The state legislature is back in session in Charleston and it looks like we may be in for a wild ride.
On the first day of the session, the Senate suspended its rules and passed 23 bills without public comment, review by a committee, or debate. Senate President Craig Blair justified this action by saying these were bills that would have passed last session but for the fact the session ended before they were voted on. As it has been nearly a year since the last legislative session, one might wonder if there are any circumstances that might have arisen during this time that should have been considered before the vote. The 23 bills now head to the House where there may be an opportunity for committee review, public comment, and debate.
On the House side of things, a change to the House rules was passed that took away the right of members to speak more than once on a bill. Prior to this time, members had the opportunity to speak twice. While it is not clear why this rule change was necessary, it seems to track the Senate thinking that debate on bills should be restricted or dispensed with. The House also acted on a bill to reduce the personal income taxes of individuals by 50 percent — a 30 percent cut this year, and an additional 10 percent in both 2024 and 2025. This is what the Governor requested during his State of the State speech on January 11. Cutting personal income taxes has come up before in the legislature. But the assumptions underlying the justifications for the cuts do not reflect our State’s true financial health.
When it gets down to the bare facts, our budget is lean and flat. As a result, we find ourselves without resources to adequately fund Child Protective Services, increase pay for our state workers (who can earn much more by crossing into another state), provide locality pay, address infrastructure needs, etc. At the same time, we have budget surpluses (taxes collected over the approved budget) that are used outside of the normal budgeting process for items chosen by individual legislators.
The governor has suggested that we use surpluses to permanently replace personal income taxes. This would give all of us a boost but only until surpluses are no longer collected. At that point, additional taxes would need to be imposed to keep the State running. Over half of our 2023 surplus is from the severance tax (imposed on extracting or producing coal, limestone, oil, gas, timber, and other natural resources). While current collections are wildly in excess of budget estimates, future collections are not guaranteed and are as likely to fall as to continue. Legislators could decide to use the surplus to replace personal income taxes knowing the risk of having to reimpose them in the future. They could also use the surpluses to fund needed items that are currently needed but not in our lean budget.
Republicans currently hold a mega-majority in the legislature. In the Senate there are 31 Republicans and 3 Democrats. In the House, there are 88 Republicans and 12 Democrats. This gives one party the ability to suspend rules and pass bills without constituent input or debate with those who have opposing views.
Our legislators are expected to represent all of us, regardless of political party. It is incumbent on all of us to let them know when we have a concern or issue that we want them to act on. Our Jefferson County representatives are:
Senator Jason Barrett (Republican-Dist. 16) – jason.barrett@wvsenate.gov
Senator Patricia Rucker (Republican –Dist. 16) – patricia.rucker@wvsenate.gov
Delegate John Hardy (Republican-Dist. 97) – john.hardy@wvhouse.gov
Delegate Paul Espinosa (Republican – Dist. 98) – paul.espinosa@wvhouse.gov
Delegate Wayne Clark (Republican – Dist. 99) – wayne.clark@wvhouse.gov
Delegate Bill Ridenour (Republican – Dist. 100) – bill.ridenour@wvhouse.gov
February 14 is the last day for bills to be introduced in the House and February 20 is the last day for bills to be introduced in the Senate, so we’ll know in a few weeks what bills are moving forward in both chambers.
Susan Benzinger is a retired tax attorney and active volunteer in Jefferson County. During her 2022 campaign for WV State Delegate campaign she became very familiar with the issues facing West Virginia and offered to share updates on the state legislature during the 2023 session for The Observer.
By Susan Benzinger