Sen. John Cornyn holds roundtable meeting in South Austin
John Cornyn hosts roundtable in Austin
On Thursday, Senator John Cornyn held a roundtable meeting in South Austin as a protest erupted outside his office.
AUSTIN, Texas - For the first time this year, the U.S. House and Senate are out of session, and during this time, lawmakers across the country are holding town halls.
Senator John Cornyn held a roundtable meeting in South Austin as a protest erupted outside his office.
The backstory:
On Thursday, Sen. John Cornyn showed up at Wally’s Burger Express to talk about Tax Cuts and the Jobs Act, set to expire this year unless Congress acts.
He also weighed in on the impact that would have on small businesses and the state of the economy.
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"Basically, what this would mean is that many of these small businesses would not be able to offer the benefits that they're able to offer. They wouldn't be able to hire the, the, the people that they need for these businesses to enable them to grow," says Senator John Cornyn.
Cornyn credited D.O.G.E. and Elon Musk for identifying where tax dollars are being wasted.
"When you start looking at all the crazy things that the Department of Government Efficiency and Elon Musk have been able to identify in terms of incredibly stupid spending and squandering of taxpayer dollars, I think getting the government and the federal government smaller and more efficient and being better stewards of tax dollars will help the economy grow," says Cornyn.
The other side:
While Cornyn was at the roundtable event, National Nurses United Union members made their way to his office to express their concerns about possible Medicaid cuts.
"I am a nurse that works in a critical care unit, ICU, and we work at a nonprofit hospital. This will mean that many people will no longer have their Medicare, and they will not be seeking out. They'll probably push off like preventative care and going to see their doctors out in their offices until it's the very, very last minute or that they can't take it anymore," says National Nurses United Union Member, Taylor Critendon.
According to the protesters, nearly $57 billion in Medicaid in the state of Texas alone may be cut by a new budget that was passed in the house.
The new budget calls for nearly $880 billion in cuts from the committee responsible for Medicaid and other health programs.
"We are hoping that our government hears us, because ultimately, we want that money to go back into the care of Americans and not into the pockets of billionaires," says Critendon.
What's next:
Congress is set to return to session next week.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Tan Radford