Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget resolution that kicks off consideration of a proposal to deeply cut Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — critical programs that Virginians rely on for health care and food — all to pay for tax giveaways to the ultra-wealthy.
“Thank you to the members of Virginia’s congressional delegation who voted against this deeply damaging resolution,” said President and CEO of The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis Ashley C. Kenneth. “Virginia families need Medicaid and SNAP, yet Congress has chosen to move forward on considering these massive cuts. The current bill would threaten access to food and health care for millions of Virginians, and could create a massive hole in Virginia’s state budget. As this disastrous bill moves through the budget process, we will continue to raise our voices to call on all of Virginia’s congressional delegation to oppose these harmful cuts that prioritize the ultra-wealthy over Virginia families.”
The House-passed resolution comes after the Senate passed a version of the budget framework last week, using a budget trick that hides the real price of the tax giveaways. An original budget framework was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in February that created a blueprint for massive cuts to key programs, including Medicaid and SNAP, while providing substantial tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.
The House budget resolution calls for $880 billion in cuts over the next 10 years to programs under the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction, the vast majority of which would likely come from Medicaid. This would mean massive cuts for the nearly 2 million Virginians who receive health care from Medicaid/CHIP, including 35% of people who have just given birth and their newborns. Even a 1% reduction in federal funding for Medicaid expansion would lead to the automatic disenrollment of approximately 630,000 Virginians. The Healthcare For All Virginians Coalition, which TCI leads, sent a letter to Virginia members of Congress highlighting the devastating impact that Medicaid cuts would have on Congressional districts.
The House budget resolution also calls for $230 billion in cuts to programs under the House Agriculture Committee’s purview, which would likely mean major cuts to SNAP. Some Congressional leaders are calling for states to pay a portion of SNAP food benefits for the first time. Paying just 10% could blow an approximately $352 million hole in Virginia’s biennial budget or force massive cuts to SNAP programs that would put 827,800 Virginians at risk of going hungry.
These cuts are being proposed in order to pay for President Trump’s tax plan, which would disproportionately benefit the ultra-wealthy. The latest analysis on Trump’s tax plan shows that the richest 1%, people with incomes over $914,900, would see an average tax cut of $36,320 while households in the lowest 20% of incomes, people making below $28,600, would see an average tax increase of $790.
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