West Virginia’s congressional delegation discusses Republican tax bill
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PARKERSBURG - Republicans in the West Virginia congressional delegation were elated with the passage of the tax reform legislation, but the only Democrat was not.
"I am truly disappointed that this process turned partisan, because I believe our country needs real tax reform and anything that is done in such a strictly-partisan way is not good for West Virginia or the country as a whole," Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
The final procedural vote on the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was taken in the House of Representatives Wednesday afternoon to send it to President Trump for his signature. The House and Senate approved the bill with no Democrats in either chamber voting for it.
It passed the Senate 51-48.
"As with any major legislative push, there has been a lot of misleading rhetoric from critics and political theatrics from naysayers who never really planned to support this effort," Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said. "I'm confident that next year when workers see larger paychecks and communities feel the benefits of greater economic growth it will be clear that this legislation is exactly the kind of big and bold solution our country needed."
The final version of the legislation included the Historic Preservation Tax Credit, which was supported by Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va.
"This is a historic moment for the American people," he said.
"It has been 31 years since we updated our burdensome tax code. This reform will bring some much-needed relief to the middle-class, remove special interest loopholes, lower rates, double the standard deduction, which over 80 percent of West Virginians currently use, double the child tax credit and make the tax code simpler."
An average family of four will receive a tax cut of more than $2,000, Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., said. It doubles the child tax credit to $2,000, reduces taxes on small business and cuts the corporate tax from 35 percent to 21 percent, he said.
"President Donald Trump has been a true leader on delivering tax relief for all Americans and I am looking forward to continuing to work with him to create more jobs and to keep our economy growing," Mooney said.
Besides the tax cuts to residents, companies will be encouraged to create more jobs, according to Rep. Evan Jenkins, R-W.Va.
"We will also help our state's economy continue to grow by encouraging companies to invest in America and create jobs here at home," he said.
But Manchin said it was clear Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., "had no intentions of working in a bipartisan way, and instead, wanted to use the tax bill as a political tool that adds a minimum of $1.4 trillion to our national debt."
The bill hurts senior citizens by threatening cuts to Medicare next year and hurts families by destabilizing the healthcare market, Manchin said.
While the tax cuts will provide temporary relief to working-class families, "I will work with the President to make those permanent, so that hard-working Americans can plan for their future like the corporations and very wealthy individuals that are receiving extremely large and permanent tax cuts will do," Manchin said.