As Congress raced to send the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to President Donald Trump before the Fourth of July, Erin Murphy pounced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you cut health care to give tax cuts to the wealthy you should have to bathe and care for the seniors, sick and disabled you hurt,\u201d the Minnesota Legislature\u2019s DFL Senate majority leader posted<\/a> on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an interview this week, Murphy vowed to have the Senate hold hearings on the Trump policy bill in the coming months even though the Legislature is out of session (This is perfectly legal<\/a> so long as convening committees do not take action on legislation.)\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to be really clear about what is in the bill and share that information with Minnesotans,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n That Murphy rang the alarm on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is important. It is also predictable<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Far less predictable is how Republican state legislators have responded. While Minnesota congressional Republicans<\/a> put out bullish statements explaining their \u201cyes\u201d votes, House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, and Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, have not drawn attention to the bill in social media posts or press releases.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is not like Demuth and Johnson are on digital detox retreats. Each sent out news releases the past week on topics like Gov. Tim Walz billing the state<\/a> $430,000 in legal fees in preparation for his appearance before a congressional committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n To be sure, opining on federal laws is not a job requirement. Especially if that means discussing in a blue state a Trump-orchestrated law that 61% of Americans oppose, according to<\/a> a CNN poll.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt strikes me as unusual for state legislators to feel a need to weigh in on federal legislation,\u201d said Seth Masket, a political scientist at the University of Denver who focuses on state legislatures.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, what Minnesota Republicans have said about the bill shows nuance and a diversity of views in the party, which hasn\u2019t recorded a victory for a statewide office since 2006. It may also show a crack of daylight between themselves and Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n The party line\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Demuth and Johnson declined interview requests, but did give written statements.\u00a0<\/p>\n Demuth and Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey and the GOP floor leader, provided a joint statement that concluded, \u201cOn balance, this bill appears to benefit Minnesotans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we\u2019re still looking at the broader impacts of the bill, there are a lot of great policies included for Minnesotans including extending low and middle-income tax cuts and reducing the federal tax on tips and overtime so people can keep more of their hard-earned money, increasing the child tax credit, and implementing requirements that ensure that those on Medicaid who are single and able to work are doing so,\u201d Demuth and Niska state.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Republicans\u2019 win on domestic agenda makes winners of some Minnesotans, losers of others<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Johnson wrote that, \u201cThe reforms in the One Big Beautiful Bill protect both our safety net and federal budget. In contrast, Minnesota Democrats turned an $18 billion surplus into a projected $6 billion deficit \u2014 while raising taxes by over $10 billion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Complimenting the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as fiscally sound could prove wrong over time An early Congressional Budget Office analysis projected<\/a> the law would add $3.9 trillion to the national deficit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Johnson also stated that \u201cWork requirements for welfare remain broadly popular, fraud prevention is a top public concern, and no one who truly needs help will be denied the safety net they depend on.\u201d<\/p>\n The GOP Senate leader is alluding to childless, able-bodied adults of working age on Medicaid demonstrating<\/a> that they are working, volunteering or in an educational program. There is evidence to support Johnson\u2019s claim that the work requirements are popular.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Center for the American Experiment, a conservative think tank based in Minnetonka, polled 500 Minnesota voters in late May and asked if they supported, \u201cProposals to require nearly all working adults to be working or looking for work in order to have health insurance through Medicaid.\u201d<\/p>\n Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they would support such a proposal, while 40% would oppose it.\u00a0<\/p>\n This tracks with nationwide views. A KFF poll found<\/a> that 62% of adults surveyed support work requirements for Medicaid.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2026But what do other state Republicans say?<\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s where things veer off script.\u00a0<\/p>\n One state House committee co-chair said he had no specific knowledge of the bill. Another said he used xAI\u2019s Grok chatbot to understand the bill and then had to start over when realizing\u00a0 that \u201cliterally two-thirds of the information was completely fabricated coming from articles of dubious quality.\u201d<\/p>\n That lawmaker \u2014 Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, and co-chair of the Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee \u2014 noted that one of the measure\u2019s key parts is quadrupling the cap on the state and local tax deductions (commonly referred to as the SALT deduction) people can write off on their federal taxes from $10,000 to $40,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n The provision could help states like Minnesota with higher tax rates<\/a> retain wealthy residents, West said, since those taxpayers can deduct much of their Minnesota taxes from what they owe the feds.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBlue states should love this,\u201d West said in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n West, meanwhile, expressed astonishment that erasing taxes on tips made it into the final bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t believe they were able to actually pass the tax tip deduction,\u201d he said. \u201cI just thought Donald Trump said that because he wanted to win Nevada.\u201d<\/p>\n