In my last column, I wrote about the damage Republicans’ tax law will do to Nevadans enrolled in Medicaid and the catastrophic impact that will have on our health care system as a whole. As part of this country’s largest-ever transfer of wealth from the poor and working class to billionaires, Republicans’ law is cutting nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid; kicking 17 million people off their health care, including 114,500 Nevadans; and adding $4 trillion to our national debt Unfortunately, that’s not all this law is doing to harm our families.

The Republican tax law also makes devastating cuts to food assistance and could hurt school lunch programs. That means over 40 million Americans, including 16 million children, 8 million seniors, and 1.2 million veterans, will struggle to afford food. One program that’s going to take a serious hit is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps low-income families afford essential groceries and put food on the table. It provides a lifeline to so many of Nevada’s seniors, people with disabilities, and working families. The funding from SNAP is spent at nearly 2,000 grocery stores, retailers, and farmers markets across our state. It’s critical to supporting Nevada’s families and small businesses.

Republicans’ cuts to SNAP to fund billionaire tax cuts will cost Nevada upwards of $250 million in the first year alone. At a time when food insecurity in our state is on the rise, groceries are increasingly unaffordable, and it’s harder and harder to make ends meet, these cuts will devastate Nevada families who rely on food assistance. It will also put even more strain on our food banks, churches, and other charities. One hundred sixty-thousand people in Northern Nevada depend upon the Food Bank of Northern Nevada for their monthly groceries. Now that Republicans are cutting food assistance, more and more Nevadans will be forced to turn to our food banks to provide for their families.

Nevada’s food banks may not be able to keep up with this new demand, and the consequences could be catastrophic for our families. And as Nevada’s children get ready to go back to school, changes to food assistance programs in the new tax bill could threaten kids’ edibility for school lunch programs. More than 315,000 Nevada children rely on the free and reduced school lunch program. These are children who aren’t guaranteed three meals a day at home. But now, thanks to Republican cuts, kids across our state may go hungry, which we know makes them less productive in school and increases the risk of behavioral issues.

Hardworking Nevadan’s deserve a helping hand, and Republicans’ new law is a betrayal of families who spend every day trying to keep their families healthy and fed. I am constantly hearing from Nevadans about the harmful impacts of this law, and I will keep fighting to undo the damage Republicans’ billionaire tax giveaway will cause.