| RICHMOND, Va. — Today, the House Ways and Means Committee and House Energy and Commerce Committee will meet to consider cuts to Medicaid and tax cuts for billionaires as part of the federal budget reconciliation process.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will meet at 2 p.m. to discuss cuts to Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 13.7 million people would lose their health care coverage over the next ten years under the proposed GOP Medicaid cuts. Currently, over 72 million people in America and over 1 million people in Virginia rely on Medicaid for health care.
The House Ways and Means Committee will meet simultaneously to discuss tax breaks for billionaires. The GOP has proposed cuts to the Child Tax Credit to pay for billionaire tax handouts. The proposed cuts would stop over 4 million children from receiving benefits, and new income requirements would make 17 million children ineligible for the Child Tax Credit.
Freedom Virginia co-Executive Director, Rhena Hicks, released the following statement ahead of today’s meetings:
“These proposals are extremely troubling and illustrate the problems the federal government is having with priorities. Taking money, food, health care, or any other necessity away from children and families is wrong, and using the ‘savings’ from those cuts to give billionaires tax handouts is immoral. The Virginia General Assembly secured targeted economic relief for hardworking families by increasing the refundability of the Earned Income Tax Credit and expanding access to child care. Still, our budget will fall short because Governor Youngkin carved $900 million out just in case the federal government followed through on their proposed cuts.
“Virginia families have been hurting as a result of federal cuts, and now it’s all but guaranteed that at least 630,000 people could also lose their health care coverage. Trump’s tax plan is another nail in the coffin for America’s middle class. Groceries are still expensive, the stock market keeps trending downwards, people are losing their jobs, children will lose their health care, and families will lose crucial savings. It’s clear where Trump and his Congressional lackeys’ priorities lie. While they provide handouts for their billionaire donor friends, they create an endless cycle of economic turmoil for hardworking families.” |
