What Victoria Spartz's Vote Tells Us About Her View of Hamilton County

By voting for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 3, GOP Rep. Spartz proved who she really cares about back home

Congressional Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-05) facing constituents on March 28, 2025, in Westfield, IN.

If you attended or watched the livestream of Congressional Representative Victoria Spartz's town hall back in March, there were three things that you may have noticed she claimed over and over again: We don't have serious discussions about policy anymore; the federal deficit and debt are disasters that threaten the foundations of our economy; and she is proud of her record of bipartisanship and independent thinking.

The crowd's reactions of derision showed we believed she was lying. Spartz's vote this past Thursday proved it.

Spartz's vote means bigger tax breaks for herself and her wealthiest peers

On the policy, the federal budget reconciliation bill (entitled in naked Orwellian doublespeak as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) shows that the only thing the Republican Congress took seriously was how to make wealthy people like Spartz herself richer. Democrats tried repeatedly to amend the bill such that only lower- and middle-income taxpayers would see relief. Democrats challenged Republicans to require people with annual incomes of over half a million, then a million, then 10 million, then even a billion dollars to carry their share of the tax burden—and like every other Republican, Spartz voted to protect the wealthy.

The law is now set to give households making $200,000 or more over 2.5% of their income back—with richer folks getting even more. For example, those fortunate enough to make between $318K–$460K are getting a tax cut equivalent to 3.1% of their income, which equates to almost $9,000 every year. At the same time, the OBBBA gives households making under $34,600 just .8% of their income back, a smack in the face given the continued rise in the cost of living.

In what universe is it moral to give already well-off households four times the proportional tax benefit as to our poorest neighbors? Victoria Spartz's universe, apparently.

In Hamilton County, one of the most economically privileged counties in the state, just 23% of households make over $200K annually. Spartz somehow sleeps at night having voted to ensure that the other 77% get less tax relief than herself and her richest friends. And for the 11% of Hamilton County households who struggle to survive on under $35K/year, guess what? She's not only turned her back on you tax-wise, but she's got another surprise up her sleeve for your health care.

Spartz slashed Medicaid by about 15%

According to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, about 45,000 residents of Hamilton County were enrolled in a Medicaid-funded health program as of last month. That means that more than 1 in every 8 Hamilton County low-income residents has their quality of life sustained through a Medicaid program, including 18,000 on the Healthy Indiana Plan (health insurance for low-income and working adults), almost 17,000 on Hoosier Healthwise (basic healthcare for children and pregnant women, including CHIP and prenatal services), and over 3,000 in Indiana Pathways for Aging (in-home health support for adults aged 60 and older on Medicaid or Medicare). In addition, about 12% of Hamilton County residents (or about 40,000 Hoosiers) are over age 80, which is the average age of a typical nursing home resident. Given that well over half of nursing home residents are on Medicaid, tens of thousands of elderly Hoosiers in our county are likely dependent on Medicaid to allow them to stay in a safe residential facility.

The budget bill that Spartz voted for is estimated to cut Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, amounting to slashing its funding by nearly 15%. With the press of a button, Spartz destined thousands of her constituents here to worse health outcomes—possibly even catastrophic ones—not to mention putting their families at greater risk of personal and economic hardship due to increased health distress. If people no longer covered by those programs experience emergencies, they will be provided care in ERs and urgent care clinics. However, with no Medicaid funding to rely on, those families will suffer and the facilities that treat them will be forced to eat the high cost of unfunded care.

Spartz's official website makes it look like strengthening Medicaid is very important to her, thank you very much. As they say, that's cute. If the Medicaid cut she voted for were actually going to reduce the deficit, at least that would align with Spartz's training as a certified public accountant (which she brags about constantly) and fit with her supposed concerns about the federal debt at her town hall. However:

With the bill's over $4.5 trillion in lost tax revenue projected to add trillions to the national debt, we have to conclude that it's not fiscal conservatism that motivated her vote. Spartz just doesn't care enough about her sick and elder constituents to stand up for them.

There is much more I could say about how disastrous this bill will be for Hamilton County. However, let's instead circle back to Spartz's defensive shrieks at her town halls about the abandonment of common sense and bipartisanship in Washington.

Was this bill in any way bipartisan? No—it passed only on Republican votes, even from representatives like Spartz who represent increasingly diverse and competitive districts where we have kept her well-informed of our concerns. She had plenty of chances to push the bill into more moderate territory, but instead she chose to put up a weird performative grandstand on procedure and then caved.

Does this bill reflect Hoosier common sense? Also no—no matter how stupid she seems to think we are, we can do basic arithmetic and see that the numbers don't add up.

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So what's next? We have to hold Rep. Spartz and the rest of the GOP Indiana delegation accountable for their votes on this unconscionable bill. That starts with grassroots visibility and outreach to our fellow citizens.

One great opportunity is coming up at the Hamilton County 4-H Fair, which will be at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds from July 17th–20th. Sign up for a volunteer shift to keep the Dem momentum going—and show Victoria Spartz that you think better of our county than she does.