Armstead tells Dems to quit playing games

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — House of Delegates Speaker Tim Armstead called on Democrats to “quit the game playing” over PEIA and work together with Republicans on a balanced budget for next fiscal year.

The Kanawha County Republican took to the floor Wednesday and called for a halt to the political back and forth that has erupted over fully funding the state Public Employee Insurance Agency as lawmakers struggle to balance next year’s budget.

“PEIA will be funded,” Armstead said. “We are not going to allow those draconian cuts to take place.”

The PEIA Finance Board proposed $120 million in cuts to the state health insurance program last year that would have led to higher out-of-pocket costs, but backed off after objections from current and retired state workers. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin proposed in his budget a tobacco tax increase and other measures to restore the cuts, but the Republican-led House and Senate are developing their own plans.

A number of Democrats, particularly in the House, have seized on the controversy as a political wedge issue, using a series of bills to try to redirect funding to PEIA and blaming Republicans for inaction.

Armstead countered that the GOP spending plan for FY 2017 fixes PEIA. He said the issue now is balancing the overall budget. “We need to work together and quit playing games and quit trying to get soundbytes and quit trying to get some ‘gotcha’ moment.”

Armstead also said from 2013-2016, PEIA costs rose 18 percent while the reserve fund decreased by 36 percent. He called the inaction during that time “irresponsible.”

“There were no alarm bells going off at that time, there was no action, there was no one on this House floor to demand a plan to address that. The administration and this legislature allowed that to happen over the years and that’s how we got where we are.”

He called on Democrats to “work with us, together, in a bipartisan manner” to develop a balanced budget, but that won’t be easy. Lawmakers have to come up with a series of spending cuts and tax increases to complete next year’s spending plan.

“We have a great deal of work to on the budget,” he said.





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