadao, R-Hanford, voted in favor of the budget bill on July 3, sending it to the White House to be signed into law following months-long negotiations. Reps. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and Adam Gray, D-Merced, voted against the bill.
“No piece of legislation is perfect, but this bill ultimately reflects the priorities of CA-22 — lower taxes, stronger farms, better infrastructure and a commitment to protecting access to healthcare for Valley residents,” Valadao said in a statement released immediately after the bill’s passage.
The bill, which Trump and Republicans have been calling the “big, beautiful bill” and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called the “big, beautiful betrayal,” permanently extends existing tax cuts. At nearly 900 pages, the bill provides funding for many things and simultaneously takes funding away from many programs.
Central Valley residents have paid particular attention to one of the programs set to lose funding — Medicaid. The bill is expected to limit access to health care in multiple ways, and the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that nearly 12 million people will lose their health insurance coverage in the next decades.
In his own statement, Costa, who represents the 21st Congressional District said Republicans chose to “put billionaires and big corporations first at the expense of the people of the San Joaquin Valley.”
“These vital safety nets ensure families can access food, health care and stable housing. But this bill guts those services and puts rural hospitals at risk of closure, while adding $4 trillion to the deficit,” Costa said. “That’s not fiscal responsibility — it’s a direct attack on the communities I represent.”
Within California’s 22nd Congressional District, represented by Valadao, nearly two-thirds of the population is enrolled in Medicaid. This has prompted activist groups and local unions to call on Valadao to vote against the bill and protect access to Medicaid. In response, Valadao has said that he supports some Medicaid reforms but would not support a final bill that reduces coverage for vulnerable populations.
Valadao reiterated this position in his weekly update newsletter sent out on June 27, less than a week before he voted to pass the bill.
“From the beginning, I’ve made it clear to House leadership that I won’t support a final reconciliation bill that threatens access to Medicaid coverage for our most vulnerable populations or jeopardizes the stability of our rural hospitals and health care providers,” Valadao said in his newsletter.
He added that the Senate’s version of the bill “goes beyond the House’s reasonable reforms,” which he said was why he sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on June 24 expressing his concerns about the Medicaid provisions.
In his statement on July 3, Valadao said his “yes” vote was not an easy decision, but was one he ultimately made because the bill preserves the Medicaid program for “for its intended recipients — children, pregnant women, the disabled and elderly.”
According to Valadao’s statement, the bill allocates $50 billion over the next five years to support the Rural Health Transformation Program, intended to support rural and at-risk hospitals like ones in Valadao’s district.
“I’ve been assured by the administration that it will be structured in a way that benefits our providers and keeps our hospitals and communities running,” Valadao said. “To be clear, I still have concerns, … but I’ve worked and will continue to engage with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to identify specific risks to Valley hospitals and mitigate them.”
After the bill passed the Senate on July 1 by a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance breaking a tie, it passed the House by a 218-214 vote. All House Democrats voted against the bill and were joined by two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Trump is expected to sign the bill on the Fourth of July.
