Robin Hood, New York City’s Largest Local Poverty-Fighting Philanthropy, Condemns U.S. Senate Passage of the So-Called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’

NEW YORK, NY — July 1, 2025 — Today, following the Senate’s passage of the 2025 tax and domestic policy bill, Robin Hood CEO Richard R. Buery Jr., released the following statement:

“The Senate today passed the bill known as “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a deeply regressive, deficit-expanding bill that pulls the rug out from under everyday working and poor Americans in a moment of widespread economic strain. The impact of this legislation is profound: it puts nearly 14 million Americans at risk of losing their healthcare and forces 43 million to go hungry, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This is poor policy. At its core, the bill violates everything we know about fighting poverty and sparking economic opportunity. Fighting poverty today is an investment in tomorrow’s economic growth, and this bill will make New York, and the rest of America, less safe, less healthy, and less wealthy, both now and in the future.”

Already, poverty in New York City is at its highest rate in a decade: One in four New Yorkers lives in poverty, and 58% of all New Yorkers live on incomes less than 200% of the poverty line. 

The Senate spending bill cuts $800 billion in funding for Medicaid and $300 billion for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Statewide, nearly 7 million New York residents rely on Medicaid for healthcare, including half of all children in low-income families. Similarly, 3 million New York State residents get their daily meals through SNAP benefits, a majority of whom are children, seniors, people with disabilities, and 56,000 of whom are veterans.

Furthermore, rather than address the design flaws in the federal Child Tax Credit that currently prevent 17 million low-income children from receiving the full credit, the spending bill would actually increase the number of children who are excluded to 21 million nationwide – forcing us deeper into the shameful crisis of child poverty.

While the impact will fall disproportionately on the poor, all New Yorkers will feel the pain. New York will need to consider raising taxes and cutting other spending to fill the gaps, stifling individual upward mobility and limiting our collective economic growth. By 2029, the Commonwealth Fund estimates that the bill will cost New York State 114,000 jobs, a $17.6 billion reduction in the state’s gross domestic product, and $1.7 billion in lost state and local tax revenues. The result: less funding for schools, police, firefighting, subways, buses, roads, and housing.

As a poverty-fighting institution, Robin Hood’s grantmaking focuses on evidence-based solutions to poverty. Today’s vote blows a hole through everything we know to be true about investing in the long-term success of low-income families and children.

America is built on a powerful idea, the American Dream, that where you begin life should not dictate where you end up in life; that the circumstances of your birth should not define your destiny. The bill the Senate passed today will make the American Dream ever more elusive.  We can and must do better.”

About Robin Hood:
We are NYC’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy and have invested nearly $3 billion since 1988 to elevate and fuel New Yorkers’ permanent escape from poverty. Our grantmaking with more than 250 community partners tackles solutions for child care, child poverty, jobs, living wages, and more. At Robin Hood, we believe your starting point in life should not define where you end up. To learn more, follow us on X @RobinHoodNYC or go to robinhood.org.

MEDIA CONTACT

Crystal Cooper, Deputy Director of Communications
press@robinhood.org