The state budget dumpster fire

The informal definition of a dumpster fire is “a chaotic or disastrously mishandled situation.”  With that in mind, consider the ongoing debate at the State Capitol to develop a budget for the next fiscal year.

The budget, as well as revenue bills and possible cuts associated with it, have been on the table for over four months and yet there is no agreement yet. The current budget runs out in 18 days, meaning state government will have to undergo a chaotic and excruciating shutdown by July 1st if lawmakers and the Governor cannot agree on a new budget.

In the many commentaries I’ve written about these budget talks I have given the principals the benefit of the doubt, crediting them as being decent people who all have the state’s best interests at heart although they disagree on the best pathway forward.

However, we have moved beyond that now. Patience has expired. There is no time left for congenial considerations of all points of view. Those niceties have been burned away in this dumpster fire of a budget process.

Much of the negotiating time among House and Senate leaders and the Governor has been wasted by constantly shifting objectives.  It is impossible to reach agreement when proposals have to be renegotiated every time there’s a meeting. The first rule of mediation—agreed to issues come off the agenda—has been ignored time and again.

I have lost count, and I imagine lawmakers have as well, the number of times specific proposals on tax increases and tax cuts have been in a plan one day and out the next, only to return again. Sometimes the specifics have changed from hour to hour.

The Governor and legislators have to be concerned with multiple issues; however, their primary responsibility is determining how the state’s limited resources should be allocated. The preamble to the state’s Constitution includes a declaration from “we the people” to “promote, preserve and perpetuate good government in the State of West Virginia for the common welfare, freedom and security of ourselves and our posterity.”

Those guarantees are threatened by the dysfunction in Charleston.

Unfortunately, legitimate ideas about tax reform, right-sizing government and generating additional revenue through higher taxes have been squandered.  There’s no time to admire the scenery when speeding toward the cliff.

What’s the best way forward?  We’ve all grown weary of the seemingly endless debate about whether the state’s sales tax should be raised by a fraction of a point or whether the income tax rates should be lowered by a fraction.

Just pick something and pass it so we can extinguish this dumpster fire.

 





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