Local leaders, workers, parents, and community activists spoke out against billionaires getting a massive tax break in the OBBBA while everyday Americans got the bill.

MANCHESTER, NH — On Wednesday, July 1, Families Over Billionaires joined local partners, including Our Economy Our Future New Hampshire, MomsRising, and Granite State Organizing Project, in Derryfield Park to share firsthand stories about the real-world consequences of President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans’ decision to pass the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA). Signed into law one year ago this Saturday, the legislation delivered $4.5 trillion in tax cuts to billionaires and large corporations while slashing investments and services that working families rely on.

Manchester was the second stop on the 17-stop nationwide tour from Families Over Billionaires, which will hit 13 states and end on July 16th in Tucson, Arizona. At every stop, local voices and leaders will tell the local story behind the headlines. Learn more here. In Manchester, we heard from the following:

Kristen Crowell, Executive director of Families Over Billionaires: “We are paying the price for billionaires getting handouts. A trillionaire was created under this policy plan.”

Pastor Jon Hopkins, lead pastor at Concordia Lutheran Church in Concord: “As a pastor, I want to say it is immoral to be a billionaire. It is immoral to have two houses when your neighbor has none. That isn’t it. That’s a morality problem.”

Matt Gerding, Mayor of Somersworth, NH: “People often ask why local property taxes keep going up. The answer is simple. When Washington and Concord invest less in our communities, someone still has to pay the bill, and far too often that ends up being homeowners, renters, and local taxpayers. So, meanwhile, big corporations and those at the very top, continue to get more and more from the Republicans in Washington, Republicans in Concord, and that’s just not fair.”

Cora Lynn Hoppe, Executive director of Rochester Child Care Center described in painful detail the struggle of supporting area families and kids: “It destroys my teachers every time I’m required to take a family out [of child care] because of lack of nonpayment. It kills the relationships with the parents who are already struggling, on average, working 42 hours a week in order to provide, and they can’t. We’re finding shoes for children to have because they’re outgrowing them. We had to open a pantry to help support not only our staff be able to afford to eat, but our families to be able to afford snacks. I’ve had to cut services because no longer does the USDA cover enough in order to help feed the families and our children.”

Maria Mutesi, a young Manchester resident and health care advocate: “I know people in my community who feel down during the winter storms, and they refuse to go to the hospital because they didn’t want their families to struggle with paying the bills… This is not happening because America cannot afford health care. It is happening because our leaders have made choices that reward billionaires and powerful corporations, while working families are left to deal with everything.”

Sinehan Kerman, mom from Epsom, NH, who volunteers with MomsRising, put it simply: “We need fair tax systems, so families like ours have a fair shot at the American dream.” She also described the injustice of a tax system that rewards passive wealth more than work.

Terie Norelli, Former Speaker of the NH House and OxFam ambassador: “Working families are squeezed, and what happens to the richest 400 individuals in the U.S.? Well, they pay an effective federal income tax rate of a mere 8%. That’s less than teachers and nurses – probably everyone’s. Working families struggle to pay for food, as Elon Musk’s wealth [increases] over $1 million in a minute. It’s not just Washington; we’re also seeing the national playbook of Trump and Congress right here in Concord, where our state’s economy is also rigged – truly rigged.”

National tour partners include: Gen Z For Change, Protect Our Care, National Women’s Law Center, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, DemCast USA, National Nurses United, Unrig Our Economy, Americans for Tax Fairness