Lawler Holds Final Town Hall

Faces continued backlash from voters

Rep. Mike Lawler hosted his fourth and final town hall on June 28 at John Jay High School in Hopewell Junction, capping off a series of rowdy sessions filled with voters critical of President Trump and congressional Republicans. 

Lawler, a Republican whose 17th Congressional District includes Philipstown, fielded questions on a variety of subjects during the 1½-hour forum, including about the Big Beautiful Bill Act. The pending legislation would extend tax cuts approved by Trump in 2017 while increasing the national debt and costing millions of people to lose health care, food assistance and other benefits. 

He also faced questions about raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on homes and workplaces, the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites and questions regarding his support for President Trump and willingness to confront the president. 

“It’s important to actually understand the totality of what’s in the bill,” said Lawler, who voted for the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) when it narrowly passed the House by a 215-214 vote on May 22 and again on Thursday (July 3) when the House passed the version amended by the Senate. Those 12 words were the only ones he managed to get out before the audience cut him off with groans of disappointment.

Lawler highlighted increases to border security and military funding in the bill, which Trump signed on Friday (July 4), but most of the crowd voiced displeasure when he brought up Medicaid changes. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that Medicaid provisions in the version of the BBB passed by the House would increase by 7.8 million the number of people without health insurance.

About 4.8 million people would lose coverage because of new work requirements for childless adults between the ages of 19 and 64; 1.4 million would be undocumented immigrants losing Medicaid benefits in New York and other states; and 2.2 million would become uninsured because of other provisions, including one requiring Medicaid recipients to recertify their eligibility every six months instead of once a year, according to the CBO. 

Lawler claimed eligibility verification will only affect people who are ineligible for the program, but health care advocates predict the twice-yearly requirement will mostly harm people who are eligible but fail to recertify in time. When he began talking about citizenship verification, the audience once again interjected, prompting Lawler to ask: “How many of you believe illegal immigrants should collect Medicaid?” 

The audience then became the loudest it would be all night, with many shouting “no immigrant is illegal” and “stop treating people like aliens” at Lawler as he continued to speak about the BBB’s effect on Medicaid. By the time the moderator, East Fishkill Supervisor Nicholas D’Alessandro, moved to the next question, some people had exited. 

At each of his town halls — including the first three in West Nyack, Somers and Mahopac — Lawler faced the kind of backlash to Trump administration policies that earlier this year spurred Republican leaders to urge its elected officials to avoid public forums. 

“I’m happy to do these,” said Lawler as the town hall came to a close. “This is part of the process. And ultimately, we will have another election, and you’ll all be able to have your voice heard in the process.”