WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees, and Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, released the following statement after voting in strong opposition against Senate Republicans’ disastrous tax bill:   

“We have an obligation to put the constituents and hardworking families we represent first. Instead of helping everyday people, Republicans’ tax bill capitulates to President Trump and harms communities large and small. This cruel bill will take us back decades by exacerbating income inequality, ripping away health care, and rolling back progress on climate change. It will also raise costs and weaken the economy. All of this pain has been caused to help pay for tax cuts for the very wealthy—a top priority of President Trump. I am grateful to the few Republicans—Senators Tillis, Paul, and Collins—who voted against this terrible bill,” said Senator Welch. “The irony is all these hardships will be faced by citizens in red and blue states—the pain is bipartisan. It’s outrageous that families will now face untold hardships because of the Trump Administration’s cuts. I voted no on this bill and will fight to reverse these policies in any way I can.”  

Republicans’ reckless tax and spending bill will block access to health care for 17 million people, rip away vital food assistance for millions, cut clean energy incentives and add a tax to wind and solar energy, raise utility bills and grocery prices, and tank the economy—all to pay for tax cuts for the very wealthy.    

Senator Welch filed amendments and changes to Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act to strengthen the economy, protect access to health care and nutrition programs, and provide more stability for families and rural communities, including provisions to: 

Protect Access to Health Care and Support Rural Hospitals:  

• Welch proposed requiring the Finance Committee to rewrite the bill to prevent harm to rural health care and the fiscal wellbeing of rural hospitals;  

• Welch proposed requiring the Finance Committee to exempt managed care programs operated by state governments like Vermont from any changes proposed to state directed payments.  

• Welch proposed requiring the Finance Committee to strike any changes to provider taxes, including changes that would impact states like Vermont with Medicaid expansion;  

• Welch proposed requiring the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee to make it easier to verify eligibility for the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits and expand special enrollment periods under certain circumstances. 

Defend Food Assistance Programs:  

• Welch proposed requiring the Agriculture Committee to strike any cost-shifts of administering SNAP to states, which would kick American families off the food assistance they need and strain state budgets;  

• Welch proposed an amendment to strike administrative cost-shifts for SNAP;  

• Welch proposed an amendment to adjust the Thrifty Food Plan for cities, counties, and regions where the price of food is 10% higher than the national average;  

• Welch proposed an amendment that places a floor on SNAP allotments to households instead of a ceiling;  

• Welch proposed an amendment preserving the standard utility deduction, which cuts administrative red tape and boosts benefits by providing a more accurate portrayal of a household’s available resources for food when determining SNAP eligibility; 

• Welch proposed requiring the Agriculture Committee to rewrite the bill to allow volunteer work to qualify under SNAP’s work requirements.   

Protect Programs and Government Services:  

• Welch proposed requiring the Finance Committee to rewrite the bill to maintain the energy efficient home improvement tax credit at current levels through 2028;  

• Welch proposed an amendment to strike the repeal of several home energy efficiency tax credits, including credits for home energy, rooftop solar, energy efficient homes for homebuilders, and more;  

• Welch proposed striking language in the bill that would rescind funding for state-based contractor training grants, as required in Welch’s HOPE for HOMES Act, passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act;  

• Welch proposed striking language in the bill that would institute taxes on international remittances.  

• Welch proposed an amendment to dedicate funding for residential reentry centers, which are needed in Vermont;  

• Welch proposed an amendment to dedicate funding for the federal public defenders program, which is currently underfunded. 

Senator Welch has been an outspoken opponent of the President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans are advancing through reconciliation process without Democratic support. Late Sunday evening, Senator Welch took to the Senate floor to reveal how Republicans’ disastrous tax and spending bill will force millions of working Americans in Vermont, West Virginia, and across the country to lose their health coverage, rip away vital food assistance for more than 42 million Americans, cut clean energy incentives and add a tax to wind and solar energy, raise utility bills and grocery prices, and tank the economy—all to pay for tax cuts for the very wealthy.   

Welch has slammed the bill for threatening access to health care and cutting food assistance, and has sounded the alarm about how this bill will add more than $4 trillion to the national debt and tank the economy.    

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