By Esteban Fernandez, The Register-Herald
FAIRMONT — As the president’s budget reconciliation bill moves closer to signage, concerns mount over the harm it will do to West Virginia residents.
“There are certain areas that, regardless, we as a state have to protect our citizens,” W.Va. Del. Mike DeVault, R-74 (Marion), said. “It’s just that simple. And if it’s a tax increase, if it’s a rollback of some of the cuts, it is what it is. We can’t hang people out to dry.”
The budget bill, assigned the salesman’s moniker of the “Big Beautiful Bill” by President Donald Trump, passed the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, with a tie-breaking vote delivered by Vice President J.D. Vance. The West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy warned the bill makes the largest cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food assistance program. The bill also threatens to shut down rural hospitals.
“The bill, in its current form, could have devastating effects for every hospital in West Virginia,” Beckley ARH CEO Todd Howell said. “It has the potential to negatively affect our patients, our employees and communities at large.”
