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Income tax cut bill set for first reading Monday in House

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice’s bill to cut the state’s personal income tax by 50% will be on first reading Monday in the House of Delegates.

The House received the bill from the House Finance Committee during Friday’s brief floor session. The committee approved the bill Thursday night. 

Vernon Criss

During an appearance Friday on MetroNews “Talkline,” House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, said the goal is to get the bill to the Senate by the middle of next week. He said if a cut in the personal tax is going to happen there will have to be agreement between the House and Senate.

“At some point you’ll have to come up with a plan that you both mutually agree on. We wanted to get this plan out of in front of everybody so the Senate can get a feel where we are and the public is,” Criss said.

One of the pluses of the bill, according to Criss, is that everyone will get a cut in the personal income tax they pay.

“You are touching every wage owner in the state of West Virginia with this bill. You will help every wage earner in this state by advancing this bill,” Criss said.

But Delegate Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, said that’s the biggest problem with the bill. He called said during a Friday appearance on “Talkline” that the bill is unfair because those who make the most will see the largest cut in taxes.

“It’s absolutely unfair and to call it fair because it is the same percentage that’s double-speak and that’s wrong,” Rowe said.

Rowe said what the bill should do is give the biggest cuts to those who earn $80,000 or less.

“We can for a whole lot less money we can help 72% of the population 100%. Here’s the good part economically, all of that money, because they are consumers, will stay in West Virginia,” Rowe said.

Larry Rowe

Rowe said the Justice administration knows the state can’t afford cutting the personal income tax by 50% because the governor is also proposing a $700 million rainy day fund to help with any financial problems caused by it.

Gov. Justice called it “an insurance policy if we have any level of shortfall,” when he was on “Talkline” Thursday.

Rowe said it shows concern.

“We’re going to be cutting schools and roads and everything else in order to meet the budget requirements,” Rowe said. “This happened in Kansas and when I look out the window I see my mountains getting lower and lower because we’re getting closer to Kansas.”

But Justice administration Secretary of Revenue Dave Hardy said returning nearly $1 billion to taxpayers will create a huge boost to the economy.

“We very much think there will be because we’re returning literally a billion dollars,” Hardy told the House Finance Committee Thursday night. “We all know those dollars will be spent to some level.”

The leadership of the Senate doesn’t appear to be anywhere close to the governor’s bill. Gov. Justice described a Thursday breaking meeting with Senate leaders as making some progress on the issue while Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr described it differently.

“We left it with, ‘We’ll take a look at it and talk again later,’” Tarr said Thursday on “Talkline.”

Members of the House and Senate held brief floor sessions Friday and then headed home for the weekend.





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