The American experience is one of hope, innovation and an ever-improving quality of life. By far, more workers have been lifted from poverty to the middle class by obtaining a good job than by depending on government subsidies. Let’s pass a bill that has the proven benefits of encouraging business innovation and growth that has benefited so many in our great land.
Op-Ed: Steve Roberts: Business growth lifts all
June 27, 2025
The important work of Congress in passing a tax bill cannot be overstated. Without the enactment of a tax bill, most taxpayers will face an unexpected and large automatic tax increase. That is because current tax rates passed by Congress in 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will expire at the end of this year.
Failure to pass new legislation will mean tax rates automatically go substantially higher at the end of 2025. Congressional action is required if U.S. taxpayers are to be spared a historically significant tax increase.
I applaud the work being done by West Virginia’s members of Congress to prevent one of the largest tax increases in history. Senior United States Senator Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, West Virginia’s junior Senator, are working furiously to help craft a workable tax bill that creates jobs, increases incomes and improves the prospects for those who will be helped by a strong economy. Thank you, Senator Capito and Senator Justice.
Likewise, West Virginia’s members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Carol Miller and Riley Moore, have worked to prevent a historic and unprecedented tax increase. Thank you, Congresswoman Miller and Congressman Moore.
We do not yet know exactly what revenue and spending proposals can pass both houses of Congress and there are still wrinkles to work out.
In West Virginia, we want to preserve tax language that aids in job creation and revitalizes our rural communities. We also want to see language that helps our important and much-valued health systems as they struggle to serve the many needs of our elderly, poor and neediest neighbors.
We are fortunate that Senators Capito and Justice and Congresswoman Miller and Congressman Moore are all working in the right direction.
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act led to a period of job creation, innovation and investment in new life-improving products. Since 2017, our nation has seen record-low unemployment rates, creation of new jobs and an increase in income for many households. This bill also helped the U.S. economy quickly emerge from the COVID pandemic. Without a new tax bill, however, much of the progress from 2017 will be at risk.
The current tax bill before Congress is still being examined, negotiated and improved. Because of her high rank in the United States Senate, West Virginia’s Shelley Moore Capito has a key role in helping to deliver tax policy that creates jobs, grows the economy, increases family income and adds meaningful employment opportunities for those who need a job and the dignity that comes from meaningful work.
Businesses in West Virginia recognize the good work being done by West Virginia’s members of Congress and we appreciate the need to balance many interests to get a bill that can pass Congress.
The stakes are high, the outcome is important, and Senators Capito and Justice and Representatives Miller and Moore have our appreciation and support in this all-important endeavor.
Op-Ed by Steve Roberts, President, West Virginia Chamber of Commerce