How Justice and Senate Republicans Get to Yes

Governor Jim Justice wants to negotiate.

The West Virginia Governor said on Talkline Wednesday that he is ready and willing to try to get a deal with Senate Republicans on a tax cut plan, and that willingness includes giving ground.

“We’d absolutely compromise,” Justice said.

Justice wants to cut the state income tax by 50 percent over three years. The House of Delegates has approved the Governor’s plan with only two no votes. 

But many Senate Republicans are suspicious of the plan. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr questions the Governor’s projections that taxes can be reduced that much and still meet future obligations.

“It’s kind of surprising — surprising and not surprising because he’s not given a six-year plan. So either he doesn’t know what the expenditures are on the out years or he doesn’t care — and apparently the House doesn’t either because before they went through any of their budget hearings to figure out what the needs are in the state going forward, they went through and passed a billion-dollar reduction,” Tarr said.

Justice said he proposed the 50 percent reduction because he thought that is what the Senate wanted, but if that is not the case, the Governor says he is open to another plan.

“On this issue, I’m as easy as you can get,” Justice said.

That sounds like an opening. Legislative leaders and the Governor have met a couple of times on the tax issue. But meetings over breakfast—another one is scheduled for this morning—are not negotiations.

The authors of the book Getting to Yes define negotiation as, “back-and-forth communication designed to reach an agreement when you and the other side have some interests that are shared and others that are opposed.”

Justice and Senate Republicans can start with their shared interest—a meaningful tax cut.  Just agreeing on that is substantial.  It’s not as though one side wants to cut taxes and the other side does not.

From there, according to the authors, the steps include separating people from the problem, focusing on interests rather than positions, and considering multiple options based on objective criteria.

But Justice, Senators Tarr and President Craig Blair know all that because they are businessmen. They were all in business before politics, and collectively they have decades of experience in resolving disputes and doing deals.

Justice has been traveling the state to build public support for his tax plan. That’s fine, and it bolsters his argument with the public, but the people he really needs to spend more time with are just upstairs from his office in the Capitol.

As for the Senators, Justice has said publicly now that he wants to negotiate and is willing to compromise. That is the kind of open-ended invitation that Senators should not let go to waste.

Those breakfast get togethers at the Governor’s Mansion are helpful, but an all-nighter at the Capitol with order-in pizza and a commitment to getting a deal would be more productive. 





More Hoppy's Commentary

Hoppy's Commentary
Manchin v. Blankenship? Possible, but not probable
March 19, 2024 - 12:55 am
Hoppy's Commentary
West Virginia and the Irish
March 18, 2024 - 12:43 am
Hoppy's Commentary
Coach Josh Eilert--A True Mountaineer
March 14, 2024 - 12:19 am
Hoppy's Commentary
No-show Jefferson County Commissioners face the consequences
March 13, 2024 - 12:31 am


Your Comments