1. United States
2. W.V.
3. Letter

Your administration’s repeated attacks on SNAP, Medicaid, and the School Clothing Allowance have consequences that extend far beyond press conferences and political talking points. Today, those consequences landed squarely on the shoulders of the frontline state employees who serve West Virginians every day. Client after client walked into our offices convinced that the workers sitting across from them were personally trying to take away their benefits. They blamed the very people who are answering phones, processing applications, conducting interviews, and doing everything they can to help families navigate an already difficult system. State employees do not write the laws. We do not set policy. We do not control budgets. We implement the rules that elected officials create. When you repeatedly portray public assistance programs as riddled with abuse or imply that recipients are somehow suspect, you create fear, confusion, and hostility. That hostility is directed not at politicians, but at the frontline workers who have no authority over the decisions being criticized. If your goal is to reform programs, then present facts, propose policy, and take responsibility for your decisions. Stop using inflammatory rhetoric that turns hardworking public servants into political punching bags and erodes trust between citizens and the people trying to help them. West Virginians deserve honest leadership, and state employees deserve to do their jobs without becoming collateral damage in political messaging.