What is in the One Big Beautiful Bill?

Added by Indo American News on August 4, 2025.
Saved under Politics

By Chetan K. Dave

Congress recently passed the legislation known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) and signed into law on July 4th. Only some major aspects have been covered by the media but there are a lot of smaller provisions which have not received much attention because the bill was a sprawling 900+ page document. Given how little time was available, hardly any Congressman or Senator has read the entire the document before voting.

Items marked (*) have conditions attached to them.

Key highlights are:

·       No change to current personal tax brackets.

·       Deduction for state and local taxes increased to $40,000 from $10,000 (*)

·       Income from Tips and Overtime pay up to $25,000 is exempt until 2028 (*)

·       Interest on loan for vehicles assembled in US is tax deductible (Tesla, GM, Ford etc.)

·       Seniors (65 yrs+) will be able to deduct $6,000 from their taxable income but Social Security income will remain taxable (*)

·       New tax deferred “Trump Accounts” opened for newborn children of US citizens between 2025 and 2028 will receive $1,000 from govt and parents/family can contribute $5,000/yr. Money can be used for higher education and house downpayment etc.

·       $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit to be ended by September 2025

·       There are many changes to Medicaid and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Access Program). One major change is a new 80 hr/ month work requirement for people 19 to 64 yrs old. Verification of eligibility will change from once a year to every six months.

·       Establishes minimum staffing ratios for nursing homes. This may cause many nursing homes to close down.

·       New 5-year waiting period for new green card holders before being able to apply for Medicaid.

·       Federal funding for SNAP will be reduced from 75% to 25%. States will have to fill the gap or reduce benefits and coverage.

·       Estate tax exemption will be permanently increased from $6.5 million to $15 million per person. $30 million per married couple. This will benefit wealthy households.

·       1% tax on all remittances sent abroad by non-US citizens

·       Purchases on Temu and Shein will no longer be exempt from tariffs.

·       Department of Defense budget increased by $150 Billion

·       Immigration (ICE) funding increased by $170 Billion. This is more than FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency and Bureau of Prisons combined.

·       NASA budget increased by $10 Billion, $85 million of which will pay for relocating Space Shuttle Liberty to Houston.

·       Student loan repayment moratorium is cancelled and repayments will resume.

·       Student loans for graduate school capped at $20,500/yr  ($50,000/yr for medical and law schools) and a lifetime cap of $257,000.

·       Small business owners will be able to immediately expense 100% of any purchase of equipment and certain R&D and capital expenses.

Overall, OBBB will add $3.4 Trillion to the national debt over 10 years, the single largest increase to deficit ever and the largest during peacetime. The law also included a $5 Trillion increase to the national debt ceiling. This Bill consistently polled to be unpopular. Fox News poll before the passage showed 59% opposed and 29% in favor.