There’s often wheeling and dealing going on behind the scenes at the West Virginia Legislature and one bill could be caught in the cross hairs.
The Tax Increment Financing or TIF area for Monongalia County passed the Senate but is now hung up in the House Judiciary Committee with just a few days to go before the end of the session.
The TIF would allow Morgantown to incrementally increase sales tax collections to repay bonds that would fund infrastructure and construction of a new baseball park and I-79 interchange.
Senate President Jeff Kessler is fully behind the TIF and says that’s why he made sure it got the approval needed in the Senate.
“We’re sent down here to do good public policy and we’re going to try and do that,” explains Kessler. “I’m convinced, at the end of the day, those bills that are truly in the best interest of the state will pass.
But in order to pass the TIF, there might be a compromise. Sources around the capitol say the House Judiciary Committee, headed up by Harrison County Delegate Tim Miley, wants to see all county magistrates receive the same pay. Currently magistrates in larger counties get more money.
The House passed equalization pay earlier in the session but it went nowhere in the Senate. A compromise could be in the works to pass the TIF out of the House this session, if the Senate agrees to equalize magistrate pay down the road.
Kessler says he’s been in contact with House Speaker Rick Thompson and is confident the TIF legislation will get House approval in the next couple of days.
“I believe working together, getting people together in a room, talking reasonably, we can make things happen,” says Kessler. “The good things that are out there are going to get done.”
The session wraps up on Saturday. Kessler was a guest Tuesday on MetroNews Talkline.