Higher Costs, Fewer Freedoms: One Year of the Big Ugly Bill

The bill’s disastrous impacts on Wisconsinites over the past twelve months raise serious questions about who Congressional Republicans like Tiffany are really fighting for

wisconsin republican tom tiffany talking with his mouth open
wisconsin republican tom tiffany talking with his mouth open

MADISON, Wis. – On the one year anniversary of GOP Congressman Tom Tiffany and his fellow Wisconsin Republicans casting the deciding votes to pass the Big Ugly Budget Bill, A Better Wisconsin Together says the bill’s disastrous impacts on Wisconsinites over the past twelve months raise serious questions about who Congressional Republicans like Tiffany are really fighting for (hint: it’s not the average Wisconsinite).

After being signed into law by Trump in July 2025, the Big Ugly Budget Bill championed by Tiffany has awarded tax cuts for billionaires, at the cost of: 

  • Rural Wisconsin hospitals at risk of shutting down (including one in Tiffany’s own district);
  • 270,000 Wisconsinites at risk of losing their healthcare;
  • A 58% increase in monthly healthcare costs, forcing the average enrollee to pay $178 in 2026 for the same care that only cost $113 in 2025;
  • Nearly 20,000 Wisconsinites unable buy groceries or feed their family;
  • Putting Wisconsin on track to lose 30,000 jobs in the next ten years;
  • A nearly $100 increase in Wisconsinites’ energy costs;
  • Eliminating programs that ensure thousands of kids across the state have access to food and education;
  • And more.

Despite this, Tiffany has repeatedly doubled down on his support for the bill, even calling it “a better future” and “major win.”

“A better future and major win for who? Certainly not for the average Wisconsinite,” said A Better Wisconsin Together Communications Director Lucy Ripp. “If hiking costs and ripping healthcare, food, and jobs away from hardworking families, seniors, and children in order to fund tax cuts for billionaires is Tiffany’s definition of a major win, he might want to buy a dictionary.”

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A Better Wisconsin Together is a state-based research and communications hub for progressives and is an affiliate of ProgressNow.

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