HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 29

(By Delegate Perdue)




Requesting the U.S. House of Representatives and those members of Congress who represent our state to defeat the medicaid cuts to low and middle class Americans.

Whereas, A conference agreement on the Federal Budget cutting

initiatives for poor and middle class families was passed by the House of Representatives immediately before Christmas; and
Whereas, The U.S. Senate made changes that require the House of Representatives once again to vote on this measure; and
Whereas, The conference report would permit states to cut back on benefits for nearly all of the 28 million children now enrolled in Medicaid; and
Whereas, The conference report cuts a net amount of $12.7 billion from the federal student loan programs, representing the largest cut to student aid in the history of the programs; and
Whereas, The conference report allows states to impose substantial and harmful cost-sharing charges on Medicaid beneficiaries; and
Whereas, The conference report would overburden, and possibly bankrupt, already strained public hospitals and threaten access to care for many Medicaid beneficiaries; and
Whereas, The conference report contains cuts in child welfare that will make it more difficult for grandparents and other relatives to take care of their own grandchildren; and
Whereas, The conference report imposes particularly unrealistic work requirements on two-parent families; and
Whereas, The conference report cuts $1.5 billion from child support enforcement over the next five years which the Congressional Budget Office estimates would result in $8.4 billion of reduced collection of child support for single parents over the next decade; and
Whereas, The conference report puts the Student Loan Program at risk by making the funding no longer mandatory; and
Whereas, The conference report would make it harder for low- income seniors to obtain needed long-term care; and
Whereas, The new TANF work requirements included in the conference report are more expensive for states; and
Whereas, For the first time since Medicaid began the conference agreement allows states to deny contraception to poor women; and
Whereas, The savings resulting from these cuts in critical federal expenditures are intended to find tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the U.S. House of Representatives and those members of Congress who represent our state are requested to defeat these cuts and to defeat any future measure aimed at cutting critical expenditures that benefit low and middle income Americans in order to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest citizens; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the West Virginia Congressional Representatives.