CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Democrats in the state House of Delegates say they need to have a budget plan presented to them by Republican leaders before deciding whether or not they can support it.
“Our hands are a little tied because we’re not yet sure what will be presented to us,” said House Minority Leader Tim Miley (D-Harrison, 48) on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline”.
Last week, Republican leaders in the House and Senate presented its budget framework. House Speaker Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha, 40) and Senate President Mitch Carmichael (R-Jackson, 04) said the GOP’s budget would not exceed $4.055 billion revenue estimate and would focus more on cuts rather than tax increases. The framework includes cuts to education, higher education and the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
Miley said he does not believe Republicans will find those deep cuts.
“If we can find spending that is unnecessary and cut that, then let’s do it, but I just don’t know that they’re going to get to the cuts that they thought existed,” he said.
While tax increases are not favored by Miley, he said a temporary tax hike is ideal to fix the current $500 million budget shortfall.
“If we commit to just a short period of time to get us through a period of a financial downturn and commit to taking them off when times get right again — I think people miss the boat on that to some degree and that’s taken off the table too quickly,” Miley said.
Miley said the House Finance Committee will meet Saturday to discuss the state budget.
Governor Jim Justice has criticized the GOP budget framework this week. On Monday, the governor said cuts to DHHR would be catastrophic.
The 2017 Regular Legislative Session closes Saturday, April 8.