Congresswoman Carol Miller, R-W.Va., voted in favor of the big, beautiful bill legislation, and spoke in support of the bill’s passage on the House. (U.S. House of Representatives screenshot)
West Virginia House of Representative members Carol Miller and Riley Moore, both Republicans, praised the House’s passage of a massive tax credit and spending bill Thursday.
The House signed off on the Senate’s changes to the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill Act” with a 218 to 214 vote Thursday afternoon, in time for President Donald Trump to sign the legislation by his Independence Day deadline.
Miller spoke in support of the legislation from the House floor.
“This is a big win for our West Virginia businesses,” she said. “It provides relief to gig workers by ending the Democrats’ absurd $600 1099K reporting threshold and reverts back to the time-tested standard of $20,000 and 200 transactions. It will provide economic relief, secure our borders, and ensure American energy dominance,” she said.
“This legislation will make the life of the average American better, and I support getting it to President Trump’s desk. I urge all my colleagues to do the same,” Miller said.
West Virginia Treasurer Riley Moore
In a statement, Moore said the bill fulfills a mandate the American people gave Trump to secure the nation’s borders, lower costs, and return to commonsense.
“This bill provides the largest border security investment in America’s history — $175 billion to finish the wall, hire thousands of new ICE and Border Patrol agents, and conduct mass deportations — giving the president every tool he needs to restore our national sovereignty,” Moore said. “We also provide the largest tax cut in American history — no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and 88% of seniors will pay no taxes on Social Security.
The legislation will extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts by slashing Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. It will shift some of the costs of a federal food assistance program to the states for the first time.
In West Virginia, where about 500,000 people get their health care from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, about 82,000 people are expected to lose coverage as a result of changes in the bill, according to a news release from West Virginians for Affordable Health Care.
Nationally, about one million people will lose their health care, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. The bill will increase health insurance premiums for about 67,000 West Virginians by eliminating tax credits for plans through the Affordable Care Act that made them affordable.
In a statement, Ellen Allen, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Care, said the state’s congressional delegation betrayed it by supporting the bill.
“West Virginia’s congressional delegation now has the disgraceful distinction of voting for and helping pass the largest cuts to Medicaid in history,” she said. “In addition to historic coverage losses, ten West Virginia hospitals and three nursing homes could be forced to shut down, resulting in layoffs and hurting local economies.
“West Virginia’s congressional had the power to vote this devastating bill down and protect working West Virginians and their health care, but instead, they chose to line the pockets of billionaires with even more tax breaks,” Allen said.
Allen said besides the health care tax credits that expire at the end of the year, the “true pain” of the bill likely will not be felt right away.
“The worst of this legislation will be felt in 2027 when people lose Medicaid, when hospitals aren’t reimbursed, when people are having trouble verifying work requirements even though they’re working,” Allen said. “So that will snowball into hospitals.”
The bill sets up a $50 billion fund to support rural hospitals, but won’t not enough to cover the people coming to the hospitals with no health insurance, she said.
“I just can’t see how anybody thought this was a good idea,” Allen said.
The West Virginia Democratic Party also condemned the bill’s passage.
“This budget is Robin Hood in reverse,” Democrat Party Chair Delegate Mike Pushkin said in a statement. “Donald Trump and his Republican allies are robbing the poor to enrich the wealthy. Over half a million West Virginians — including kids, veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities — just got told they don’t matter.”