For Immediate Releas
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Contact: Caitlin Cook, 304.543.4879
The budget resolution that the Senate passed yesterday brings Congress one step closer to enacting $1.5 trillion in unpaid-for tax cuts largely for the wealthy and profitable corporations while making low- and middle-income Americans foot the bill.
The budget sets up a fast-track, partisan process for passing the Republican tax plan with just 51 votes, the same process they used to try to force through their repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The tax plan would overwhelmingly benefit those at the top of the economic ladder: the top 1 percent in West Virginia would receive 40 percent of the tax cuts while the bottom 20 percent of West Virginians would get just 2 percent, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). West Virginia households that make over a million dollars each year would see an average tax cut of $27,800, ITEP found.
Everyday West Virginians would pay for these tax cuts for the wealthy and profitable corporations, either through immediate cuts to critical programs that help West Virginia families thrive, including health coverage, tax credits for low-income families, and basic assistance for poor seniors and people with disabilities or in the future when dramatically higher deficits would ultimately force cuts to health care, education, infrastructure, and other building blocks of economic growth.
Under the Senate budget plan passed yesterday and a similar version passed by the House two weeks ago, working families in West Virginia will likely end up worse off. The House and Senate are expected to set up a conference committee later this month to resolve the differences between their budget resolutions and agree on one budget plan that can be used to start the partisan process for enacting tax legislation.
Instead of tax cuts that help those who need it the least, Congress should be prioritizing budget and tax policies that boost working families, spur our economy through investment in education, housing, infrastructure, and more, and do not add to the deficit.
While we are disappointed that Senator Capito voted for the Senate budget plan yesterday, she will have a second chance to stand with West Virginia families as the House and Senate craft a final budget agreement. We call on Senator Capito to oppose any plan with tax cuts for the wealthy and profitable corporations that would force cuts to programs that help everyday Americans make ends meet and get ahead.
