OSHKOSH – A gathering of around 60 people took to Opera House Square July 3 for another peaceful rally, this time in response to President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Dubbed the Big Ugly Bill Protest, the local demonstration was in opposition to the bill’s cuts to Medicaid and sweeping domestic policy as it relates immigration and border enforcement.
“I fear for the community, especially those being rounded up by ICE and people who are on Medicaid,” said protest organizer and local activist Bethann Richardson. “People are going to be without health care, food assistance is going to be impacted, and these are all important things I think the community needs to rally around and support each other in these times.”
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is set to cut around $1 trillion of Medicaid spending up to 2034.
Known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s budget introduced tax cuts while reducing federal Medicaid funding by approximately $1 trillion over the next decades, likely increasing the number of those uninsured by 11.8 million by 2034.
The bill allocates $150 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make it the single-highest funded law enforcement agency in federal government.
In response, local protesters held signs demanding to defund while showing pictures of immigrants under the title “Disappeared by Trump.”
“You may have the privilege to sit at home and not worry about things like this, but a lot of Wisconsinites do not,” Richardson said.
61-year-old wheelchair-bound resident Lorna Yaroch says she fears for her life with the cuts to Medicaid.
Another community member, 61-year-old Oshkosh resident Lorna Yaroch, waved a “Defend the Constitution” flag while speaking about her health challenges and the possibility of losing Medicare.
Wheelchair bound, Yaroch said she fears for her life following the passing of the bill as her husband works through iLIFE to take care of her at home full time.
“There are a lot of us that are going to die because we need Medicaid just to save our lives,” Yaroch said. “I have open wounds that my colon is coming through, I have a bad heart, and I am on a lot of medication.”
Indivisible Winnebago WI put a ‘Honk for Democracy’ sign on an overpass on Interstate 41.
Members of Indivisible Winnebago WI, which staged an anti-Trump “No Kings Day” protest less than a month earlier, also staged a “Honk for Democracy” sign on an overpass on Interstate 41.
According to the nonprofit organization, the goal was also to raise awareness of the bill while commuters were traveling north for the Fourth of July weekend.
“We love this country, and that means standing up for our democracy and against authoritarianism,” the group said in a written statement. “The Fourth of July is about independence, but those freedoms aren’t guaranteed. We have to defend them every day and every day going forward.”
The Bill Ugly Bill Protest came on the heels of that much larger “No Kings Day” rally, which saw more than 1,500 people flood downtown Oshkosh in opposition to the Trump administration’s multimillion-dollar military parade on Flag Day.
Around 70 local advocates also staged a “Not my President Day” demonstration in February at Opera House Square.
Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@gannett.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @justinmarville.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Oshkosh protest July 3 drew around 60 people opposing Trump’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’
Reporting by Justin Marville, Oshkosh Northwestern / Oshkosh Northwestern
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
