What could the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” mean for West Virginians?
June 19, 2025
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) – The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” is making headlines across the nation.
The proposed legislation seeks to make sweeping changes to federal spending and extend tax cuts passed in 2017. But what could it mean for the Mountain State?
Stakeholders in West Virginia are divided on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act–the sweeping budget reconciliation legislation championed by President Donald Trump and passed mostly along party lines by the House of Representatives in May.
The wide-ranging bill seeks to maintain low taxes and cut non-military spending across the federal government.
Sean O’Leary, senior policy analyst for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said the legislation threatens to upend healthcare coverage for thousands of people in West Virginia–a state whose population is among the nation’s oldest, poorest, and unhealthiest, as data from the U.S. Census Bureau and America’s Health Rankings show.
“The cuts to Medicaid and the premium tax credits for the Affordable Care Act–that would affect 65,000 people in the state would potentially lose their healthcare coverage and hundreds of millions of dollars lost in federal funding for the state,” O’Leary said.
The legislation requires states to implement new work and community engagement requirements for Medicaid eligibility.
Citing recent state-level rollouts of similar requirements in Georgia and Arkansas, O’Leary said these work requirements lead to a loss of coverage.O’Leary said often the issue isn’t with Medicaid recipients not working, but with bureaucratic confusion surrounding how they report their employment.
“What happens is, a lot of people just got caught up in that paperwork,” he said. “In Arkansas, one in four people who were subject to the requirements loss coverage within a year. A federal judge stopped that program, and nearly everyone who lost coverage was supposed to have received an exemption. But because the process was confusing because there was forms you have to fill out every month–you know, what qualifies as employment, how many hours you’re working? It was a lot of confusion and burden. Georgia, same thing.”
O’Leary said that, because of the major role the healthcare industry plays in the state’s economy, widespread loss of Medicaid coverage would have a widespread economic impact as well.
“We have more healthcare job as a share of our economy than any other state,” he said. “So, when cuts come down to Medicaid, when cuts come down to the Affordable Care Act, that trickles down throughout the economy. It’s a significant driver of employment, so when there’s less federal funding coming in, when there’s less people being able to see doctors, less people having health coverage, that results in fewer jobs as well.”
Conversely, Steve Roberts, President of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, said he believes at least part of the Big Beautiful Bill could have a positive economic impact–namely, those parts that extend provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“We’re seeing that the tax cuts that were enacted in 2017 have done largely what they were expected to do, which is cause business to spend more on on its equipment inventory and production capacities,” he said. “More people have been hired. Wages have gone up. And so, from an economic stimulus point of view, the Tax Cut and Jobs bill of 2017 worked well.”
If those provisions don’t get extended, Roberts warned that taxpayers across West Virginia and the whole nation will see their tax bills increase.
“If we do not extend the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act bill, what we would see is somewhere between 60 and 65% of all the taxpayers in the United States will be facing substantially higher tax rates, and we could very well lose the economic momentum that we’ve had that has helped our economy grow so much over the past several years,” Roberts said.
O’Leary agreed that the measures in the Big Beautiful Bill carried over from the 2017 bill would save taxpayers money–some far more than others.
“The typical household in West Virginia that makes about $55,000 would save about $1100,” O’Leary said. “The top 1% that makes over $566,000 would see a $50,000 savings. So, you know, it depends on whether or not you believe that that money is going to trickle down and power the economy.”
Outside of continued tax breaks, Roberts said he has some concerns about other aspects of the Big Beautiful Bill, including its rollbacks of provisions from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.
“There are benefits in the IRA that encourage tax credits for investing in renewable energy,” he said. “As an example, there are tax credits in the IRA that give a boost to the natural gas industry that will help the hydrogen, the emerging hydrogen industry, those are important tax credits for West Virginia. And they are potentially on the chopping block, and we would like to see those benefits continue to be there so that West Virginia can continue to get the benefit of increased investment from from those vehicles.”
Roberts said that as the bill moves through the senate, he hopes to see West Virginia’s senators advocate for the continuation of those IRA benefits.
The West Virginia Republican and Democratic Parties shared statements reacting to the bill’s passage in the House.
The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) is major win for West Virginia and all Americans. Preventing the largest tax hike in American history, the OBBB actually cuts taxes for working families, providing a 15% tax reduction for those earning between $30,000 and $80,000 a year. Moreover, this legislation cuts taxes on overtime and tips, while also providing necessary tax relief for seniors. It increases and makes the child tax credit permanent and invests record resources into our border security and deportation efforts.Additionally, OBBB funds and protects Medicare and Medicaid, eliminating waste and fraud from the system, such as defunding taxpayer transgender surgeries on minors.Finally, reducing unnecessary spending, such as the Biden EV mandates and Green New Deal, this legislation will deliver the largest deficit reduction (over $1 trillion) in over 30 years.Putting money back in the pockets of hardworking West Virginians, securing our border from criminals and drugs, and restoring fiscal sanity to our government, the OBBB will go a long way in Making America Great Again!
— Matt Herridge, Chair, West Virginia Republican Party
The bill, which passed the House by a single vote under the cover of darkness, includes deep cuts to Medicaid and other critical programs that benefit West Virginians. Party Vice Chair Teresa Toriseva said “this legislation is a disaster for West Virginians and a betrayal of the very people Moore and Miller were elected to represent.”
“In the West Virginia Legislature, there’s an old saying: ‘fat possums run at midnight.’ It means the worst legislation gets passed while people are home asleep in their beds,” said Pushkin. “That’s what happened here. Trump’s bill passed by one vote — in the dead of night — and Moore and Miller helped to shove it through.”
Despite being billed as a tax cut for all, the bill overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest Americans while making severe cuts to programs that support low-income families, seniors, and children. On top of that the legislation increases the federal deficit by $2.7 trillion to finance massive tax breaks for the top 1%, while reducing resources for the bottom 10% of income earners.
“It’s the same old Republican scam,” said Party Vice Chair Teresa Toriseva. “Sell hardworking families on the idea that they’re getting a meaningful tax cut, then gut the programs those families rely on — all while handing the ultra-wealthy billions in giveaways.” Mike Pushkin added, “it’s political slight of hand – sell the need for massive budget cuts to reduce the deficit, then use the savings to fund tax cuts for the top 1% while growing the deficit.”
In West Virginia, the consequences are especially dire:
- 522,000 West Virginians — nearly 30% of the population — receive Medicaid benefits.
- In Congressman Moore’s district, 25% of constituents rely on Medicaid.
- In Congresswoman Miller’s district, that number is even higher — 35%.
- Of those covered by Medicaid statewide, 62% are employed, 32% are children, 24% are over 65, and 20% live with three or more chronic conditions.
Pushkin added, “Moore and Miller didn’t vote for their constituents — they voted for billionaires in boardrooms who will never set foot in Logan or Martinsburg or Beckley. It’s shameful.”
The West Virginia Democratic Party is calling on voters to hold Moore and Miller accountable for their betrayal — and to remember who stood with the people and who sold them out.
Story by Chase Campbell, WTAP