U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. (Photo by Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., filed a series of amendments Monday to the Republican-led budget package moving through Congress, arguing the legislation would slash essential services and disproportionately benefit the wealthy.
A member of the Senate Budget Committee, Kaine said his amendments are designed to blunt some of what he called the proposal’s “worst of the worst” provisions.
“We should be focused on growing and supporting the middle-class, not passing Donald Trump and congressional Republicans’ ‘Hurt People, Kill Jobs, and Spike the Debt to Reward the Rich Act,’” Kaine said in a statement.
“I’m filing amendments to protect Americans from some of the worst of the worst from this Administration and its partisan megabill — from safeguarding our rural hospitals and preventing Americans from losing their health insurance, to keeping families from going hungry, standing up for our veterans, and preventing energy cost increases.”
Federal fallout
As federal funding and systems dwindle, states are left to decide how and
whether to make up the difference.
The 940-page proposal, which Republicans are advancing using a procedural maneuver that allows it to bypass the usual 60-vote threshold in the Senate, would enact deep cuts to federal programs including Medicaid, food assistance, energy tax credits and emergency preparedness, while extending tax breaks for corporations and high-income earners.
Kaine’s amendments seek to address the legislation’s effects in Virginia and nationwide. Some of the proposed changes take direct aim at proposed spending cuts by reversing tax breaks for the wealthy and protecting funding for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
To protect health care access in rural parts of Virginia, Kaine proposed mitigating changes to the Medicaid provider tax program, which he warned could jeopardize the financial stability of community hospitals.
Veterans’ issues also feature prominently in Kaine’s response to the bill. He introduced an amendment to crack down on what he described as the Trump administration’s “mass firing of veterans from the federal workforce,” by requiring any such dismissals to be reported to Congress. Another measure would prohibit agencies from illegally firing federal employees or withholding congressionally appropriated funds.
Kaine’s proposals also address specific Virginia projects.
One amendment would restore funding for the Richmond Water Treatment Plant, which was slated to receive a $12 million grant under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. That grant, along with a $24 million allocation for upgrades to the Lake Meade Dam in Portsmouth, was canceled by the Trump administration, according to Kaine’s office.
Another amendment targets a provision that would authorize the transfer of the Space Shuttle Discovery from its current home at the National Air and Space Museum annex in Chantilly, Virginia, to Houston, Texas. Kaine argues the move would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions and restrict public access to the shuttle, which is currently available to view free of charge.
The budget bill’s energy provisions have drawn particular scrutiny from Kaine and outside advocacy groups.
Several amendments filed by Kaine are aimed at preventing utility cost increases by blocking a proposed new excise tax on wind and solar power, and by preserving clean energy tax credits enacted under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Kaine also filed an amendment to incorporate his bipartisan Jumpstarting Our Businesses By Supporting Students (JOBS) Act into the legislation. The proposal would allow federal Pell Grants to be used for shorter-term workforce training programs, a shift he says would help more Americans access good-paying jobs.
Other changes include reversing an estate tax cut for multimillionaires, aligning munitions procurement spending with NATO’s European Deterrence Initiative, protecting federal employee unions and requiring a full accounting of the bill’s fiscal impact to prevent budgetary sleight of hand.
Outside groups have also raised alarm over energy-related provisions in the latest version of the Trump-backed proposal, particularly changes made over the weekend as the Senate updated the legislative text for H.R. 1, now dubbed the “One, Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
According to Appalachian Voices, the bill would raise electricity prices and restrict renewable energy development by repealing production and investment tax credits for wind and solar projects, and imposing a new excise tax of up to 50% on those sources — but not on fossil fuels.
“This will be extremely harmful for small businesses, utilities, and nonprofits,” Appalachian Voices said in a statement. “It blocks new energy construction that can help meet growing demand, and punishes project owners for delays beyond their control.”
The updated language requires solar and wind projects already under construction to be in service by Dec. 31, 2027, to qualify for federal tax credits — a deadline advocates say ignores the reality of permitting delays.
Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said on X, formerly Twitter, that the excise tax “will increase prices” and should be removed, calling it poor policy regardless of the energy source.
Labor groups also weighed in. North America’s Building Trades Unions — representing more than 3 million workers — said the bill “takes their jobs away and undermines” national energy goals. “Slashing energy tax credits and layering on harmful restrictions is no way to power America’s future,” the union said.
Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, called the changes “a punitive tax hike targeting the fastest-growing sectors of our energy industry.”
He warned that the move would “strand hundreds of billions of dollars in current investments, threaten energy security, undermine growth in domestic manufacturing and land hardest on rural communities who would have been the greatest beneficiaries of clean energy investment.”
Kaine’s amendments are now part of a rapidly unfolding Senate process, as votes on the megabill are expected to take place this week. Whether any of the Virginia senator’s changes gain traction remains to be seen.
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Author: Markus Schmidt
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