Lawmakers return to Charleston today for the start of a special legislative session to try to fix the hole in this year’s budget and plan for an even larger shortfall in the state’s spending plan for the new fiscal year beginning July 1st.
Governor Tomblin’s proposal to fill the current $64 million revenue hole, which includes sweeping money from various state accounts and taking money from the Rainy Day emergency fund, won’t be that contentious. However, cobbling together a balanced budget for next fiscal year is a different matter altogether.
Tomblin has already cut next year’s budget by $90 million, and to close the remaining $270 million hole he’s proposing increases in the tobacco tax and the consumer sales tax, as well as removing the sales tax exemption for telecommunication services.
The Governor has instituted cuts of up to 20 percent on some state agencies over the last three years, and he believes the short- and long-term budget challenges cannot be resolved without additional revenue.
That approach will run into stiff opposition from the Republican leadership in the House and Senate, where lawmakers are more interested in deeper cuts in state spending than raising taxes. House Speaker Tim Armstead says his body is willing to take the lead on pushing a list of specific cuts.
But these positions set up at least the possibility of a way forward; the Governor takes the lead (and the heat) on tax increases, while the House Republicans take the lead (and the heat) on budget cuts.
If House Republicans get some of the spending reductions they want, they might be more inclined to support a cigarette tax increase, and if the House will get behind a tobacco tax, Governor Tomblin may be more willing to cut deeper and take more from the Rainy Day Fund.
Ultimately, we get back to the much-discussed concept of one-third from cuts, one third from taxes and one third from Rainy Day/account sweeps or, in other words, a compromise that gives each side some of what it wants, but also inflicts some pain.
Cutting another $270 million out of next year’s budget without a fundamental restructuring of government would be brutal, but dumping the entirety of the shortfall on the taxpayers is also untenable.
As lawmakers gather for this special session, it’s paramount that they, along with Governor Tomblin, subjugate their personal preferences and political posturing for the greater good of our state.