CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A newly formed committee will begin to deeply examine the state budget in hopes of finding ways to reduce state spending by the time the 2017 regular session of the legislature convenes. But, one member of the Joint Select Committee on Government Accountability, Transparency, and Efficiency believes they are already behind.
“My concern is we don’t have enough time before the session starts again,” said Senator Roman Prezioso of Marion County. “We should have been doing this all along and this committee should have been meeting bi-monthly with the agencies and finding out what they’re spending the money on.”
Despite efforts by the Republican led legislature, the cuts haven’t come easy. The legislature trimmed state spending by $40 Million last year. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin slashed the budget by more than $400 Million during his time as governor, including 20 percent during this year.
“Our problem is we don’t have the revenues to support the government we have,” said Prezioso on a recent edition of MetroNews Talkline. “Realistic or not, we’ve got to look at programs we have to cut and we have to trim.”
The push to make those cuts during this year’s legislature came to the brink of a state government shutdown. The formation of the GATE committee was aimed at keeping that from happening again. But Prezioso says without having ongoing conversations with the leaders of each of those state agencies, committee members won’t be successful in avoiding another drawn out and high profile fight in next year’s regular session.
“It will only work if everybody owns the problem,” he said. “I think we’re going to have to get to a point where we have to look at programs and see if we are going to prioritize them and ask are they relevant?”
The state is coming off the worst fiscal year in state history and revenue collections so far indicate it isn’t getting any better. Prezioso said indications are next year’s budget deficit could be $300 Million.