A new report details the devastating impacts of House Republicans’ plan to cut critical support for hardworking families in Virginia’s 10th District.
In Virginia, costs would rise for families and students. Housing costs would rise for 13,400 Virginians and put many seniors, persons with disabilities and children at risk for homelessness. In addition to 3,600 Head Start slots in the Commonwealth, 4,900 preschool and childcare slots would be eliminated. Food assistance for 22,000 Virginians aged 50 to 55 would be threatened because the age limit for stricter work requirements for SNAP would be raised. College costs for 162,000 Virginians would spike with the elimination of Pell Grants for 2,600 students and capping of the maximum award by almost $1,000 for the remaining 160,300 students who receive Pell Grants.
“The extreme budget cuts being championed by House Republicans would be devastating to Virginians’ health, safety and education here in the 10th District and all across the Commonwealth,” Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton said. “From vulnerable children to veterans to seniors, Virginians everywhere would be hit hard as a result of these cuts – losing access to key assistance programs and forced to pay more for everything from daycare to groceries. I’m fighting to protect these critical services that all Americans rely on and work in a bipartisan way to avoid a catastrophic default on our debt.”
The cuts would endanger public safety and worsen public health with the denial of 600 Virginians to opioid treatment through the State Opioid Response grant program, which will result in more overdoses and cost lives. The odds of a railroad catastrophe like the one in East Palestine would become more of a possibility in the Commonwealth with 180 rail safety inspections cut for 1,350 miles of track. Lives would be at risk because at least two air traffic control towers would shut down and make airports less safe and increase wait times to more than two hours.
Seniors and veterans would also feel the cuts. Lifesaving health care for veterans would be cut with 79,100 fewer outpatient visits, which would deny them crucial wellness visits, mental health services and substance disorder treatment. Staff would be cut at Social Security and Medicare, which would increase the wait time to at least two months for 1.7 million seniors and persons with disabilities in the Commonwealth.
Continued Republican calls for cuts of this magnitude would be absolutely detrimental to all Americans, many of whom have not seen a pay raise in years and are struggling to pay their bills. That is in sharp contrast to President Biden’s budget, which invests in America, lowers costs for families, protects and strengthens Social Security and Medicare, and reduces the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over 10 years.
A fact sheet on how the extreme House Republican proposal would impact Virginia can be found here.
A map detailing the devastating impacts for Virginia-10 of Republicans’ threat to default on America’s bills – including killing 8,300 VA-10 jobs and threatening the retirement savings of 97,300 people in the district – can be found here.
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Rebecca Barnabi
