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Justice says he will call Legislature back in next week

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice says he will call the Legislature back to Charleston next week for a budget session amid doubt that the Republican majority in the House of Delegates will buy into his plan.

“I think we’re on a pathway to pass a budget that is special,” Justice said this afternoon during a news conference in the Governor’s Reception Room.

He said the session would begin next Thursday. Justice vetoed a budget that was passed by the Legislature. That one borrowed $90 million to the Rainy Day Fund and cut millions in spending for higher education and the state Department of Health and Human Resources.

Justice said the budget package that will be under consideration next week will include “modest additional cuts” but will largely avoid the cuts present in the earlier budget.

“If we can pull that off, just think about it. We’ll be able to do that without cutting into higher ed, without cuts to DHHR, without cutting into K-12,” Justice said.

“How good could that possibly be? If you could vote no to this, what are you voting yes to?”

Justice’s administration has been directly involved in talks with Senate President Mitch Carmichael about a budget that blends ideas from both.

House Speaker Tim Armstead has cast doubt on whether the Republican majority would be willing to accept the plan, particularly the tax hikes that it includes. “This plan, I don’t see a pathway that it passes,” Armstead said earlier today on “Talkline.”

Justice this afternoon said he still hopes to get both the House and Senate on board.

“I don’t see how in the world any legislator can walk away from this opportunity. The vote needs to be 34-0 and 100-0 and signed by me,” he said.

“This is the opportunity of a lifetime in the most dire situation.”

That budget package would step down the state income tax, as desired by the Republican majority in the Senate.

“I think there will be the ability to genuinely lower our state income tax to the point of probably close to 20 percent,” Justice said.

But it keeps elements of Justice’s proposals such as increased gas taxes and DMV fees for infrastructure projects, plus an increased state sales tax.

That package, so far, has included a corporate activities tax that Justice backs as a way to ensure business plays a part in solving the state’s fiscal problems. Republicans in both houses say the tax is anti-business. Justice said today the specifics of the business tax could change.

“I just want the businesses to participate,” he said.

The package also includes a tiered severance tax system that has been a point of contention.

The governor’s office had a news conference at 5 p.m. to discuss the status of bills passed by the Legislature and his intention to sign or veto them. Chief of staff Nick Casey gave a rundown of achievements during the administration’s first 100 days in office.

Speaking in a Capitol hallway after the governor’s news conference, Senate President Carmichael expressed support for the budget package to be under consideration next week. He is especially excited about the possibility of cutting the state personal income tax.

“The overall concept is a substantial reduction in the personal income tax rates of West Virginia citizens that are working, raising a family and earning a wage,” said Carmichael, R-Jackson.

He characterized the budget package as an opportunity “to cut taxes for West Virginia citizens and create jobs through the enhanced roads program the governor has proposed.”

Tim Armstead

Speaking today on “Talkline,” Armstead said he thinks the budget package has actually lost momentum as people have had a chance to consider the sales tax increase, the commercial activities tax or the effects of the income tax reduction.

“As the discussions have gone along, I don’t think they have built support. I think they’ve lost support,” Armstead said.

Armstead went on to give the proposal long odds of passage in the House.

“If they send it over, it’s going to come up for a vote and we’ll see where the will is. I don’t think you’d have all the Democrats’s vote for that. I know some of the concerns they have, and I’d be surprised, particularly if they don’t think it’s going to pass,” Armstead said.

“Our caucus is more united than at any time in the last 60 days. They’re united because they have great concerns about this plan. They’d don’t believe this plan is the right way to go. This plan, I don’t see a pathway that it passes.”

Nick Casey

Casey alluded to counting possible ‘yes’ votes on the budget.

“We think there is a clear path forward,” he said. “That’s why the governor decided it’s a good time to call them back in. And next Thursday gives a good chance to continue that conversation.”

Casey added, “We’ll see which side is more receptive to it, but as the governor said it’s a bill that it’ll be hard not to be with.”





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