CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The majority whip in the House of Delegates, responsible for keeping accurate predictions of vote counts, has a simple answer about whether members of her party will cross over to support Gov. Jim Justice’s budget proposal.
“We are unified. Period,” Majority Whip Carol Miller said today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
Those keeping an eye on the budget situation have wondered if the Justice administration might be able to persuade enough Republicans to combine with all 36 House Democrats — assuming all of those would be on board — to pass a Justice-backed budget.
“Not enough. Nope,” said Miller, R-Cabell.
She continued, “I’m saying no, he cannot. We are following the will of the people who elected us to do what they asked us to do.”
The Justice administration has been focusing on negotiations with state Senate leaders that would include the Senate majority’s desire to cut the state income tax with the governor’s tax and highway revenue proposals.
Republicans in the House have objected to portions of the package that would raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 and raise additional taxes on businesses — whether in the form of a gross receipts tax or an increase in the corporate net income tax.
They’ve also been skeptical of proposed taxes and fees to raise more money to build and maintain the state’s roads and bridges. Their preference is a statewide vote on approval of a bond package for infrastructure.
“It’s not our feeling that we want to raise taxes,” Miller said.
Public statements by her Republican colleagues in the House in recent days indicate a lack of support for the budget package as it’s been described.
The House has put out a series of statements by Republican members taking issue with various aspects of the budget package. It’s an unusual approach that highlights reservations by rank-and-file members.
One of those takes note of conjecture over whether a coalition could emerge like the one that passed a medical marijuana bill without support from House leadership.
“Comparing the medical cannabis vote to an effort to raise taxes is like comparing apples to oranges,” stated Delegate Michael Folk, R-Berkeley and one of the leaders of the Liberty Caucus.
“The medical marijuana vote was about compassion and personal liberty – raising taxes is not compassionate and robs people of their liberty and property.”
In another set of statements put out by the House, some members objected to the effect an increase in the state sales tax would have on consumers and businesses on border counties.
“Politicians in Charleston do not understand how easy it is for people in the panhandles to cross the border to shop,” Delegate Jill Upson, R-Jefferson, stated in that release.
“Pushing our sales tax significantly higher than our neighboring states will put our retailers at a disadvantage and drive more business out of our state.”
Other delegates expressed similar concerns.
“The massive tax increases proposed would have a devastating effect on our border communities,” Delegate Gary Howell, R-Mineral, stated in the release put out by the House.
“Last year’s tobacco tax increase led to layoffs in Mineral County as cross-border sales dropped significantly. The proposed increases in fuel and sales taxes would have a similar effect, reducing employment in our state.”
Reducing the income tax while raising the sales tax is too big of a tradeoff, stated Delegate Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer.
“While I like the concept of cutting income taxes, doing it by hiking our sales tax to 7 percent is only going to hurt our border businesses,” Gearheart stated.
“Couple that with higher business taxes and DMV fees, along with continued tolls on the Turnpike, and this plan is a major hit to the southern West Virginia economy.”
Delegate Erikka Storch, R-Ohio, had a similar reaction in a story in Wheeling’s Intelligencer newspaper.
“I think this would just drive more people to Ohio to shop,” Storch said. “The majority of our population is in the border counties, and the governor is going to have to react to that.”
In another release put out by the House, delegates from southern coalfields expressed concerns over a tiered severance tax system supported by the governor. The system is seen as giving a break to steam coal but increasing taxes on metallurgical coal while it’s in a recovery period.
“We’ve already seen hundreds of teachers, police officers and county employees laid off across southern West Virginia, and this plan will only lead to more job losses,” Delegate Mark Dean, R-Mingo, stated.
“Our region has suffered enough, and we need a plan that will help everyone get back on their feet. The Governor’s plan picks winners and losers and is unfair to our region. I hope they drop it and work with us on a plan that will be fair to all and encourage the recovery that’s starting to take hold in our region.”
In a story in Clarksburg’s Exponent-Telegram newspaper, House members expressed skepticism over whether a budget deal can be reached if the Justice administration doesn’t talk with leadership.
House members reiterated that Justice’s office has not had contact with anyone in their leadership as the special session approaches.
“The governor for the last 10 days has refused to speak to our leadership,” Delegate Amy Summers, R-Taylor, told the newspaper. “You can’t really work on a compromise if they won’t speak to you.”