Virginians Are Paying the Price for Republican Cuts to Storm Protection

By Bridge2Blue

As violent summer weather and hurricane season descend on Virginia, families and business owners can expect less protection—and higher costs.  If you have been wondering why your home and property insurance premiums keep climbing, part of the answer lies with Republican Representatives who supported the 2025 budget cuts that President Trump pushed for.

Every Virginia Republican Representative — Rob Wittman (VA-1), Jen Kiggans (VA-2), John McGuire (VA-5), Ben Cline (VA-6), and Morgan Griffith (VA-9) — backed funding cuts that gutted essential staffing and systems we rely on to forecast storms and floods, track sea‑level rise, warn communities, and help us recover afterward.

Insurers see these cuts as added risk—and they raise prices.  So, Virginians are paying more while facing greater danger from floods, wind, drought, and coastal storms.

These cuts have five serious consequences for people across the Commonwealth:

• Insurance costs are rising, and coverage is becoming more limited.
• People hit by natural disasters have reduced access to FEMA assistance.
• Weather forecasting and severe-storm detection are weaker because of National Weather Service cuts and the elimination of coastal and ocean sensor systems.
• Emergency warning and evacuation alerts are less reliable — especially when power, internet, or cell service goes down — because public broadcasting funding that supports these systems was eliminated.
• Communities are more vulnerable to flooding, and emergency response and recovery are slower and more fragmented due to FEMA staffing and program cuts.

Republicans like Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA01), Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02), Rep. John McGuire (R-VA05), Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA06) and Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA09) made these cuts and now we need to hold them accountable in November.