Protesters rally against ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ outside Ricketts’ offices across Nebraska
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Protesters rallied Friday outside of all of Sen. Pete Ricketts’ offices across Nebraska.
They’re hoping to prevent the passage of President Donald Trump’s government spending bill.
It’s called the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” but not everyone sees it that way.
“It’s defunding Medicaid, it’s defunding EBT, all the things that allow working families to get by,” Jordan Dudley said at the protest at Ricketts’ Lincoln office. “So, I don’t understand any justification for why someone who represents Nebraska and working people would feel justified in supporting it.”
SEE ALSO: Nebraska hospitals say Senate bill’s proposed Medicaid cuts put key services at risk
Protesters said the bill would harm the everyday livelihood of Nebraskans, and they demanded that Ricketts announce how he plans to vote.
They said the concern is about how many people rely on SNAP and Medicare.
“I mean, you just erode away at things that we take for granted since I’ve been alive,” protester Richard Roeder said. “And if they’re gone, they’re gone it’s very hard to get back.”
SEE ALSO: Rep. Mike Flood defends ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ at Seward town hall
Channel 8 reached out to Ricketts about his response to those concerns, and his office referred to remarks he made earlier this week.
“As you may know the Finance Committee report, which runs about 549 pages, just came out Monday night, so my team and I are working through that part of it,” Ricketts said on a conference call with reporters. “And the discussions within our conference are ongoing. We’re still going to shoot to hit the July 4th deadline that the president had, but it’s a work in progress right now.”
For protesters, they said it’s not about just stopping the bill; it’s about having a chance to shape the future.
“I think it’s just one piece of the puzzle of realizing that who’s in power right now are not representing Nebraskans, aren’t representing common working people at all,” Dudley said.
