COMMENTARY
If each state is a little federalist experiment then West Virginia has a lot of ongoing examples as it tries to figure out the proper budget for the coming year.
In neighboring Ohio, which rhymes with “bizarro,” Governor John Kasich and the Legislature represent something like the reverse of what’s going on in West Virginia.
Ohio is working on a two-year, $66.9 billion budget. West Virginia’s budget, passed a year at a time, is a little more than $4 billion.
Ohio has about $400 million less to spend than last year. West Virginia’s revenue gap is estimated to be a little more than $500 million.
Governor Kasich has proposed $3.1 billion in income tax cuts, offset by about $3.1 billion in other tax increases.
House Republicans in Ohio killed Kasich’s tax package, which also included a severance tax on shale fracking.
Here, of course, it’s the Senate that wants to reduce income taxes, Governor Jim Justice who says other tax increases are a necessity and the House Republicans who are not wild about either of those ideas.
Republicans in Ohio’s House want to dedicate an additional $170 million over two years into battling that state’s drug crisis.
In West Virginia, Governor Justice ordered a state-of-emergency lantern to be lit to indicate his worry over the effects of potential cuts to the Department of Health and Human Resources. The budget he vetoed would have cut $140 million from the medical services line of DHHR
In Ohio, House Republicans want to approve video poker at racetracks that have slot machines. Here, the Legislature voted to let dog tracks do away with dog racing but keep their slots. That was vetoed by the governor.
There are some echoes of West Virginia’s situation in Tennessee too.
Governor Bill Haslam, a Republican, sought and got legislative approval of a gas tax increase of 6 cents over three years to pay for longstanding transportation needs. Various fees on motor vehicles also would go up.
The bill – which Haslam calls the “Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy Act” – amounts to about $350 million for transportation improvements.
Here in West Virginia, Governor Justice wants to fund highways and bridge projects by increasing the gasoline tax, DMV fees and tolls. The Legislature passed a bill allowing a bond vote, but Justice is still pushing for straightforward passage of the increased taxes and fees to #FTDR.
Looking at what other states are doing, it’s pretty clear we aren’t reinventing the wheel in West Virginia.
It’s just that while other states are figuring out what to do, we’re alongside the road, with the car up on a jack, trying to get the wheel where it really ought to be.