WAGNER WATCH: Is Rep. Ann Wagner upholding her commitment to Missouri families?

The Republican budget bill – signed into law July 4, 2025, with full support from Missouri’s Republican members of Congress – includes the largest Medicaid cuts in U.S. history, ripping away health care from millions of Americans in order to fund massive tax giveaways for billionaires. 

In Missouri, an estimated 170,000 people will lose MO HealthNet, our state’s Medicaid program, and at least 58,000 are at risk of losing food assistance. Hundreds of thousands more face cuts to health care, food assistance, or other vital services.

So, why does Representative Ann Wagner claim this law preserves and strengthens vital safety net programs? Why does she insist it keeps taxes low when it’s gutting essential care to fund tax breaks for billionaires?

The truth behind “common-sense” requirements

Wagner’s language is misleading. The Republican budget weakens Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by adding new red tape meant to kick people off, not to encourage work.

• Work Requirements: The law targets Medicaid Expansion enrollees and expands SNAP work rules to adults 55-64 and parents of teens as young as 14. The result? People losing coverage rather than gaining jobs.
• Increased Renewals: Medicaid enrollees must now reapply every six months, overwhelming our state system that is already broken.

If Wagner were honest, she’d admit this is a deliberate attempt to cut critical services by making them harder to access and easier to lose.

A “golden age” for whom?

Wagner says the budget gives states “skin in the game” to run SNAP more efficiently. In reality, it’s an unfunded mandate that shifts responsibility and cost onto states like Missouri. 

Starting in 2028, Missouri might be required to allocate up to 15% of its total SNAP benefits, on top of increased administrative costs, to sustain current levels. That amounts to an estimated $180 to $254 million impact on the state budget. If Missouri can’t cover this, families will face cuts.

Wagner calls this the “golden age” for Missouri. Let’s be real: it’s a golden age for billionaires. For everyone else? It’s a devastating, life-changing disaster.

• Nearly 1.3 million Missourians rely on MO HealthNet, including 4 in 10 children, almost 75,000 seniors and 123,000 people with disabilities.
• In Wagner’s district, over 73,000 Missourians are enrolled, including more than 28,000 children and at least 8,200 individuals with disabilities.

She voted to cut their coverage and raise their costs. 

This isn’t “pro-family.” It’s not “pro-worker.”

It’s a full-scale attack on the Missourians Wagner was elected to represent, and she’s proud of it.