Rick Jackson, the Republican nominee for governor of Georgia, supports the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the tax and spending law signed on July 4, 2025: his campaign said on April 27, 2026 that he supports the bill, "Period." By KFF's reckoning from the budget office estimate, the law's cut to federal Medicaid money for Georgia comes to $7.6 billion over ten years, and KFF projects 150,000 more uninsured Georgians in 2034.
Before that statement, Jackson had defended work requirements for public assistance and praised the law's tax cuts at a Thomasville campaign stop; after it, in September 2026, he proposed a Georgia Medicaid waiver with strict work rules. His own company's physician recruiting firm, meanwhile, cited in February 2026 a Congressional Budget Office projection of more than 10 million Americans losing coverage, a loss the report tied to eligibility rules and work requirements and to expiring tax credits.
Rick Jackson's Statements on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in Order
- Jackson Called Critics of Work Requirements for Public Assistance "Dead Wrong," in February 2026. On February 15, 2026, Rick Jackson posted that critics of work requirements for public assistance are "dead wrong" and that the real problem is "trapping people in dependency." The next day he wrote: "Work is a blessing, not a curse," with a Bible verse about not eating. The law his campaign later said he supports extends SNAP's work rules and time limit to adults aged 55 to 64 and to parents of children 14 and older, changes that the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, analyzing the Senate proposal that became law, estimated would put 50,000 older Georgians and 46,000 Georgia parents at risk of losing food aid.
- Jackson Praised "Many Parts" of the Law and Its Tax Cuts at a March 2026 Campaign Stop. Fox News reported on April 27, 2026 that at a Thomasville campaign event in March, Rick Jackson said there were "many parts" of the law that were "great," said he would be paying "40 percent more in taxes" without it, and defended its work requirements. The Congressional Budget Office found that the law raises the resources of the top tenth of households by an average of $13,600 a year while the lowest-income tenth loses about $1,200, mostly through cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, and the budget office now projects that the law will leave the country $4.2 trillion deeper in debt by 2034.
- Jackson's Campaign Said He Supports the Law, "Period," in April 2026. Rick Jackson's campaign spokesman, Mike Schrimpf, told Fox News Digital on April 27, 2026: "Rick supports the Big Beautiful Bill. Period." He said Jackson "is a strong proponent of work requirements" and "has long opposed Obamacare," and that Democrats had been attacking Jackson's support for the law "for months." KFF reports the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the law cuts federal Medicaid spending by $911 billion over ten years and leaves 10 million more people uninsured in 2034.
- Jackson Pledged a Georgia Medicaid Waiver With Strict Work Rules, in September 2026. On September 8, 2026, Rick Jackson released a health plan built on a state-designed waiver "with strict work, education or training requirements for able-bodied recipients," as Atlanta News First described it, months before the law's work requirement changes the rules of Georgia Pathways on January 1, 2027. Georgia's existing work-rule program had enrolled only 20,321 of the more than 100,000 Georgians estimated to qualify as of August 2026, according to state data that Human Rights Watch cited.
- Jackson Backs the Law "Period," Though His Own Company's Report Cited a CBO Projection of More Than 10 Million Losing Coverage. Rick Jackson's campaign put no limit on his support when it spoke to Fox News on April 27, 2026. Jackson Physician Search, part of the Jackson Healthcare company he founded and leads, had written in September 2025 that under the law some health care organizations "must find ways to adapt or close their doors," and its February 2026 report wrote that the Congressional Budget Office "projects that more than 10 million Americans will lose coverage due to eligibility rules, work requirements, and expiring tax credits." In March 2026 the same firm wrote that when coverage losses squeeze hospital finances, organizations "may delay service expansions, reduce hiring plans, or freeze recruitment altogether."
What the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Rick Jackson Supports Costs Georgia, Topic by Topic
- Georgia loses $7.6 billion in federal Medicaid money. KFF's allocation puts Georgia's share of the law's federal Medicaid cut at $7.6 billion over ten years, 6 percent of what the state would otherwise receive, money that pays for hospital stays, nursing-home care and doctor visits; see Rick Jackson's record on health care.
- 150,000 more Georgians will be uninsured in 2034, most of them from the marketplace. KFF projects the law alone leaves 150,000 more Georgians uninsured in 2034, about 120,000 of them people who lose marketplace coverage; see Rick Jackson and Georgia health coverage.
- Georgia Pathways must adopt the federal work requirement in January 2027. The law's work requirement changes Georgia Pathways' eligibility rules from January 1, 2027, in a program that had enrolled 20,321 Georgians by August 2026; see Rick Jackson on Medicaid work requirements and Georgia Pathways.
- Rural Georgia loses $1.74 billion in Medicaid money while the rural fund sends $219 million. KFF estimates the law cuts federal Medicaid spending in rural Georgia by $1.74 billion over ten years, while the state's first-year award from the law's rural health fund is $219 million; see Rick Jackson's record on agriculture and rural Georgia.
- Nearly all Georgia marketplace enrollees rely on the tax credits the law restricts. In Georgia, 96 percent of marketplace enrollees used advance premium tax credits in 2025, and from the 2026 tax year the law makes enrollees repay excess credits in full; see Rick Jackson's record on insurance costs.
- Georgia owes $47 million in new SNAP administrative costs. The law shifts more of the cost of running SNAP to the states, leaving Georgia to pay $47 million more for SNAP administration in the coming fiscal year, money that pays the caseworkers who process applications; see Rick Jackson's record on food assistance.
- 743,000 Georgia children get less than the full child tax credit. Under the law, 743,000 Georgia children, 31 percent of the state's children, live in families that earn too little for the full child tax credit, according to Columbia University's Center on Poverty and Social Policy; see Rick Jackson's record on child care and families.
- Most Georgia nursing-home residents rely on the Medicaid money the law cuts. Medicaid is the main payer for 71 percent of Georgia nursing-home residents, and the law blocks the federal nursing-home minimum staffing standard until October 1, 2034; see Rick Jackson's record on elder care.
- Medicaid pays for 45 percent of Georgia births. Medicaid covers 45 percent of all births in Georgia, so the law's Medicaid cuts reach the program that pays for the care of nearly half of the state's newborns and their mothers; see Rick Jackson's record on abortion and reproductive health.
- Georgia households could pay an estimated $270 a year more for energy by 2035. By Energy Innovation's estimate of the law alone, the average Georgia household could pay $270 a year more for energy by 2035, as the law ends wind, solar and home-efficiency credits; see Rick Jackson's record on energy and utility bills.
- Georgia student loan borrowers moved off SAVE pay $1,993 more a year. Under the law's new repayment plan, Georgia borrowers moved off the SAVE plan pay $1,993 more a year on average, by the Center for American Progress's estimate; see Rick Jackson's record on student debt.
- Georgia's Folkston ICE center is growing to 3,000 beds. The law puts $170.7 billion into immigration and border enforcement, and the Folkston ICE Processing Center in southeast Georgia is set to expand to 3,000 beds; see Rick Jackson's record on immigration and enforcement.
- Atlanta's Stitch lost about $151 million of its $157 million federal construction grant. The law took back about $151 million of the $157 million federal grant that Atlanta's Stitch, a park and street project over the Downtown Connector, won in 2024, the part not yet obligated; see Rick Jackson's record on infrastructure.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rick Jackson on One Big Beautiful Bill
What is Rick Jackson's record on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act under Trump?
Rick Jackson's campaign told Fox News in April 2026 that he supports the law "Period," after he had praised its tax cuts and defended its work requirements, and his September 2026 health plan calls for strict work rules in Georgia Medicaid. The law cuts federal Medicaid money for Georgia by $7.6 billion over ten years and leaves 150,000 more Georgians uninsured in 2034, while his own company's recruiting firm cited a Congressional Budget Office estimate that over 10 million Americans would lose coverage, which it blamed on expiring tax credits as well as eligibility rules and work requirements.
How much Medicaid money will Georgia lose under the law Rick Jackson supports?
Under the law Rick Jackson supports, Georgia loses an estimated $7.6 billion in federal Medicaid money over ten years, within a range of $5.7 billion to $9.5 billion, by KFF's allocation of the Congressional Budget Office estimate; from January 1, 2028 the state's hospital payments above the law's new limits, about $2.17 billion a year, start coming down.
How does the law Rick Jackson supports change SNAP in Georgia?
The law Rick Jackson supports takes $187 billion, roughly a fifth of the program, out of SNAP through 2034 by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' count. Georgia, whose fiscal 2025 payment error rate was 15.21 percent, falls in the group of states whose new share of SNAP benefit costs is postponed rather than canceled, and the Congressional Budget Office expects states facing those bills to cut or end SNAP for about 300,000 people.
Last updated: 2026-10-26