CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Senate and House of Delegates leaders urged the new joint committee on tax reform to find a fair fix to the state’s tax system.
The committee of lawmakers staged its inaugural meeting Monday and received prompting from Senate President Bill Cole (R-Mercer) and House of Delegates Speaker Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha).
“The charge of this committee is to develop and propose legislation that will create a tax structure for West Virginia that is fair, simple and that will promote the economic growth of our state,” Cole said.
He warned the committee not to approach its assignment with any predetermined system in mind, but rather to focus on the “fairness of the tax base and propose a system that is revenue neutral.”
Added Cole: “We know how to do this. We have to broaden our base so that we can lower our rates.”
Armstead encouraged the committee to consider comprehensive tax studies performed in the past 20 years under the Underwood and Manchin administrations.
“We need to bring some of those same folks back. We need to bring in other folks that know our tax structure, know the challenges that we face, bring them to the table and truly have an open discussion of what our tax structure should be,” Armstead said.
Calling the current tax system “broken,” Armstead urged the committee to simplify guidelines: “It’s burdensome and, in many ways, it’s bewildering to people when they have to figure it out.”
Senate Finance Committee chair Mike Hall (R-Putnam) and House Finance chair Eric Nelson (R-Kanawha) will co-chair the committee. Members were told to expect long meetings on May 4 and May 18.
Cole and Armstead have said they wouldn’t be opposed to asking Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to call a special session to deal with tax reform later this year if the committee advances several recommendations.