“For the People, Not Billionaires” Town Hall Indicted Trump & Congressional Republicans for Higher Costs & Bad Outcomes

“The State of Our Union is Sicker and Poorer,” said Dr. Aisha Harris (Michigan)

“Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill is an assault on our quality of life, our communities…and our democracy.” – Diane Pruitt (Arizona)

Washington, DC [February 24, 2026] – Last night, Families Over Billionaires and over 20 partners brought together people from all across America to examine exactly why Donald Trump’s economic approval ratings are so very low.

“A show of hands: whose daily costs have gone up in the last year?” Families Over Billionaires Executive Director Kristen Crowell asked the assembled guests and audience members at last night’s “State(s) of the Union” town hall in Washington. Everyone’s hand shot up. “100 percent.”

Rep. Gabe Amo (RI-01) previewed Trump’s SOTU for the town hall audience: “We’re gonna hear lies, we’re gonna hear half-truths, we’re gonna hear exaggerations, and we’re gonna hear cruelty. We’re going to hear, forgetting the American people — and that’s the most essential part of the work, is remembering the people you work for.” (See video)

Rep. Sara Jacobs (CA-51) talked about how our tax system is rigged for the rich. She introduced legislation, the Legacy Act, to raise more funds from the estate tax in order to pay for affordable child care for more families. (See video)

HEALTH CARE STORIES

Dr. Aisha Harris (Michigan) from Flint Michigan spoke of how Medicaid is essential to public health and how cuts to the program are extremely damaging. “The State of Our Union in this country is sicker and poorer, and I see this every single day.” (See video)

Jenn Coffey (New Hampshire), a former Republican state legislator, is furious about how unaffordable health care has become – and how Trump and Congressional Republicans voted last year to make things even worse. “Millions of Americans know the shame of resorting to GoFundMe because they don’t want to die…I’m one of them.” (See video)

Willa Shelton (Colorado/CO-08) lost her Medicaid coverage for months and went into debt because of intentional hurdles put in place by the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans. “I felt like I was being targeted. It seemed like they just wanted to take me off of Medicaid, just so these billionaires and millionaires can get even more.” (See video)

Jay Williams (Iowa) is a full-time caregiver for his grandson, who depends on Medicaid for medical treatment after suffering severe burns in early childhood. Jay spoke powerfully about the human right to care: “Medicaid is not charity, it’s infrastructure. It’s a public promise of decency.” (See video)

Karin Mortimer (New Hampshire), alongside her son Tyler, said that threats to Medicaid and public education are deeply unfair to her son living with disabilities. “When you hear that America is stronger than ever, ask yourself, for who?” If her son can’t access the American dream, she said, “it’s a lie.” (See video)

Angel Cummings (Virginia) is a home care worker and mother of two. She says that cuts and new restrictions to Medicaid are “making life harder for the people [Medicaid] is meant to serve.” (See video)

Monique McClure (Illinois/IL-13) was laid off from her Americorps job because of Trump administration cuts to the program. She relied on Medicaid for a health emergency last year and said that cuts to the program deeply harm her and her four children. (See video)

ICE VIOLENCE

Wintana Melekin (Minnesota) said brutal immigration enforcement in her community has compounded the strains people were already facing. But people, she said, have pulled together in remarkable ways to help those targeted. “I should never have to be creating an underground network to get people groceries. I should never have to be advocating for Americans to get due process…Minnesotans are standing strong.” (See video)

ENERGY COSTS & ENVIRONMENT

Taylor Frazier (Maryland) is organizing her community against the development of a large, hyperscale data center in Prince George’s County. Such data centers, including those being greenlit for public lands, drive up costs and strain local resources while people struggle to afford housing and utilities. “I want to tell Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies to back off…We know Donald Trump doesn’t care about our environment, so it is up to us to care.” (See video)

Travis London (Louisiana) an environmental scientist from Baton Rouge: “What about taking billions [of dollars spent on special interest projects] and putting it into something useful,” he said, like lowering the cost of utility bills for people like his aging mother. (See video)

Diane Pruitt (Arizona) lost her job last year due to cuts to renewable energy investments. “That job meant stability, health insurance, and the ability to pay my bills with dignity after decades of hard work. Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill is an assault on our quality of life, our communities…and our democracy.” (See video)

Donna Collett-Ce’carte’ (New York) discussed the huge strain of higher energy costs on her entire working-class family. “I can never catch up on the utility bills. I can’t even break even.” she said. “Utility bills are going up because of corporate greed… and also because we can’t use cheaper sources of energy.” (See video)

YOUNG PEOPLE (SHRINKING OPPORTUNITIES, STRESS)

Allie O-Brien (DC) is a 25-year-old content creator. “I speak for all young people when I say that my nervous system is super not OK. The feelings of betrayal by my own government are shared across my generation.” (See video)

Satra Taylor (Maryland), a doctoral student, says that slashing the Pell Grants that enabled her and many more people like her to go to college will set young people back even further. “This administration eliminated critical student loan programs during a horrible college affordability crisis…threats to the Pell Grant program will make it even harder for families to pay for college.” (See video)

Gavin Hamilton (Arizona) is a college student struggling with the high cost of living, including housing, food, and education expenses. “It creates a physical stress in your body,” he said. (See video)

CHILD CARE

Armett Newman (New York) a child care provider from Rochester, NY said that the Trump administration is putting 90% of the families that rely on her practice at risk. “Parents got a message from the Trump administration that funding was going to be cut for child care. If you don’t have a place where your kid can go and feel safe, you don’t feel like you can go to work.” (See video, AFSCME blog post)

Kara Pitt D’Andrea (Wisconsin) said parents can barely afford child care, and care workers like her can hardly afford their own health care because of the rise in ACA premium costs. “This is obscene,“ she said. Note: Kara is Rep. Gwen Moore’s (WI-04) guest for the State of the Union. (See video)

To interview any one of these speakers, please contact [email protected].

We thank our event cosponsors for their support and tireless work to make life better for families:

AFSCME

Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools

Americans for Tax Fairness

Battleground Alliance

The Century Foundation

Childcare for Every Family Network

Coalition on Human Needs

Community Organizing and Family Issues/POWER-PAC IL

DemCast USA

Economic Security Project

Gen-Z for Change

Groundwork Collaborative

Indivisible

mBOLDen

Main Street Alliance

MoveOn

National Women’s Law Center

Peoples Action Institute

Protect Borrowers

Public Citizen

Responsible Wealth, Project of United for a Fair Economy (UFE)

Roosevelt Institute & Roosevelt Forward

State Revenue Alliance

Unrig Our Economy

Tax The Greedy Billionaires

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Families Over Billionaires is at the forefront of the fight to take on the billionaire class and rewrite the rules of our tax laws so that working people can build good lives with dignity and stability. Learn more on our website: www.familiesoverbillionaires.org.