West Virginia Sen. Capito says Manchin-backed bill is a 'reckless tax-and-spending' bill

WASHINGTON (WV News) — The Inflation Reduction Act is really a “reckless tax-and-spending” bill, said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito on Thursday.

The bill, the result of negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin, D.W.Va., will not help reduce inflation, despite its title, Capito said.

“We know our 9.1% inflation is troublesome; we see prices going up and wages are less effective — all of things that have really pushed us into this recession,” she said. “I think that’s where we should be focusing. Instead, we’re focusing on spending more money and taxing more.”

There are numerous provisions within the bill she disagrees with, such as additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service and additional federal regulation of energy industries, Capito said.

Interest groups representing the coal industries of seven states, including West Virginia, have already come out against the bill, Capito said.

“They felt that they have been deceived by certain people that this was not going to harm them,” she said.

The bill “doubles the current tax on coal ... effectively costing mining companies tens of millions of dollars in new taxes,” as well as giving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “the clear and unbridled ability and expanded budget to regulate greenhouse gases and state coal assets however they deem appropriate or in the most punitive manner possible,” according to the statement from the coalition of coal groups released Wednesday.

“This whole bill is aimed at accelerating green (energy) and decelerating any kind of fossil fuels, whether it’s natural gas or coal,” Capito said.

Numerous environmental advocacy groups she considers “radical” have also come out in support of the bill, Capito said.

“I think you have to look at who is supporting this. I understand the Environmental Defense Fund has an advertisement out there and the Green Coalition,” she said. “All of these groups are, I think, radical environmental groups that we see repeatedly stopping projects in West Virginia.”

These groups supporting the bill are “major red flags” for her, Capito said.

“If Sen. Manchin wants to be associated with those groups, that’s certainly his prerogative,” she said. “But they are not working in the best interest of the country as a whole for all-of-the-above energy or our state in the smaller sense.”

Despite their stark divide over the bill, she doesn’t foresee the disagreement effecting her working relationship with Manchin, Capito said.

“Sen. Manchin and I have talked about this, and we’ve agreed to disagree,” she said. “This will not influence our relationship one way or another going forward. We’re on solid ground there. We will work where we have common ground, as we’ve always done.”