NESPELEM—Republicans in Congress passed President Trump’s massive piece of legislation referred to as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (“OBBA”). It was signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. No Democrats voted for the bill.
Due to the bill’s size of 940 pages, it is difficult to concisely summarize the OBBA. In general, it extends the tax cuts President Trump and Republicans passed in Trump’s first term in office, which were otherwise set to expire in the near future. The OBBA cuts many service programs to pay for the tax cuts, including Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”), and Medicare. Even with the service cuts, the new law is not fully paid for and is projected to add nearly 4 trillion dollars to the debt of the United States.
As the bill worked through Congress, the Colville Tribes worked proactively with many other tribes across Indian Country to defend tribal sovereignty and advocate for the special status of tribes as the indigenous stewards of their lands and people. The result of this advocacy is that tribes are exempt from some of the biggest cuts to service. For example, the OBBA imposes new work requirements on the Medicaid program, but tribes are specifically exempt from this requirement. The OBBA will require Medicaid recipients to redetermine their eligibility for the program every 6 months now, as opposed to the previous requirement of a year, but this requirement will not apply to tribal citizens. Tribal members will also retain their exemption from all premiums, deductions, cost sharing plans, and similar charges in the Medicaid program, while those costs will rise for non-Indians with incomes over 100% of the federal poverty level.
Rural hospitals such as Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chewelah, and tribal clinics, should be eligible to participate in a $50 billion fund designed to mitigate the impacts on rural hospitals. The Tribes will lobby to assist Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee with keeping OBGYN services.
With regard to SNAP, tribal members are again exempt from expanded work requirements set forth in the OBBA. However, the OBBA will require states to share the costs of SNAP benefits if their error rate for payments is over 6%. In 2024, Washington was just over the 6% error rate. Depending on how Washington handles this, if the state was to shrink its SNAP program, that could potentially impact tribes.
Unfortunately, there are other cuts to which tribes and tribal members are not exempt. The OBBA rescinds many funds provided in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, many of which focused on the environment. OBBA also eliminates several clean energy tax credits that tribes were eligible to receive.
Colville Business Council Chairman Jarred-Michael Erickson said, “The Colville Business Council is aware that many of our members are deeply concerned about the OBBA, particularly because the national news often does not mention the tribal exemptions to some of the largest cuts in service. And even with the tribal exemptions in mind, there is still much to be concerned about with the cuts made in OBBA.”
The Chairman continued, “But while there will be challenges in the months ahead, the Colville Tribes will face these challenges the way we always have: with courage, ingenuity, and hard work, and not with fear. We will remain focused on protecting our people, as we always are, from any threats that might come our way. Our fight for justice and for equitable treatment of our people will continue for as long as it takes to achieve our full measure of sovereignty and independence.”
Source: Colville Tribes
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
