Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., questions Education Secretary Linda McMahon during a Senate Appropriations hearing, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

CHARLESTON — With a vote to proceed toward consideration of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill as soon as Friday, the committee chaired by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito released updated legislative text after the Senate parliamentarian objected to earlier provisions.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Senate Republicans to ease up on proposed changes in the bill that some warn could see people lose Medicaid coverage and access to food, as well as harm rural hospitals.Capito, the chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the committee’s updated legislative text Wednesday morning for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the budget reconciliation package supported by Trump to continue his 2017 tax cuts.
The committee text focuses on gutting provisions in the 2023 Inflation Reduction Act and clawing back some of those funds to help pay for the continued tax cuts.
“Our budget reconciliation title through the EPW Committee accomplishes what we pledged to do – stop Democrats’ natural gas tax and rescind unobligated dollars from the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, as well as a full repeal of the wasteful Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,” said Capito, R-W.Va. “Senate Republicans continue to move towards passage of this package that will help enact President Trump’s agenda.”
The committee’s proposal seeks to rescind unobligated funding from various Inflation Reduction Act sections that supported programs for clean heavy-duty vehicles, greenhouse gas reduction, diesel emissions reductions, air pollution initiatives and environmental data collection.The committee’s legislative text also details plans to pause the IRA’s methane tax for 10 years, allocate funding for construction and maintenance of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and introduce an opt-in fee program under the National Environmental Policy Act to expedite environmental reviews.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 23 in a 215-214-1 vote, is being handled through the reconciliation process, which avoids the specter of a filibuster by allowing the bill to be passed by a simple 51-vote majority in the 100-member Senate.
But the reconciliation process requires the Senate parliamentarian to review each committee’s proposal to remove items unrelated to the federal budget. This process is sometimes called the “Byrd Bath,” named for the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia.
Last week, the Senate parliamentarian said several provisions in the original legislative text released by the committee violated the Byrd Bath rule. One rejected provision would have allowed certain infrastructure projects receiving an expedited National Environmental Policy Act review to be exempt from judicial review for a set fee. Another provision would have completely stripped the Biden-era tailpipe emissions rule.
The updated EPA legislative text now only rescinds funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act for enforcement of the tailpipe emissions rule while leaving the rule itself in place. It also removed the judicial review provision to which the parliamentarian objected.
Unrelated to environmental issues, another section of the legislative text would appropriate $257 million in funding to address a backlog in needed repairs, restoration, security, and general maintenance for the Kennedy Center. Democratic lawmakers have been vocal about changes to the governance of the Kennedy Center after Trump fired the entire board and replaced it with supporters.
Lawmakers have set a self-imposed deadline of July 4 – Independence Day – to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But pressure is mounting on senators to ease proposed changes to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other social safety net programs.
Representatives from the West Virginia Hospital Association were on Capitol Hill Tuesday meeting with West Virginia’s congressional delegation to raise concerns about cuts to Medicaid they say could harm the rural hospital system in the state.
“Our hospitals serve as the backbone of health care delivery in communities across West Virginia, and Medicaid funding is absolutely critical to maintaining access to care for our most vulnerable residents,” said WVHA President and CEO Jim Kaufman. “These CEOs took time away from their demanding responsibilities to personally advocate for their patients and communities because the stakes are simply too high to leave this to chance.”
Proposed changes to the SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps, could make West Virginia responsible for providing $85 million for SNAP by 2028, putting a strain on future budgets. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act also places additional work requirements on SNAP recipients, which could mean some recipients would be removed from the program. Food banks in the state, such as the Mountaineer Food Bank, oppose these changes.Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.