CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice signed the state budget bill and let everybody know with a simple press release.
That’s a big contrast from past announcements.
Last year, following the regular session, the governor unveiled a platter of cow dung to express his displeasure with a budget bill that cut millions from higher education and Medicaid. He followed the symbolism with a veto.
Then, after a special session that lasted into June, the governor let the budget pass into law without his signature. At a press conference, he used whiteboards to show how he thought the budget actually should have developed.
Today’s action was summed up with a simple sentence:
“Gov. Jim Justice today signed the $4.38 billion Fiscal Year 2019 budget that was passed by the West Virginia Legislature on Saturday, March 10. He also signed six supplemental appropriation bills.”
The budget passed on Day 60 of the regular legislative session, avoiding drama or even any extra time.
The budget reflects the average 5 percent raises for educators and for many other state employees, an expenditure amounting to about $111 million.
That issue wound up being the central debate of the regular legislative session.
Lawmakers added in $29 million to freeze the Public Employees Insurance Agency plan for the coming fiscal year. Stabilizing the health insurance plan was another demand of teachers and other public employees.
Another $14 million goes to an annual state share of retirement payments, brought up because of the other moves.
So, the budget includes roughly $150 million in total new compensation.
To do so, some spending items had to go.
Governor Justice proposed raising the state revenue estimate by $58 million, but lawmakers elected not to immediately count on that and, instead, to see if it really comes through.
Instead, there will be some reductions of spending that had been intended earlier, plus some transfers.
A $46 million spending increase Justice had advocated for the Division of Commerce and the Department of Tourism is on hold.
Another $18 million the state had planned to perform deferred maintenance on public properties will remain deferred.
A community and technical college bill that would have subsidized tuition for some students will go on the shelf. That bill, championed by Carmichael, amounted to $7 million.
There will be a $14 million transfer of Lottery revenue.
A $12 million annual transfer from the General Fund to the Road Fund will go un-transferred.
And $13.5 million that would have gone toward paying down what remains of West Virginia’s workers compensation fund debt will be held back.
The medical services line item for Medicaid is being cut by about $10 million but may be backfilled, legislative leaders have said.