- As a part of the Sutherland Institute's 2025 Congressional Series, 1st District Rep. Blake Moore said Trump's 'big beautiful bill' is a "win."
- Moore refuted claims that the bill mainly benefits billionaires, and explained how it helps middle and lower income Americans.
- He focused on provisions such as the child tax credit and Medicaid work requirements as well as the bill's impact on the deficit.
While explaining some common misconceptions about the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill,” Utah’s 1st District Rep. Blake Moore said he thinks the legislation is a “significant win” for the American taxpayer.
As a part of the Sutherland Institute’s 2025 Congressional Series, Moore spoke Monday to a group of students at the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics. The congressman focused on the recently passed Big Beautiful Bill Act, clarifying what the legislation does and doesn’t do.
Moore spent time explaining certain provisions of the bill, such as the child tax credit and standard deduction, as well as its impact on Medicaid.
Was the bill a win or a loss for Americans?
When addressing the debate over whether the tax bill is good or bad for the American people, Moore said “When you’re in the minority, you will use any moment to message against the majority, right, because your goal is to get back into the majority.”
“So, there’s a lot of messaging that goes on about this particular tax bill,” he added.
He highlighted a few specific provisions of the bill that he believes will benefit Americans, such as the child tax credit, standard deduction, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, deducting interest from mortgages and deducting interest on American-made vehicles. The congressman also shared how the bill will help grow the economy.
“Putting pro-growth tax policy in a permanent basis is a significant win that companies and individuals can look and say, ‘I know what my tax situation is going to be like,’” the congressman said.
Moore added that this stability will help people be more confident in investing, and will make companies more confident in hiring additional people and focusing on research and development, which will in turn create more activity in the economy.
“So, I think it’s going to be a significant win,” Moore said.
Moore says bill benefits mostly middle and lower income Americans, not billionaires
One thing that those opposed to the comprehensive tax and spending bill have repeatedly said is that it benefits billionaires and not the majority of Americans. Moore disputed that claim.
“The vast majority of the provisions of this tax bill go to benefit the middle or lower income Americans,” the congressman said.
He brought up the child tax credit and standard deduction, saying that those who have an income over a certain amount cannot take advantage of those provisions. He added that these two provisions make up more than half of the bill.
“There isn’t a single billionaire that takes advantage of the standard deduction, they itemize their taxes,” Moore said. “Standard deduction is taken advantage of by middle and lower income Americans, and they do that because it simplifies, makes it easier.”
What about how the bill adds to the deficit?
Moore was asked how the megabill adds to the national deficit, since the Utah congressman has previously argued that the deficit needs to be kept under control.
“How can Congressman Moore care about the deficit, then I just voted for a bill that’s going to add $3 trillion to the deficit — like, what gives?” Moore said as he began to answer the question.
The representative, who is a member of the Republican leadership team in the House, shared that when writing the bill, the budget committee worked to be very conscious of the deficit, and wanted to make the bill deficit-neutral at a minimum.
He said that those who supported the legislation believe that they can grow the economy at a rate of 2.6%, which would offset the cost of reducing taxes in the comprehensive bill. Moore pointed out that in the most recent quarter, the economy was at a 3% growth rate, which is a good indicator.
“One quarter doesn’t make an economy, but it’s good indicator,” Moore said. “Stock market’s never been higher. It’s at its record. Those are all good indicators. I’m going to need to see six months of it though ‘till I’m fully comfortable knowing that we’re at least a 2.6% growth rate.”
Addressing the bill’s impact on Medicaid
Moore also spoke about the impact of the bill on social programs such as Medicaid. Many people have been upset about the work requirements for Medicaid included in the legislation. Moore defended the change.
“It’s 18 hours a week that we’re requiring you to work or volunteer or in a type of job training program, and it doesn’t even require every month, it’s not even all 12 months, but you’ve got to be showing some positive progress towards some self reliability,” Moore said.
Moore said work requirements are not for everyone on Medicaid, just for those who have no dependents and are able-bodied.
“It’s still a very small portion of the population that fits in that able-bodied, no dependent situation that aren’t currently working, because most still are right, that’s the good thing,” Moore said. “We just want to make sure that we keep that culture of work associated with our social programs.”
He explained that there are two populations of people within Medicaid. The traditional population which is pregnant women, children in poverty, low income elderly and people with disabilities. The expanded population is those of the working age who are making up to 138% of the poverty level, these people are largely uninsured.
“Our work requirements really only target the expanded population, saying, if you’re 40 years old, you have no dependents, you gotta work,” the congressman said.