ADDENDUM

to June 10, 2025 Letter from Alaska Business Owners, Workers, and Professionals to Senators Murkowski and Sullivan, and Representative Begich regarding H.R. 1

1.RECLAIM Congressional authority for federal agency budgets and for levying tariffs.

1. With its review of H.R. 1, the Senate has the opportunity to reverse Congressional abdication of its constitutional checks and balances duty.  Further, we urge you to reverse the bill’s many troubling provisions, including those that side-step due process and suspend habeas corpus safeguards (see section 4 below).

1. Return tariff-making authority to Congress where it belongs. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution grants Congress the power "To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises," which is the foundation for tariff-making authority. The US Court of International Trade reaffirmed Congressional tariff authority in VOS v US on May 28, 2025: “Congress manifestly is not permitted to abdicate or to transfer to others the essential legislative functions with which it is … vested.”

2. PREVENT federal deficit expansion through excessive tax cuts.  

H.R. 1 will deepen federal debt to $40 trillion or to 125 percent of GDP by 2035.  In response, Moody’s rating agency lowered the U.S. government’s credit score. The U.S. bond market reacted; yields on medium- and long-term US Treasury bonds spiked yet again. According to CBO estimates, the proposed tax cuts will lower after-tax income for the bottom 40% and raise it for the richest 10%.  In short, the bill punishes the poor today and will burden generations of future Americans.

3. PROTECT Medicaid, Medicare and SNAP safety nets.

a. H.R. 1 unconscionably impairs federal safety nets for America’s most vulnerable populations, including added work requirements and cuts to healthcare spending ($715 billion), to SNAP/food stamps ($300 billion), and to Medicare ($500 billion). Alaska’s 279,000 Medicaid recipients (including 109,000 children) would face about $3 billion in un-covered healthcare benefits for which no safety net alternative exists. “The bill has $1.1 trillion in tax cuts for people who make more than $500,000 a year. And it has $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and food stamps. It is a straight transfer from people who cannot afford food and medical care to people who can afford to fly first class.”[1]      

1. The 68,000 veterans living in Alaska make up 11% of Alaska’s population and comprise the largest per capita veteran population of any state in our nation. H.R. 1 will cut veteran’s benefits and resources from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Alaskan veterans, many of which are some of the most vulnerable people in our state, rely on these essential programs to sustain their quality of life. H.R.1 will forsake our veterans and instead give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, a tragic departure from our core values. Champion our veterans, as they have protected our country, by retaining funding for their programs.

4.  REIN IN funding increases for hostile and unconstitutional immigration policies.

a.       Alaska tourism businesses are already reporting a significant drop in current and future forecasted revenue.  While other countries are opening their doors and welcoming visitors, we are sending a message that travelers are neither welcome nor safe here. This directly affects the number of tourism jobs available for Alaskans, whether lodging, tours, cultural arts, souvenir sales, dining, transportation, or conference services. This year alone, the US is projected to lose 22.5% ($12.5 billion) in travel spending compared to 2024.[2]

b.       H.R. 1 indicates that immigrants, including legal immigrants, can be detained indefinitely by any Department of Homeland Security personnel, with no time limit, and at any facility, State licensed or not. Immigrants are part of the American workforce, and H.R. 1 places them in danger of being illegally detained at any time.  Our employees and prospective employees in Alaska are already afraid and reacting accordingly.

c.       We strongly oppose the $45 billion in funding proposed for immigrant detention centers in H.R. 1, an 800% increase over 2024.[3]  Rather than increasing the power of an already unconstrained Executive, we ask you to work to replace outdated immigration policy with compassion and an eye to the critical labor force role played by immigrants.

H.R. 1 contains many other troublesome provisions that we hope to address in future letters.

[1] Ezra Klein, Trump’s Big Budget Bomb, New York Times, May 23, 2025.

[2] Rachel Chang, Why Are Countries Issuing Travel Advisories for the United States?, Conde Nast Traveler, May 15, 2025.

[3] National Immigration Center, One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Immigration Provisions, May 29, 2025.