Vice President JD Vance to visit West Pittston on Wednesday

Jul. 11—Vice President JD Vance will visit West Pittston on Wednesday, the White House announced Friday morning.

The time and location were not yet announced.

The vice president will deliver remarks following the successful passage and signing of “the greatest legislation for American workers in history” — President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” according to the announcement.

The bill was signed into law after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the final version of the legislation, 218-214, last week.

Regional suppport

Northeast Pennsylvania’s two Republican members of Congress — U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, and U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr. — supported the legislation.

Bresnahan, R-Dallas Township, and Meuser, R-Dallas, issued statements after the vote was tallied.

“This bill delivers on the promise I made to the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania by providing the largest working-class tax cuts in American history, eliminating taxes on tips and overtime, and securing the southern border,” Bresnahan said. “We also protect and strengthen Medicaid by cracking down on the fraud, waste, and abuse that is driving the program toward collapse. This ensures Medicaid is there for seniors, people with disabilities, and vulnerable families, not for those who can work but refuse to do so.”

“Most importantly, we worked directly with the White House to ensure all our hospitals in Northeastern Pennsylvania will qualify for the funding they need to stay open and protect critical healthcare access for our communities,” he added.

Meuser said the One Big Beautiful Bill is a direct response to what the American people have demanded — secure borders, lower costs, greater opportunity and an accountable government that works for them, not against them.

“This bill makes permanent the tax relief passed in President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and prevents the largest tax increase in American history,” he said. “If Congress did not pass the OBBB, we’d be guaranteeing a $4 trillion tax hike on the American people — raising taxes on 165 million taxpayers and over 33 million small businesses.”

Meuser said for families in Pennsylvania, the bill’s passage means avoiding a $2,500 tax hike, preserving the full $30,000 standard deduction and expanding the Child Tax Credit to $2,200 for 1.4 million Pennsylvania households.

Meuser said the OBBB supports working families in every corner of the country.

“It eliminates taxes on tips and overtime through 2028, creates a $6,000 senior deduction, and launches Trump Investment Accounts for every child born between 2025 and 2028 — giving families a stake in our nation’s economic future from day one,” Rep. Meuser said. “As well, it secures our border by completing the physical barrier, expanding personnel, and giving ICE and Border Patrol the resources they need to do their job. It unleashes American energy by ending costly mandates, repealing wasteful subsidies, restarting lease sales, and restarting domestic production. And it puts our budget on a more sustainable path — delivering $1.2 trillion in mandatory savings, the largest deficit reduction package in nearly 30 years.”

Meuser went on to say, “And importantly, this bill strengthens Medicaid for those it was intended to support. It includes common-sense work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, removes individuals who are ineligible under the law from the rolls, and, beginning in October 2026, it ends the federal cost-share for states that choose to include illegal immigrants in their Medicaid programs — taking serious steps to address waste, fraud, and abuse in the program.”

Meuser also said the legislation also delivers support for rural health care, creating a $50 billion fund to help rural hospitals and ensure continued access to care.

Democrats disagree

Following passage of the bill, Suzan DelBene, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair, said the bill “rips away health care and food access from millions of children and families — all to pay for massive tax breaks for their billionaire campaign donors.”

“This Big, Ugly Bill is a laundry list of Republicans’ betrayal to the American people,” she said. “The DCCC will make sure every battleground voter knows how vulnerable House Republicans — including Mackenzie, Bresnahan, and Perry — abandoned them by passing the most unpopular piece of legislation in modern American history, and we’re going to take back the House majority because of it.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro also critcized the bill, saying he wanted to be clear that it would have devastating impacts on Pennsylvania.

According to the Governor’s fact sheet, 310,000 would lose Medicaid coverage, while 144,000 Pennsylvanians on SNAP risk losing access to food assistance statewide.

Here is the breakdown:

PA 8th Congressional District — Rep. Rob Bresnahan

—21,637 Pennsylvanians will lose Medicaid coverage.

—11,572 Pennsylvanians will lose SNAP benefits.

PA 9th Congressional District — Rep. Dan Meuser

—17,967 Pennsylvanians will lose Medicaid coverage.

—8,185 Pennsylvanians will lose SNAP benefits.

U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pittsburgh, also spoke out against the “Big Ugly Bill,” saying it will hurt Pennsylvania. Deluzio emphasized how it slashes healthcare for millions of hardworking Americans while giving tax handouts to the ultra rich — calling it “class warfare” and “fiscally reckless.”