On paper, the Republican Party has long been in favor of shifting power away from Washington back to the states. The GOP budget law that President Donald Trump signed last week puts that mantra into practice by shifting the balance of support for food and healthcare benefits toward the states.
By refusing to uphold their end of the social safety net, Trump and congressional Republicans have left it to states to somehow keep that net taut. By foisting off federal responsibility, they’ve left governors and state lawmakers to take at least partial blame for people who tumble off into the abyss.
The full impact will vary from state to state, but the overall picture isn’t good. Many state governments were desperately searching for ways to balance their budgets for reasons that had nothing to do with this looming exodus of federal dollars — and then the Trump administration heaped uncertainty on top of that.
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