The biggest risk isn't Medicaid. It's health insurance premiums. About 1.4 million Floridians are about to lose the financial help they need to pay for their health coverage. That's 93% of the total projected coverage loss, driven by the expiration of enhanced subsidies through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace. Florida never expanded Medicaid, so most Floridians don't have a Medicaid safety net to fall back on. When their subsidies end, many will simply go uninsured. Source: KFF / Florida Policy Institute (Aug 2025).
Health insurance subsidies end. Florida is the most exposed state in the nation.
4.7 million Floridians buy insurance through the ACA Marketplace. 97% of them receive a subsidy to make it affordable. When those subsidies expire, premiums will more than double for many families. Florida didn't expand Medicaid, so there is no backup for people who get priced out. Source: KFF, PolitiFact confirmed.
Work requirements added, with limited impact on Florida specifically
The bill adds work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks for Medicaid. Because Florida never expanded Medicaid, the impact here is smaller than in states that did. RAND's analysis found Florida sees less than 0.5% change to its Medicaid budget. Source: RAND RRA4098-1 (Feb 2026).
For the first time in history, states must pay part of the grocery bill
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has always been fully federally funded for benefits. That changes in 2027. Florida will owe 25% of the cost of the actual food benefits, plus a larger share of admin costs. The total: roughly $1.4 billion a year by 2028. Work requirements now extend to age 64. Source: CBO, FPI, WUSF.
COVID school relief money is gone. No replacement is coming.
Federal emergency education funds from the pandemic have been spent. Florida's $3.9 billion federal education budget now has no emergency cushion. Title I funding for low-income schools faces flat appropriations with no new backstop in place.
$7.2 billion added nationally for housing in FY2026. FL-CD4 keeps leaving it on the table.
Federal housing dollars actually increased. But FL-CD4 consistently under-applies for HOME matching funds and competitive grants. The money is there. The applications aren't being written. This is a Purse opportunity. Source: Bipartisan Policy Center THUD analysis.
Why this is a money story, not just a politics story: DOGE moved money away from services working Floridians depend on. The question is not whether it cut spending. It did. The question is who absorbed those cuts. And what it would cost to undo the damage.
Not everything DOGE touched was wrong. Some of it was overdue. IT consolidation across 600 payroll systems, selling empty federal office buildings, and auditing overseas programs that hadn't been reviewed in years. Those belong in the Keep column. The Purse plan is not against efficiency. It is against cutting the services working people depend on while leaving corporate tax breaks untouched. The Keep items are at the bottom of this tab.
4 million living Americans were marked deceased. Their Social Security was cut off.
The Social Security Administration (SSA), the agency that sends retirement and disability checks, lost more than 7,000 employees. The backlog for new claims grew 94%. Four million living Americans were incorrectly marked as deceased, with no automatic fix. In FL-CD4, where 18% of residents are over 65, the average wait for a disability decision is now 7+ months. Appeals can take 4 to 5 years. These are people who already paid in. Cost to restore SSA staffing: ~$800M per year.
Every $1 spent on IRS enforcement returns $5 to $9. We stopped spending it.
Thousands of IRS agents were cut. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shows a $5–$9 return on every $1 invested in tax enforcement. The cuts protect complex, high-income filers most. Florida's share of federal program funding is tied to national revenue. Less collection means less money for Medicaid, schools, and roads in FL-CD4. Restoring enforcement staffing pays for itself within 18 months.
The CFPB returned $21 billion to consumers over its lifetime. Now it's shut down.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was cut from ~1,700 staff to a skeleton crew. Before the cuts, it resolved 20% of consumer complaints filed, including against predatory lenders, debt collectors, and credit bureaus. That rate is now under 1%. In a district where median household income is $62,000, a wrong credit report or an illegal fee can be the difference between qualifying for a mortgage or not. Full restoration costs ~$700M per year. Estimated annual return to consumers: $3–5 billion.
USAID is gone. So is the early-warning system for the next pandemic.
Over 90% of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs were cut, including Centers for Disease Control (CDC) disease surveillance that caught outbreaks before they crossed borders, agricultural programs that built export markets for American farmers, and democracy programs that reduced the conditions that create refugee crises. The annual budget was $7 billion. Less than 0.1% of federal spending. Naval Station Mayport's mission depends on the regional stability that USAID helped maintain.
Half of the Department of Education's staff is gone. Duval's schools feel it.
Roughly 50% of Education Department staff were cut. Civil rights enforcement, special education monitoring, and student loan oversight all depend on people who no longer have jobs. In Duval County, where Title I funding supports more than 60% of public schools, reduced federal oversight means reduced accountability for how those dollars are spent. Cost to restore: ~$900M per year.
VA benefits staff was cut. The people waiting longest to hear back are veterans.
DOGE cut staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) who handle benefits processing, IT support, and benefits coordination. Northeast Florida has one of the highest concentrations of military families in the country. NAS Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, and Blount Island Command are all in or adjacent to FL-CD4. Cutting the staff who process earned veteran benefits is not efficiency. It's a broken promise to the people who served.
Anyone accessing federal databases must have a security clearance and tell Congress first
DOGE operatives accessed Social Security, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and other federal databases without confirmed security clearances and without the 72-hour congressional notification the law already requires. Whistleblowers at the Social Security Administration (SSA) estimated a 65% chance of a catastrophic data breach. 14 lawsuits were filed across 8 agencies. Fix: security clearance required, agency IG approval required, public annual audit required.
Firing more than 100 federal workers at once requires a 60-day public review
DOGE carried out mass layoffs across dozens of agencies without following existing federal workforce reduction rules. Courts blocked many of them. Fix: any reduction of more than 100 employees in a single agency requires a 60-day review period and a public impact assessment. Workers separated illegally get reinstated with back pay.
Congress voted to spend the money. The president doesn't get to unspend it.
The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 was written specifically to prevent presidents from freezing money Congress already approved. DOGE froze and cancelled congressionally approved funds across education, housing, foreign aid, and research. Fix: Congress should have legal standing to sue when approved funds are frozen. Frozen funds must be released automatically 30 days after a court order with no active appeal.
Government contracts go to the best bid, not to companies run by friends
Multiple contracts were cancelled during DOGE operations and replaced with no-bid awards to companies with financial ties to DOGE-affiliated individuals. Fix: a mandatory audit of every contract cancelled and replaced. Zero tolerance for no-bid awards without independent inspector general certification.
The federal government runs 600 separate payroll systems. That's fixable.
Decades of agency-by-agency tech buying created real redundancy. Consolidating payroll, HR, and records management saves money without cutting any services. Condition: do it through proper procurement, require competitive bidding, and publish a public dashboard showing actual savings.
Federal office buildings are sitting empty. Sell them.
The government manages a real estate portfolio where many buildings are 20–30% utilized, especially after remote work became permanent. Selling underused properties is straightforward. Condition: fair-market-value certification on every sale. Proceeds go to deficit reduction, not around the appropriations process.
Audit overseas programs first. Then cut the ones that don't work.
DOGE was right that some overseas programs hadn't been evaluated in years. The problem was the method: eliminate everything rather than audit first. Condition: do the audit DOGE skipped. Restore programs with clear outcomes and American interest. Permanently cut the ones that can't show either. Publish the results publicly.
"DOGE saved money. You want to spend it all back." Restoring the IRS, SSA, and CFPB is not spending. It is investing in functions with documented positive returns. The IRS returns $5–$9 for every $1 invested. The CFPB returned $21 billion to consumers over its lifetime. Leaving these agencies gutted is a choice. Working families are the ones paying for it.
"Some agencies really are too big." Agreed. IT consolidation and empty office sales belong in the Keep column. The Purse plan is not against efficiency. It is against cutting the services working people depend on while leaving corporate tax breaks untouched.
Restore ACA health insurance subsidies
Florida has the highest ACA enrollment in the country: 4.7 million people, 97% of whom receive subsidies. Restoring enhanced premium tax credits keeps working families covered. Without action, Florida's uninsured rate climbs from 10.7% to 16.7%.
Let Medicare negotiate drug prices
American drug prices are among the highest in the world. Not because the drugs are different, but because of how pharmaceutical companies use patents and lobbying power. Giving Medicare full negotiation authority brings prices down for the 4.7 million Floridians enrolled.
Stop making eligible families re-prove their coverage every 6 months
The bill added more frequent eligibility checks for Medicaid. Most people who lose coverage during these checks are still eligible. They just missed a form. Annual renewals with automatic income verification through the IRS would keep eligible families covered. The federal money already exists. Only the bureaucracy needs to change.
Fund mental health and addiction recovery in FL-CD4
SAMHSA distributes $794 million a year in mental health and substance abuse block grants nationally. Florida's share, based on population, is roughly $50 million annually across the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG) and the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant (SUBG). Florida has historically underspent these allocations. Crime, homelessness, and overdose deaths in FL-CD4 are downstream of untreated mental health. The money is appropriated. The applications need to be written. Source: SAMHSA Feb 2026.
Bring VA healthcare to local providers in FL-CD4
FL-CD4 has one of Florida's largest active-duty and veteran populations. VA MISSION Act community care contracts let VA-covered services be delivered through local providers. Shorter wait times, closer to home.
Cap the employer health insurance tax break to fund the public option
The biggest tax break in the federal code subsidizes employer-sponsored insurance by making it tax-free. It locks in a system that leaves out the self-employed, gig workers, and small business owners. Capping it for high earners is what pays for a public option.
National paid family leave
The U.S. is the only wealthy country without guaranteed paid leave for new parents and caregivers. The cost of not having it, in workforce dropout, emergency room overuse, and lost tax revenue, exceeds what the program would cost.
Critics say capping the employer health exclusion could raise taxes on union health plans. The response: a cap applies above a threshold that protects average worker plans. A public option has majority public support. Failure to pass has been a political problem, not a policy one.
Restore the federal grocery benefit match
For the first time in SNAP's history, states now owe a share of the grocery benefit costs. Florida faces roughly $1.2 billion in new benefit costs plus $205 million in additional admin costs. That is about $1.4 billion a year by 2028. Restoring the federal match protects 2.9 million Floridians. Source: CBO / FPI.
Roll back the work requirement age expansion for food benefits
The bill raised the work requirement age for SNAP from 54 to 64. Adults aged 55–64 face real structural barriers to employment. Cutting their food benefits doesn't create jobs. Rolling this back redirects those benefit dollars to the people who need them.
Conservative critics say SNAP work requirements reduce dependency. The response: the expansion targets adults 55–64 who face structural barriers to employment. This is cutting benefits from people who can't meet requirements. Not creating incentives for people who can.
Apply for the federal infrastructure money FL-CD4 keeps missing
RAISE grants, infrastructure law carryover funds, and EPA septic-to-sewer programs exist across the district. Duval's $1 billion septic problem qualifies for EPA Clean Water financing. The money is appropriated. The applications need to be written. That's a first-term job for a member of Congress.
Close the broadband gap in rural Clay and Nassau
Rural pockets of Clay and Nassau still don't have reliable internet. No internet means no remote job applications, no telehealth visits, no school from home. The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program makes unserved communities the top priority.
Redirect overseas conflict spending to domestic infrastructure
Every 1% reallocation from overseas conflict spending equals $8.7 billion available for infrastructure at home. This is about overseas conflict spending. Not base operations, not military pay. NAS Jacksonville and Mayport jobs are not at risk.
Opponents say federal infrastructure grants require local matching funds and grant-writing capacity Duval currently lacks. The response: building that grant-writing capacity is a straightforward first-term investment. The platform targets overseas conflict spending. Not base jobs.
Claim the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) money Duval already qualifies for
Jacksonville receives $7.1M in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, $3.6M in HOME affordable housing funds, and $3.3M in Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) assistance annually. Choice Neighborhoods grants, Section 202 senior housing, and competitive affordable development grants are largely unclaimed across the district.
End the tax break that's helping corporations buy up Duval's housing
A federal tax provision lets institutional investors write off rental properties far faster than they actually lose value. This is the financial mechanism behind build-to-rent growing 600% in Duval since 2019. Ending it for large investors slows the conversion of homes into permanent rentals.
Limit the tax break that keeps homes out of reach for first-time buyers
A 1031 exchange lets investors sell a rental property and roll the profits into a new one indefinitely, deferring taxes forever. This cycles homes through institutional hands rather than selling them to owner-occupants. Limiting 1031 to smaller portfolios redirects the benefit toward the buyers who need it most.
Critics say closing real estate tax breaks hurts small landlords who use the same provisions. The response: reforms would apply only to portfolios above a threshold, protecting small landlords while targeting the institutional players driving market distortion.
Protect and grow Title I and workforce training funding
Duval County has one of Florida's largest low-income student populations. Title I funds flow to the schools that serve them. Career and Technical Education (CTE) workforce grants connect students to real jobs. Flat federal appropriations are real-dollar cuts when costs rise.
Fund public broadcasting, including WJCT in Jacksonville
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funds NPR, PBS, and local stations including WJCT in Jacksonville. Cutting CPB hits smaller media markets first, where local stations have fewer private revenue alternatives. Civic information is infrastructure.
Pilot guaranteed income programs in underserved FL-CD4 communities
Federal demonstration grants through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Labor exist to fund community economic pilots. Targeting underserved communities in FL-CD4 positions the district for funding that tests real solutions to economic instability.
Opponents argue education funding is a state prerogative and that CPB defunding is a legitimate debate. The response: Title I is a statutory entitlement that flows to where poverty exists, regardless of state preference. CPB's per-citizen cost is less than one hour of F-35 maintenance.
Use federal contracts to raise wages for FL-CD4 workers
Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, and their contractors make FL-CD4 one of Florida's most federally contracted districts. Federal contractor wage floor requirements raise pay for thousands of workers without new appropriations. The lever is the contract language.
Keep more federal contract dollars in the district
FL-CD4 small businesses are below the federal small business contracting target by 5 percentage points. Small Business Administration (SBA) set-aside programs exist to close that. A House member writes those requirements into authorization language. That is exactly what a Purse-focused representative does.
Tax stock buybacks and invest the savings in worker wages
A buyback tax paired with a wage investment credit for companies that raise worker pay redirects capital from shareholder returns to the people who earned it.
Tax hedge fund profits like wages, not at the lower capital gains rate
Hedge fund and private equity managers currently pay lower tax rates on their fees than a teacher pays on their salary. This "carried interest" loophole affects fewer than 10,000 taxpayers and costs $18 billion over a decade.
Critics argue federal contractor wage floors raise contract costs paid by taxpayers. The response: Department of Defense (DoD) wage requirements have been in place multiple times without measurable cost inflation. Carried interest and data center credit closure are named platform provisions. Not abstractions.
Modernize the background check system
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) processes over 28 million background checks a year on infrastructure that hasn't kept pace. Modernizing NICS and closing private sale loopholes is the practical mechanism behind universal background checks.
Fund CDC gun violence research. Treat it like the public health crisis it is.
An amendment effectively banned CDC gun violence research for 20 years. That ban was partially lifted. Fully funding CDC and NIH research on gun violence builds the evidence base that every downstream policy intervention depends on.
Second Amendment advocates say NICS funding is a backdoor to a gun registry, and that CDC research is biased. The response: NICS is a point-of-sale check with no registry function written into law. CDC applies the same research standards to gun violence it applies to car crashes and opioids.
Federal legalization creates tax revenue and banking access
Federal prohibition forces legal, state-licensed cannabis businesses to operate in cash with no banking. They pay effective tax rates above 70% under Section 280E. Federal legalization unlocks banking, creates a taxable revenue stream, and redirects that revenue away from unregulated markets.
Veterans shouldn't lose VA benefits for using state-legal medical cannabis
Veterans who use state-legal medical cannabis risk losing VA benefits under federal prohibition. Florida has over 40,000 registered medical marijuana patients who are also veterans. Federal rescheduling resolves the conflict.
Opponents argue legalization increases youth access and public health costs. The response: youth cannabis use has not increased in states that legalized. Revenue projections are from RAND, not advocacy groups. Alcohol and tobacco are federally legal, taxed, and regulated.
Stop subsidizing data centers that create very few local jobs
Data centers receive major federal and state tax incentives. They consume enormous amounts of land, water, and power. And they create very few local jobs for their size. Eliminating these subsidies redirects public dollars toward investments that actually employ people.
Make Big Tech pay the cost of the harm it creates
Unregulated data collection, algorithmic pricing, and predatory platforms impose real costs on consumers and communities. Federal investment in Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement shifts those costs back to the companies profiting from them.
Industry argues data center tax credits support AI infrastructure and competition with China. The response: unlimited public subsidy for private infrastructure is not a competitiveness strategy. Eliminating data center credits still leaves all private investment incentives intact.
Get dark money out of politics
The people writing the federal budget are chosen by the same donors who benefit from the tax code they write. Getting money out of politics is the prerequisite for every other Purse reform on this list.
Independent redistricting: competitive districts fight harder for their share
Safe, gerrymandered districts concentrate federal appropriations in politically protected hands. Competitive districts produce members who fight harder for their constituents' share of federal dollars. Fair maps are a Purse issue.
First Amendment advocates say campaign finance limits restrict political speech. The response: disclosure requirements and small-dollar matching don't limit speech. They amplify voices that can't write seven-figure checks.
The hidden budget: This money doesn't show up in the budget. It disappears through the tax code. The federal government spends roughly $1.8–2.0 trillion every year through deductions, credits, and special tax rates that never go through the normal budget process. This "invisible spending" is larger than all discretionary spending combined. Unlike regular appropriations, most of these tax breaks are permanent, uncapped, and flow mostly to corporations and high-income households. Reforming them is not new spending. It is redirecting existing public dollars toward people who actually need them. Source: JCT / OMB Analytical Perspectives.
The employer health insurance tax break locks in a system that leaves millions out
The single biggest federal tax break excludes employer-sponsored health insurance from taxable income. This keeps the employer-based model in place and leaves out the self-employed, gig workers, and those between jobs. It costs more per year than the entire Medicaid program. Capping it for high earners is the financing mechanism for a public option that covers everyone.
Capital gains and carried interest: wealth taxed at half the rate of wages
Long-term investment profits are taxed at roughly half the rate of wages. Hedge fund and private equity fees are compensation for a service. They are taxed as investment gains rather than income. Closing carried interest alone raises $18 billion over 10 years. This is the "make corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share" part of the platform.
Accelerated depreciation for real estate: the federal code is writing the build-to-rent check
This tax provision lets real estate investors write off properties far faster than they actually lose value. It generates paper losses that offset real income. This is the core financial engine behind institutional landlords scaling rapidly in markets like Duval. Build-to-rent grew 600% in FL-CD4 since 2019. The federal tax code is funding that.
Like-kind exchange (1031): the flipper's best friend, the first-time buyer's worst enemy
This provision lets real estate investors defer capital gains indefinitely by rolling sale profits into a new property. Properties cycle through institutional hands indefinitely instead of being sold to owner-occupants. Limiting 1031 exchanges to portfolios below a dollar threshold redirects the tax benefit toward smaller investors and first-time buyers.
Data center tax credits: subsidizing the fewest jobs per dollar spent
Section 48 investment tax credits and bonus depreciation let data centers write off 100% of construction costs immediately. Data centers consume large amounts of land, water, and power. They create very few local jobs relative to that footprint. The platform: stop data center tax breaks.
Stock buybacks: shareholders first, workers later
Before a 1% excise tax was enacted in 2022, stock buybacks were entirely tax-free. The preference still heavily favors returning capital to shareholders over raising worker pay. The platform: fight for higher wages; make corporations pay their fair share.
Pharmaceutical tax deductions: why your prescriptions cost more in the U.S. than anywhere else
Tax provisions and offshore accounting let drug companies deduct research costs twice and shift profits to low-tax countries. This is the mechanism behind U.S. drug prices running 2–5 times higher than peer nations. The platform: Medicare drug price negotiation.
The serious critique: tax reform only reduces the deficit if Congress doesn't immediately spend the savings. Supply-side economists argue accelerated depreciation and R&D credits drive real investment. The response: the JCT scores reform revenue as real. The investment argument applies to productive capital. Not financial engineering like carried interest, 1031 rollovers, and buybacks. Those are the specific targets.
A note on the numbers below: Medicare and Medicaid dollars flow to hospitals and providers. They do not flow through Jacksonville's city budget. The pass-through estimates below are based on FL-CD4's 3.57% share of Florida's population. The district is not three whole counties: it holds exactly 769,221 residents — Clay (218,245) and Nassau (90,352) in full, plus 460,624 of Duval, the part west and north of the St. Johns River. Congressional districts must be equal in population, so FL-CD4 is precisely one twenty-eighth of the state. Source: Plan EOGPCRP2026 (HB 1-D, enrolled); 2020 Census.
$2.5 billion project backlog in Duval. The city clears $250M a year.
At the current pace, the backlog never gets fixed. $800 million is already authorized but not applied for. Clay and Nassau have their own road, water, and stormwater backlogs. Federal RAISE grants, infrastructure law carryover, and EPA septic-to-sewer funds are available. The gap is in applying for them.
$12M for affordable housing in a $2B budget. One in 10 new homes is built for corporate rental.
Build-to-rent grew 600% in Duval since 2019. The trend is spreading into Clay and Nassau. HUD's HOME and CDBG programs are the only federal counter-pressure. The district consistently under-applies for both.
Violent crime rate: 12.43 per 1,000 in Duval, about 1 in 80 residents
JSO and JFR budgets together exceed $1 billion. Federal community violence intervention grants and mental health diversion grants are available but underutilized across the district's federal grant portfolio.
COVID school relief is gone. Nothing is replacing it.
Florida used 90% of its $14.6 billion in pandemic education emergency funds. That cushion no longer exists. Title I and CTE workforce funding across Duval, Clay, and Nassau now face flat or declining appropriations with no state backstop in place.
These are first-term jobs. Write the grant applications. Change the authorization language. Require the small business set-asides. The $800 million sitting unspent in Duval's infrastructure pipeline doesn't need a new law. It needs someone in Washington who shows up and asks for it. That is what a Purse-focused representative does on day one.
Primary: nonpartisan and government sources
- CBO: Mandatory Spending in Fiscal Year 2025Primary
- CRS IN12535: Overview of Recent Fiscal Spending ProjectionsPrimary
- CBO: SNAP Score, OBBBA (pub. 61367)Primary
- RAND RRA4098-1: State-Level Impacts of Key Medicaid Provisions in the OBBBAPrimary
- KFF: ACA Marketplace Premiums Would More Than Double If Enhanced Tax Credits ExpirePrimary
- USAspending.gov: Florida State ProfilePrimary
- Bipartisan Policy Center: FY2026 THUD Final Funding SummaryPrimary
- North Florida TPO: Transportation Improvement Program FY 2024-29Primary
- City of Jacksonville: 2025 Annual Action Plan, CDBG / HOME / ESG / HOPWAPrimary
- SAMHSA: $794M Block Grant Distribution (Feb 2026), Florida share estimated at ~$50MPrimary
- Joint Committee on Taxation: Tax Expenditure Estimates FY2025–2029 (JCT-1-25)Primary
- OMB FY2026 Analytical Perspectives, Table 17-1 Tax ExpendituresPrimary
Secondary: advocacy and media (attributed)
- Florida Policy Institute: Healthcare Coverage Loss Alarm (Aug 2025)FPI (progressive)
- Florida Policy Institute: $1.6B SNAP cuts to FloridaFPI (progressive)
- WUSF: Florida lawmakers consider SNAP cost shift (Jan 2026)Journalism
- PolitiFact: Florida ACA uninsured rate projectionsFact-check
- Jacksonville Today: Build-to-rent growth in Duval (Feb 2026)Local journalism
- RAND: Projected Revenue from Legal Cannabis MarketsResearch (RAND)
- Brookings: Distribution of Tax Expenditures by IncomeResearch (Brookings)
- Paragon Institute: Correcting the Record on OBBBA CoverageConservative
- AEI: Perspective on OBBBA's SNAP CutsConservative
- mikesell.orgCampaign