CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Republican majority in the House of Delegates struck down an attempt Monday from Democrats that Republicans said would have put the state in jeopardy of paying some important bills by the end of the week.
Democrats tried to amend a supplemental budget bill with a plan to address the $120 million financial hole currently faced by the Public Employees Insurance Agency.
“The priorities we have are for the working people of the state of West Virginia,” Del. Isaac Sponaugle (D-Pendleton) said.
Sponaugle’s proposed amendment would have taken more than $58.5 million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund and put it toward PEIA. The governor’s bill proposes taking the money to pay for programs in the current budget. The bills are due beginning later this week, Del. Patrick Lane (R-Kanawha) said during a House floor speech.
“You’re voting to take away from disabled West Virginians on Feb. 8, Feb. 8, Feb. 22 and March of this year,” Lane said.
The governor has the money targeted for Medicaid, Social Services, TANF and the IDD Waiver program.
The money to fund those programs could be found elsewhere, Sponaugle said.
The proposed amendment failed along party lines 36-63.
The debate on the proposed amendment, which stretched for more than an hour Monday, also focused on a disagreement on when the PEIA issue should be addressed.
“I’m just finding it hard to imagine that we’ve come into this session with no plan to fix PEIA,” House Minority Leader Tim Miley (D-Harrison) said. House Democrats announced at the beginning of the session PEIA was its top issue.
But House Finance Committee Chair Eric Nelson countered a plan is being worked on.
“Part of our plan cannot happen overnight but it’s coming together with all of the stakeholders in having input so we can (find) a solution,” Nelson said. “It will be addressed in (budget year) 2017.”
House Speaker Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha) said the proposed amendment was an attempt by Democrats to get Republicans on the board of being against helping PEIA, which isn’t true, according to Armstead.
“Today’s amendment was a shameful, thinly-veiled political ploy that was not intended to help the state’s public employees and retirees, but rather give some a talking point to use in campaigns at the expense of the poor and disabled,” Armstead said in a news release that came out after Monday’s floor session. “The Democrats, bucking the governor from their own party, put forward an irresponsible proposal that would not have addressed the current Public Employees Insurance Agency challenges but would have, instead, hurt current recipients of health care in our state.”
Tomblin administration Communications Director Chris Stadelman released the following statement after Monday’s vote.
“Attempting to amend a 2016 supplemental bill was not the appropriate way to attempt to fund PEIA’s needs for fiscal year 2017, and Gov. Tomblin is glad that the state will be able to stay current on its bills. At the same time, Gov. Tomblin urges the Legislature to act quickly on the responsible plan that he has submitted to fund PEIA so our hardworking employees do not face the major cuts proposed for the coming year.”
Tomblin’s plan for PEIA is to raise the tax on cigarettes by 45-cents a pack.
The supplemental budget bill is up for final passage in the House Tuesday.
The state faces a financial crunch in the current fiscal year’s budget with revenues currently behind estimates by more than $158 million.