Capito Says West Virginia Deserves Better in Stimulus
Press Release
Capito Says West Virginia Deserves Better in Stimulus
"It's not about doing something, or doing nothing, it's about doing the right thing"
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., says West Virginians deserve more in their stimulus plan than the package approved by the House of Representatives today. She joined a bipartisan coalition of her colleagues to oppose a $789.5 billion spending bill that will cost more than a trillion dollars when interest and debt service charges are included.
"If you're going to spend nearly a trillion dollars, don't we owe taxpayers some confidence that we're going to get it right," said Capito. "This debate can't be about doing something or doing nothing, it needs to be about doing the right thing. When we still don't know how the $700 billion bailout has been spent, I can't with a straight face vote to place another $2,500 tax burden on the back of the average West Virginian."
Capito also cited concerns that - despite its exorbitant cost - the plan may under-invest in the roads and infrastructure projects that many West Virginian communities desperately need. Capito supported a measure last month to bump funding for highway infrastructure and water projects through the Army Corps of Engineers, but it was rejected and the final bill actually reduces West Virginia's share of highway funding in this bill by nearly $30 million.
"This plan has been pitched as a roads and bridges bill, but less than 4% of this bill will actually go to those projects," she said. "At a price tag like this, taxpayers deserve to get their money's worth and this bill just doesn't measure up. Many of my constituents just don't have confidence that this plan will have the targeted impact that's been promised."
"We saw with TARP what happens when Congress passes something just for the sake of passing something. At a trillion dollars, the something matters."
Capito expressed her concerns at a time when the Congressional Budget Office released a report stating that the economic stimulus bill may reduce economic output in the years to come.
In the final vote in the House of Representatives was 246 to 183.
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