When his office called ours, Westerman had just finished a meeting in Prescott and was on his way to Hope.  Yesterday, he was in Pine Bluff and then Malvern.  For today and tomorrow he has his itinerary mapped out.

“I got a meeting with some healthcare folks in in Hope today, and then I'm actually going down to Plain Dealing, Louisiana to visit a mill down there that I think some Arkansas folks work at, and then back in to El Dorado and Monticello tomorrow, so I'll be doing a lot of traveling,” Westerman said.

With the Senate working on its version of the bill that President Trump has called big and beautiful, their version of a bill the House has already passed, which will only need a majority vote of the Senate to pass under reconciliation bill rules, Westerman took us through aspects of the bill he has not seen sufficiently covered by the media.

“There's a lot of tax policy that's going to expire at the end of this year, and if it's not renewed, it's going to be a four and a half trillion dollar tax increase on the American citizenry, and that's going to be across the board,” he said.  The effects of this would be more money taken from employee paychecks,  the child tax credit being unavailable, and rapid depreciation deductions no longer being allowed. 

“I think [allowing the current tax policy to expire] would be like throwing a big wet blanket on the American economy and put an undue burden on people who are already dealing with increased costs for inflation. I think that on average, it would be about a $1,200 per year increase for Arkansas residents, $1,200 to $1,300 a year.”

Westerman also praised the bill’s increase in support of border enforcement and drug smuggling prevention. “We don't hear a lot about the influx of fentanyl and other drugs coming across the southern border, and we've seen the number of illegal crossings go way down, so I don't think it's as much front and center as it has been, but there's funding in the bill to actually complete the wall and to build infrastructure along the border so we can keep the southern border secure and lots of other provisions in there,” he said.

Asked about provisions that apply to the concerns of farmers in the fourth district, Westerman said, “We need to get a farm bill passed. And I will say there's policies. In the reconciliation bill that has to do with the SNAP program that I think will help us get the farm bill passed quicker. I don't think there's as much direct policy in there that's going to have an immediate positive impact on farmers as much as getting the farm bill passed. But also, I think there's provisions in the bill that will help us get the farm bill passed sooner.”

Westerman added that the bill’s effects on tax policy, keeping current tax policy from expiring and offering tax cuts, will be of help to everyone in the district.  “Whether you're farming or run any other kind of business, it will help. There's actually tax policy on the inheritance tax that will benefit farmers and farm families. We see people lose farms because there's a huge tax due when the owner dies and and somebody inheres the farm. Not just farms, but we see that in timberland as well and in small businesses. So I think there's a lot of benefits in the tax policy for helping those areas.”

The criticism from the bill from Democrats and some Senate Republicans has been concerned with its cuts for Medicaid and other programs.  Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, with several other Democratic senators released a report Monday estimating that 338 rural hospitals would be in danger of closing because of cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act.  Westerman responded to this criticism.

“Ed Markey is going to try to spin it any way he can to make it sound bad, because it is a reconciliation [bill, which] is a partisan process, and there's been a lot of information put out about how this is going to damage health care, but the main health-care-related parts of the bill have to do with eligibility of working age, able bodied adults to receive Medicaid benefits. So that means 18 to 64 year olds who don't have a disability, who don't have minor children, or children under seven years old in the home. The bill just says that if you're going to receive Medicaid benefits, you either have to get a job or work or volunteer for 20 hours a week, which I don't think is too big of a of an ask, if you're going to get free health care from the government.”

Westerman called the criticism by Democrats “just a scary technique to cover up what the real policy is, and that is that if you're able bodied and working age and you don't have small children in the home, then you can't just sit at home all day and not try to get a job or do some volunteer work. I’m sure most Americans agree with that.”

As for any fixes to the House bill that he hopes the Senate version of the reconciliation bill will contain, Westerman said he hopes regulations are changed to make it easier to “access some of our resources, especially in Alaska.” He also said he expected Senate committees to adjust the bill to meet the Senate rules for reconciliation bills.

Westerman was asked for his thoughts on the recent near-loss of Hope’s only hospital that was averted when Pafford Medical Services bought the rights to run it from the bankrupt Steward Health.  The hospital is still seeking funding for upgrades to equipment and fixes of its building. He mentioned a change to federal reimbursements that would help rural hospitals better survive 

“Kudos to the folks for stepping in and recognizing the benefit in keeping that hospital operational for citizens. We're seeing this problem across rural America. A lot of times you have populations that are decreasing. You have hospitals that have traditionally provided a full range services. And it's a real challenge. In Arkansas, we have another challenge, and that's the fact that the reimbursement rate from Medicare to providers in Arkansas is lower than it is in any state around us.  

“So it puts another obstacle up for a medical professional that maybe wants to practice in Arkansas, where they can go over the line to Texarkana, Texas, and receive 10 to 20 percent more on the reimbursements…. So that's another issue that my office has been working on. I've been working with our Senate offices trying to get more parity into that Medicare reimbursement rate, which I believe would do more to help rural hospitals in Arkansas than about anything else,” Westerman said.

After this week in Arkansas, with one stop in Louisiana, Westerman said he is due back Monday in Washington, D.C. He said the goal is for the Senate to finish its work on the reconciliation bill by July 4th.