Governor Tomblin, the Senate and the House of Delegates have finally agreed on a budget for the new fiscal year. It was close; the current budget runs out in just 16 days and the government would have ground to a halt without a new spending plan.
There were several keys to finally getting an agreement after weeks of sparring, discord, delays and, at times, outright hostility.
Tomblin promised to add $15 million to funding for the Public Employee Insurance Agency to offset half of the premium increase for retirees and to help reduce premium increases or benefit cuts for active employees in FY 2018. That helped bring on board some reluctant House members.
Tomblin and House Minority Leader Tim Miley (D-Harrison) worked to recruit Democratic votes for the .65 cent-per-pack cigarette tax increase that was a key element of the budget. Just one Democrat voted for the .45 cent tax increase earlier, but 21 Democrats got behind the higher tax. (It passed 63-35 with 42 Republican and 21 Democratic votes.)
A number of House Republicans, including Speaker Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha), set aside their philosophical opposition to higher taxes to support the plan, coming to the conclusion that it was necessary to avoid a disastrous government shutdown.
The tone of the debate changed significantly over the last few days. The finger pointing was replaced by more conciliatory comments by all parties. Some of the lingering distrust, especially between the House Republicans and Democrats, faded, as Armstead and Miley searched for common ground.
And finally, lawmakers heard the growing chorus of West Virginia citizens who wanted government to do its job and get a budget. Legislators knew that if the impasse led to a government shutdown it would be calamitous for the state, and there would be a political price to pay in November.
True, in a more perfect world lawmakers and the Governor would have reached agreement earlier, avoiding about one-half million dollars in expenses for the special session, but that didn’t happen. A variety of circumstances—the worsening budget situation, the wide differences to the possible solutions, the fear of political fallout from higher taxes to name a few—conspired to run the budget debate close to the deadline.
As it turned out, the answer was there all along–a compromise that included a tobacco tax increase, budget cutting and borrowing from the Rainy Day Fund to close the $270 million hole. The fact that most lawmakers and the Governor are unhappy with aspects of the deal indicates it is a real compromise, and a reasonably balanced solution to a serious fiscal problem.