Update: As of 11:45 a.m. PDT, the House narrowly passed H.R. 1 with a 218-214 vote. The policies have been opposed by 55% of voters according to a Quinnipiac poll and 49% of Americans according to a Pew Research poll. GOP supporters of the bill have said that the effects most Americans are worried about, such as changes to Medicaid and SNAP, will not happen and that the Congressional Budget Office’s estimations on changes to healthcare and the deficit were wrong.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Only weeks after the No Kings Rally, one of the largest protests in South Lake Tahoe’s history, another rally at Lakeview Commons urged residents to call Rep. Kevin Kiley to vote against H.R. 1, also colloquially called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The Senate narrowly passed the bill on Tuesday, passing it back to the House with a looming deadline of July 4.

H.R. 1 is a whopping 887 pages of legislation that would majorly slash Medicaid, SNAP benefits and clean energy initiatives, adding $3.3 trillion to the national debt according to the Congressional Budget Office, while increasing the nation’s debt limit by $5 trillion. It also instates new fees for immigrants seeking asylum, while providing roughly $350 billion for ICE and Trump’s often quoted platform of a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Senate Republicans pitched that the bill will turbocharge the economy, as it also includes a permanent extension of Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The Senate passed the bill back to the House of Representatives yesterday, with a tiebreaking vote from Vice President JD Vance. It spurred many to action to call Kiley, including Annie Davidson, Jessica Drizin, Tiffany Foo and Angie Reagan, who wrote an op-ed about the impacts of H.R. 1. They, along with others, showed up at Lakeview Commons to urge people to “kill the bill.”

“We feel the urgency of the timing of all of this—and we have to take a stand where we can take a stand,” said Davidson. “This is a critical moment for the American consciousness. We either live by our creed for all people or devolve into a feudal society.”

Davidson also called out Kiley’s role in voting for the bill in its previous iteration, despite his calls for protecting public land and addressing the budget deficits, major items in the present bill’s iteration. “It’s an inconsistent stance that is out of touch with the people… and it should jeopardize his seat.”

Former city council member John Friedrich was in attendance and highlighted the major increases in the ICE and military budgets, which went largely unchallenged by the Senate. He also said the bill pushes major consequences down the road. “This is eviscerating climate action, shredding clean energy provisions, and passing medical debt on to future generations.”

Foo said, “It felt like a sure thing that (the bill) was going to pass the Senate… and we felt that there was a need to pressure Kiley to respond in a different way.” Foo, along with Drizin, compiled much of the data in the op-ed that they felt highlighted the many different people who would be affected by the bill’s passage.

“The amount of people who don’t realize it will impact them is the biggest challenge,” said Foo. She cited the amount of attention, outrage and concern around public lands that sparked many Tahoe residents to action. “That was the best coalition building that we’ve had in a while.”

She and Reagan both agreed that they “hoped Tahoe would advocate for its people as much as its land.”

House Republicans are still fractured on the vote, as spending hawks discuss the changes made by the Senate and both Speaker Mike Johnson and President Trump speak with those holding out. Though major cuts won’t happen right away if the bill passes, the impacts will be far-reaching for decades to come.

“The way that these bills pass, it’s easy to disassociate what happens as a result,” said Foo. “But inaction now will result in many changes that will be felt a year from now. I hope people will reflect on that.”

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.