CHARLESTON, W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice said Tuesday the budget he’ll present to state lawmakers on the first day of the regular session in two weeks will look a lot like this fiscal year’s budget.
“It will be awfully close to a flat budget and for all practical purposes essentially just that,” Justice told a reporter who asked him about the preparations during Tuesday’s media briefing.
Justice said he was scheduled to meet with his budget team Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re on the glidepath now, the homestretch, as far as putting it together,” Justice said.
Justice is required to present his proposed budget to the legislature on the first day of the 60-day regular session, which is set for Jan. 11.
There continues to be indication that the state Senate is going to ignore that budget.
State Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr said again Tuesday the legislature, with its GOP super majority, doesn’t need Justice.
“What happens going forward really sits in the lap of the legislature. It’s not on the governor. We don’t need the governor to do whatever we want to do to make West Virginia what it should be for your grandkids and great grandkids at this point because the things that we do now really can change the quality of life for the generations that follow us,” Tarr, R-Putnam, said during an appearance on 580-Live on 580 WCHS Tuesday.
Republicans will hold 31 of 34 seats in the Senate the next two years and 88 of 100 House seats.
Tarr described the Senate’s relationship with the governor as “not solid at all.” Justice worked against the legislature in the last election and four proposed constitutional amendments were defeated including Amendment 2 that would have opened the door for the legislature to eliminate some personal property taxes.
12/27/2022 – 580 Live with Dave Allen – Travis Tarr and Senator Eric Tarrhttps://t.co/ym3VpKs12r
— 104.5 FM | 96.5 FM | 580 AM WCHS (@580WCHS) December 27, 2022
Tarr said the discussion about tax reform is not over.
“We are completely non-competitive with personal property tax, with income tax and with the unemployment tax, which functions as a tax in West Virginia,” Tarr said.
What to do with $2 billion
One of the big issues of the session will be what will Gov. Justice propose and the legislature decide to do with what’s heading toward a $2 billion revenue collection surplus.
Justice has promised back in October that he will propose a five percent pay raise for school teachers and public employees. He recently gave an additional pay raise to Division of Natural Resources police officers.
Tarr said the money can be used to reform taxes.
“We are positioned, like I’ve never seen in my lifetime and like we’ll probably never see again, to go in and do meaningful tax reform and have the cushion to make some mistakes so that if we need to tweak it again in the next couple of years we can,” Tarr said. “That gets back to having that level of surplus.”
Tarr criticized Justice for recent allocations. He said the governor was giving away surplus money like “Halloween candy.”
“What the legislature is determined not to do is to give a $2 billion campaign fund for U.S. Senate to this governor,” Tarr said.
Justice has said he’s seriously considering a run for Senate in 2024. Tarr predicted Justice will run.
Meanwhile, Justice said Tuesday he plans on doing what he’s been doing.
“It’s no absolute coincidence. It is no falling out of the sky. It’s been a lot of work, a lot of work, that has enabled us to get to where we are,” Justice said at Tuesday’s briefing.