This week, the Senate released a budget plan that confirms both chambers of Congress are racing down a path that could raise costs for food and health care for millions of families by endangering Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, all to enact windfall tax cuts for corporations and wealthy households. At the same time, tariffs instituted by the White House are expected to dramatically increase the costs of basic goods for households. The WVCBP’s executive director, Kelly Allen, released the following statement.
“The Senate budget resolution masks the true cost of planned tax cuts for the rich by using phony math tricks, balloons the national debt, and neglects to outline how much could be cut from programs like Medicaid and SNAP food assistance in budget reconciliation—though the House instructions make clear deep cuts are on the table. Meanwhile, tariffs rolled out this month are estimated to cost the average household thousands of dollars annually.
These actions are at odds with the promises our Congressional delegation and President Trump were elected to fulfill. Instead of lowering health care and food costs for West Virginia families, these policies combined will increase household costs and hurt our economy.
We call on West Virginia’s Congressional delegation to reject any budget that would cut programs that help families put food on the table and access health care, increase poverty and hardship, and increase our debt — all in service of tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. West Virginians deserve better.”
