CHARLESTON, W.Va. — There could be a special session of the legislature to work on the state budget as early as next week.
With revenue estimates continuing to fall short and a balanced budget required by July 1, state Revenue Secretary Bob Kiss said there’s not much time to waste.
“Obviously the governor is going to call them back into session at some point, even if there’s not some consensus agreement because of precisely that issue,” Kiss said. “The state needs to have a budget by June 30, or there’s a whole host of issues that will arise at that time.”
Lawmakers are scheduled to be in Charleston for interim committee meetings May 19-20. The governor could call a special session at that time.
Leading lawmakers have disagreed on the best way to balance the budget, quarrelling over the use of tax increases, spending cuts and dipping into the state’s Rainy Day fund.
“I think if we had an agreement, which at this point we don’t have, I think it would be sooner rather than later,” said Kiss. “The governor can’t wait permanently. He needs to and he will bring (lawmakers) back at some point and put his proposals in front of them as we did in January.”
Kiss wasn’t sure of an exact time for a special session, but expected it to be before the end of the month.
“I do know that they have not picked a specific date, but I also know from discussions that I’ve been involved in that the concentration has been on sometime in May. I don’t think we’re talking about going all the way to June before session would start.”
April is historically the biggest revenue month of the budget year for the state, but last month collections missed estimates by just more than $72 million.
Year-to-date, West Virginia is facing a nearly $219 million revenue hole.