Rep. French Hill says "the cost of living is plaguing a lot of families from top to bottom" — but his record tells a different story. Hill voted to sustain Trump's tariffs on Canada even as Arkansas farmers face a crisis that could close 1 in 3 farms, soybean exports to China have fallen 43.7%, and Bentonville-based Walmart warned it cannot absorb tariff costs on its narrow retail margins. He voted for the "One Big Beautiful Bill" that cuts $186 billion from SNAP in a state the USDA ranks dead last for food insecurity, where nearly 1 in 5 households struggle to put food on the table. He voted against allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, let enhanced ACA premium subsidies expire — doubling health insurance costs for millions — and championed Medicaid work requirements that stripped 18,000 Arkansans of their coverage. Hill claims to oppose "across-the-board tariffs" but voted against the resolution to block them; he says he wants to "strengthen" SNAP but voted for the largest cuts to the program in a generation. On every affordability issue that matters to working families in central Arkansas, French Hill says one thing and does another.
Hill Voted To Sustain Trump's Canada Tariffs Days After Saying He Opposed Across-The-Board Tariffs. According to KATV, Hill told a reporter on February 12, 2026, "I don't support across-the-board tariffs. They can have a price level increase at one moment. Tariffs are a negotiating tool. Putting them at a high level and leaving them on can hurt families." The day before, the House voted 219-211 to end Trump's IEEPA-based tariffs on Canada — and Hill voted against the resolution, siding with Trump to keep the tariffs in place. Only six Republicans crossed party lines; Hill was not among them. [KATV, 2/12/26; Reuters, 2/11/26]
Arkansas Tariff Costs More Than Tripled In One Year. According to the Arkansas Advocate, "Arkansans paid $747,700 in import taxes for vehicle parts in April 2024, with an average tariff rate of 7.3%. In April 2025, that number more than tripled to $3.5 million, with the average tariff rate reaching 27.3%." A Farmers for Free Trade report noted the tariffs don't only affect car parts: "Arkansas companies have already experienced sharp tariff increases in March and April of this year. But the breadth of these proposed trade actions — if fully enacted — could result in even more severe cost burdens in the months ahead." [Arkansas Advocate, 7/1/25]
Arkansas Soybean Exports To China Fell 43.7% As Tariffs Drove Buyers To Brazil. According to the Arkansas Advocate, "about half of the state's soybean exports were sent to China last year [...] But after Trump levied tariffs on Chinese goods, the east Asian country imposed reciprocal tariffs on American-grown crops. Soybean exports from the U.S. to China were down 43.7% in April compared to the same time last year." Farmers for Free Trade Executive Director Brian Kuehl explained: "That's why we see the 50% fall off in Arkansas exports of soybeans, because our soybeans now are more expensive when we're trying to sell into overseas markets." [Arkansas Advocate, 7/1/25]
Agricultural Council Of Arkansas Warned Tariffs Could Close 1 In 3 Farms In The State. According to NPR, "the Agricultural Council of Arkansas, a lobbying group, has been to D.C. to ask lawmakers for assistance. The group says the current disaster could close 1 in 3 farms in Arkansas." Arkansas farmer Scott Brown told NPR: "Being the guy and the girl, the family, the husband and wife sitting on the porch going, this has been in our family since the Oklahoma land rush, since the early 1800s. And I'm the one that's going to lose all this." [NPR, 9/11/25]
Walmart Warned It Cannot Absorb Tariff Costs And Will Raise Prices. According to PBS NewsHour, "Walmart, which became the nation's largest retailer by making low prices a priority, has found itself in a place it's rarely been: Warning customers that prices will rise for goods ranging from bananas to car seats." Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on the company's May 2025 earnings call: "We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible. But given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren't able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins." [PBS NewsHour, 5/15/25]
Hill Voted For The "One Big Beautiful Bill" That Cuts $186 Billion From SNAP. According to CNBC, the bill imposes expanded work requirements for adults ages 18-64, removes exemptions for veterans and former foster youth, and for the first time shifts up to 15% of benefit costs to states. Hill voted for the bill, which passed 215-214. He defended it as "pro-family, pro-farm, pro-economic growth" and claimed it "strengthens safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP." [CNBC, 8/8/25; KATV, 7/14/25]
Arkansas Ranks Dead Last In The Nation For Food Insecurity. According to KAIT, "Arkansas ranks first in the nation for food insecurity, according to a new study by the United States Department of Agriculture, with nearly one in five households struggling with food access from 2022 through 2024." The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance CEO Sylvia Blain said: "We know that we have persistent low wages in the state of Arkansas, and combine that with the rising cost of living, we have to find a way to get those things to meet in the middle." [KAIT, 1/9/26]
1 In 13 Arkansans Relies On SNAP, And Most Are Children, Elderly, Or Disabled. According to the Arkansas Democratic Party, citing CBPP data, "SNAP reaches 240,100 Arkansas residents (8% of state population, 1 in 13). More than 64% of SNAP participants are in families with children. More than 45% are in families with members who are older adults or disabled. More than 27% are in working families." [Arkansas Democrats, Viewed 2/16/26]
25% Of Arkansas Children Were Food Insecure In 2023. According to Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, "food insecurity among children is even higher. For 2023, Feeding America reports that 25% of children, up from 19% in 2021, were food insecure. That means that in 2023, nearly 570,000 Arkansans — more than 168,000 of whom were children — lacked sufficient food." [Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, 1/29/25]
Hill Voted Against Allowing Medicare To Negotiate Prescription Drug Prices. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Hill voted against H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which "would have allowed the federal government to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices" and "set limits on prices so that they don't exceed 120% of the average price charged in several other Western democracies." The bill passed 230-192. His 2020 Democratic challenger Joyce Elliott responded: "One of the few things that nearly all Americans can agree on is that prescription drug prices are way too high. It should take your breath away, French Hill voted against lowering prescription drug costs." [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 12/15/19]
Hill Voted For A GOP Health Plan That Let ACA Premium Subsidies Expire, Doubling Costs For Millions. According to NBC News, the Senate rejected both the Democratic proposal to extend enhanced ACA premium subsidies and a Republican alternative (H.R. 6703) that Hill voted for, which expanded Health Savings Accounts but did not extend the subsidies. The result: enhanced ACA premium subsidies expired, and premiums doubled on average for roughly 22 million Americans who benefited from the credits. [NBC News, 12/11/25]
Hill Championed Medicaid Work Requirements That Stripped 18,000 Arkansans Of Coverage. According to Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, "the implementation of the policy [...] resulted in more than 18,000 Arkansans losing their health insurance in the last few months of 2018" while "only around 4,000 Arkansas Works enrollees have gone from not working to working." Hill and the entire Arkansas delegation had jointly praised the policy, stating, "Encouraging people who can work to find employment is a common-sense policy with a track record of success." A federal judge later blocked the requirements, ruling they violated the Medicaid Act's core purpose. [Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, 3/26/19]
Hill Voted For The "One Big Beautiful Bill" That Cuts Up To $1 Trillion From Medicaid — Then Told Constituents He Had "Never Voted To End Medicare Or Medicaid." According to the Arkansas Times, Hill and "Arkansas's congressmen all vote to slash their constituents' health insurance" when H.R. 1 passed 215-214 on May 22, 2025. The CBO estimates the bill could result in nearly 14 million additional uninsured Americans. Hill then sent a constituent letter claiming, "I have never voted to end Medicare or Medicaid." Arkansas Democratic Party Chair Grant Tennille responded: "Rep. Hill is lying to you; he voted to slash essential funding for Medicaid." [Arkansas Times, 7/3/25; Arkansas Democrats, 3/25/25]
An Arkansas Farmer Said He Could Lose Land That Has Been In His Family Since The Early 1800s. According to NPR, Arkansas farmer Scott Brown said: "Being the guy and the girl, the family, the husband and wife sitting on the porch going, this has been in our family since the Oklahoma land rush, since the early 1800s. And I'm the one that's going to lose all this." He said there "just isn't a way to turn a profit." [NPR, 9/11/25]
A Northeast Arkansas Farmer Said "Break Even's Not Even In Sight." According to KATV, Jackson County farmer Jeff Rutledge said: "Break even's not even in sight. Every crop that we could possibly plant had a negative return projected." He added of the tariff strategy: "Move fast and break things is really not a great strategy." [KATV, 4/18/25]
Arkansas's Hunger Relief Alliance CEO Said Families Are "Making Decisions About Medicine, Doctors' Appointments, Health Insurance, Or What Foods To Purchase." According to KAIT, Sylvia Blain, CEO of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, said: "These are real people, real issues, and we all know these people. They are making decisions about medicine, doctors' appointments, health insurance, or what foods to purchase." [KAIT, 1/9/26]
A Constituent Told Hill She Grew Up "One Health Issue Away From Family Devastation." According to KUAR, Camille Richoux, a UAMS student from Camden, said at a protest outside Hill's Little Rock office: "I am from Camden in rural, southern Arkansas. I grew up without health insurance and know exactly what it's like to be one health issue away from family devastation. My mom actually filed bankruptcy when I was younger." [KUAR, 5/8/17]
30 Of Arkansas's 47 Rural Hospitals Are At Risk Of Closing. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a July 2025 report found 30 of Arkansas's 47 rural hospitals at risk of closing, with 11 at "immediate risk." The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement noted that "Arkansas's expansion of Medicaid in 2014, which resulted in reduced uncompensated care costs for hospitals, has helped it avoid the rural hospital closings experienced in neighboring states." Hill's votes to cut Medicaid threaten this stability. [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 7/13/25]