The Commonwealth Institute Statement on U.S. House Budget Resolution

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget resolution that would pave the way for massive cuts to critical programs impacting Virginia families, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), while providing tax cuts to the wealthiest in the nation.

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 1.5 million Virginians who receive health care from Medicaid, including 35% of moms giving birth and their newborns. In Virginia, any reduction from the federal government for Medicaid expansion, even a 1% reduction, would lead to the automatic disenrollment of approximately 630,000 Virginians. 

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. If cuts are proportionate to how much food assistance each state provides through SNAP, families across Virginia would be stripped of $480 million per year in benefits, which would also impact 6,400 local supermarkets and retailers, as well as impacting Virginia farmers.

These cuts are being proposed in order to pass 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 the poorest 20%, people making below $28,600, would see an average tax increase of $790. 

“Thank you to the members of Virginia’s Congressional delegation who voted to reject the dangerous House budget resolution,” said President and CEO of The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis Ashley C. Kenneth. “If these draconian cuts move forward, it will harm the lives of millions of Virginians by making health care and food more expensive and slashing jobs across our commonwealth. The House budget framework attempts to hand a massive tax cut to the ultra-wealthy and corporations by slashing health care and food security programs. This would leave a massive hole in Virginia’s budget and would leave families without health care and kids without food in Virginia. As this process moves forward, we encourage all Virginia members of Congress to reject these damaging cuts and put Virginia families ahead of tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.”

Yesterday, The Commonwealth Institute led a coalition of 21 state-based organizations that sent a letter to Virginia’s congressional delegation, calling on them to stand against tax handouts for the wealthiest individuals and corporations as part of the upcoming federal tax debate in 2025.