CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Senate Minority Leader Roman Prezioso says his Democratic caucus voted against a revenue bill supported by Republicans and Gov. Jim Justice because it has too many unanswered questions.
“We’re really concerned,” Prezioso said this morning on MetroNews’ “Talkline.” “We don’t think we have the information that we need. We don’t think the information out now is legitimized.”
MORE: Read the amended revenue bill
MORE: Read the roll call of the Senate vote
After a pep talk from Gov. Jim Justice, the state Senate voted 19-11 to approve a bill that’s a key part of a state budget plan of $4.35 billion. All the Democrats present voted against it.
A similar bill passed the Senate almost two weeks ago, 32-1, with Justice and Carmichael then extolling the bipartisan nature of the vote.
Democrats in the Senate couldn’t vote for “The Tax Reform Act of 2017” this time because too much uncertainty remains over its contents, said Prezioso, D-Marion.
One concern for Democrats is the effect of the bill on lower and middle wage earners. The bill would raise the state sales tax to 6.95 percent and raise and establish other new taxes while lowering the personal income tax over time.
The Democrats are concerned that the tax increases would swamp any breaks on the personal income tax for the middle and lower brackets.
“This is a trickle-down bill,” Senator Mike Romano, D-Harrison, said during debate on the floor Tuesday evening.
Democrats also note that the revenue bill has changed repeatedly during behind-the-scenes negotiations without clear estimates of the fiscal impacts.
The bills have been designed to balance the budget for the coming fiscal year by raising the sales tax six months prior to lowering the income tax. But after that, the income tax continues to lower, triggered by the state’s economic performance.
The worry is holes being blown in the state budget in future years, but no one, including Democrats, has seen a recent estimate because of the frequent changes to the bill.
“We would definitely face a busted budget in the next fiscal year,” Prezioso said today. “The problem is this budget is piecemeal.
He added, “It needs to be studied more. You need more relevant facts. We’re just not there with the income tax.”
Finally, the Democrats felt left out of discussions during the 10 days the Legislature took a hiatus on the special session. Discussions continued among Republican majority leaders and the governor during that time, but Democrats only returned to the table late last Friday.
“We want to be part of this process,” Prezioso said. “We know if we’re not engaged it’s not going to be completed. We know they need Democrats at least in the House.”
Why did Senate Democrats vote against the revenue bill? @romanprezioso joins @HoppyKercheval to explain. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIAoe1 pic.twitter.com/CIYHniq7jO
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) May 17, 2017
Prezioso said the Democratic caucus does support other aspects of Justice’s agenda, such as a desire to avoid deep cuts into state agencies and an ambitious program to fund improvements to bridges and highways.
“We buy into his concept he has with the roads and the major portion of the revenue budget, but we’re not satisfied with the income tax part,” Prezioso said.
Prior to the Senate’s vote, Governor Justice came into the chamber, sat in the front and delivered a pep talk aimed at shoring up support for the bill.
“I really believe that we’re on the cusp of doing something that’s unbelievable,” said Justice, a Democrat.
Justice went on to say the bill under consideration would be an opportunity to change the state’s difficult economic situation.
“A yes vote takes the consumer sales tax to 6.95. It’s going to raise the corporate net income tax a half percent; it’s next to nothing. We also asked our wealthy to put a little more skin in the game. At the end of the day we ask our people to aggressively lower our state income tax.
He added, “Give me time, and give me a chance.”
The governor then spent several minutes describing his view of the effects of voting no.
“If you were to vote no, let me tell you what you’re voting for,” the governor said. “A no vote is basically a vote that says I want to cut DHHR and I want to cut it hard. A no vote is saying I want to cut our universities and I want to cut them hard. A no vote is saying I want to cut K-12 and I want to cut it hard.
“A no vote is saying I want to cut vets. A no vote is saying I don’t want to put anything in tourism. A no vote is saying vets, tough luck. A no vote is saying no to our teachers and a pay raise. A no vote is saying no to the dogs. A no vote is saying forget the Women’s Commission, we don’t need it.
A no vote is saying to our coal companies, nope, we’re not interested in tiering; we’re not interested in helping you when things are tough. That’s what a no vote is saying.
“You know what a no vote says worse than any of that? A no vote says no West Virginians, we’re not going to lower your income tax.”
Democrats wound up voting no, for the reasons Prezioso described.