Amendment Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

A Final Preview Of Amendment 2

Amendment 2 looks to be the most contentious issue on Tuesday’s ballot. If West Virginia voters say yes to Amendment 2 on the November ballot, the West Virginia Legislature will have the authority to eliminate business equipment and inventory taxes and the property tax on vehicles.

Amendment 2 looks to be the most contentious issue on Tuesday’s ballot.

If West Virginia voters say yes to Amendment 2 on the November ballot, the West Virginia Legislature will have the authority to eliminate business equipment and inventory taxes and the property tax on vehicles.

Rebecca MacPhail is president of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association. She supports Amendment 2 and modernizing property taxes. She said maintaining these business property taxes puts West Virginia at a competitive disadvantage. She notes that when neighboring Ohio was facing a recession and bleeding out manufacturing jobs, it phased out its machinery and inventory tax between 2005 and 2008.

“Then, between 2009 and today, Ohio’s added 70,000 manufacturing jobs,” McPhail said. “I think that’s compelling. Is that a silver bullet? No. Is it an impediment, absolutely.”

Former legislator and current Marshall County Commissioner Mike Ferro opposes Amendment 2. He said it will lead to giving up a dedicated revenue source and taking away constitutional protections. He said studies by local economic development experts show the inventory tax is not a factor. He sees similar evidence with the state when it comes to recruiting major corporations like Nucor and Berkshire Hathaway.

“Our Economic Development Council and (Secretary) Mitch Carmichael, they’re bringing in big businesses and the inventory tax does not matter to them,” Ferro said.

McPhail said West Virginia is the only state to enshrine an untouchable tax in its constitution. She favors the Senate tax reform plan as a strong beginning to a needed legislative dialogue.

“It will lead to having a serious policy discussion about how we can best implement tax reform,” McPhail said. “Reform that’s going to provide long term growth and sustainability versus these up and down cycles at the county level.”

Ferro said he worries about what happens if the Senate plan runs into a state revenue downturn three years down the road. He agreed with at least one tax guru who surmised that with a state revenue shortfall, counties would economically suffer.

“A tax shift would occur, more than likely, with real estate,” Ferro said. “Assessments could be going up from 60 to 80 to 100 percent and perhaps the homestead exemption for seniors being lost.”

Amendment 2 also gives the legislature the authority to eliminate the vehicle tax. Ferro said he and county commissions across the state favor Gov. Jim Justice’s vehicle tax rebate plan over a constitutional change.

“You’re talking about $150 million or so,” Ferro said. “They’re gonna take it out as your general revenue. Not as simple as you pay your taxes, you get your receipt emailed and you get your money back, but county commissioners would be willing to work with the legislature on that.”

McPhail said from her point of view as a West Virginian, the vehicle tax is progressive and onerous.

“It is an inconvenience to vehicle owners to have to dig through and not only pay the tax, but find the receipt and take it when it’s time to renew your tags at the DMV,” McPhail said. “I think some of the proposals out there to address that in a different way without eliminating the tax would only add to that inconvenience and the amount of work that taxpayers have to do to get their money.”

Both Ferro and McPhail favor tax reform but each see different avenues to success. Ferro said Amendment 2 is a power grab. McPhail said it’s a good start.

Justice Comments on State Takeover Of County Schools

Gov. Jim Justice made a brief comment on the state takeover of Logan County schools during his COVID-19 briefing Friday.

With none of his usual advisors on the call, Justice was alone for his Friday COVID-19 briefing, and he took the opportunity to comment on two of the constitutional amendments on the ballot of the Nov. 8 election.

Justice has been touring the state in opposition to Amendment 2.

In response to a question about the takeover of Logan County Schools by the state Board of Education, Justice conceded that Amendment 4 could allow the legislature to reverse such actions.

“If Amendment four passes and everything, the legislature is going to have oversight, maybe could prevent this from happening or overturn whatever it may be,” Justice said. “That’s surely a concern also.”

Justice expressed concern at the situation in Logan County and said work would continue to get to the bottom of it.

Justice Floats Rebate Plan On Vehicle Tax

Gov. Jim Justice is actively campaigning against Amendment 2 around the state and has now said he is working on a new plan to eliminate the state vehicle tax without the constitutional amendment.

Republicans in the West Virginia Legislature are promoting Amendment 2 to the state constitution. If passed, it would allow them to change or eliminate property taxes in the state. One tax they propose to eliminate is the state vehicle tax.

Gov. Jim Justice is actively campaigning against Amendment 2 around the state and has now said he is working on a new plan to eliminate the state vehicle tax without the constitutional amendment.

In his Thursday coronavirus media briefing, Justice said he’s working on a way for vehicle tax relief without a constitutional change — by possibly offering a taxpayer rebate.

”I’m not sure exactly right now how to do it,” Justice said. “Our revenue people are working on a methodology and a way to do it. Am I for getting rid of the car tax, absolutely.”

Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, has said he appreciates the governor’s call to eliminate the state vehicle tax, but added that Amendment 2 needs to pass for legislators to constitutionally consider the tax cut. He responded to the rebate plan by accusing Justice of creating more government.

“For a person who is going around the state saying the Senate wants to put all of the control in Charleston, his plan sure sounds like a heavy dose of top-down Charleston control,” Blair said. “We don’t need to put the burden on our own taxpayers to fill out additional red tape and wait around for Charleston to send them back their money.”

Legislative leadership also wants to use Amendment 2 to remove the business and inventory tax. Justice said removing that tax would cripple county government schools and services.

Justice also said in the briefing that if Amendment 2 fails, he would work with legislators on a compromise amendment going forward.

W.Va. Panel Advances Proposed Abortion Amendment

A West Virginia legislative committee has advanced a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would authorize lawmakers to restrict abortion rights.

The resolution, approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee by voice vote, would require two-thirds passage by both the Senate and House and a voter referendum to take effect.

It was approved Monday, when abortion opponents were rallying at the Capitol.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 upheld women’s constitutional rights to abortion.

The resolution says: “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.”

In January, a federal appeals court ruled that Tennessee won’t have to recount votes on a similar constitutional amendment passed in 2014.

A West Virginia House committee held a hearing Monday on barring Medicaid-funded abortions.

W.Va. House Considering Legislation to Amend U.S. Constitution

Members of the House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing Saturday for three bills that, if passed, could send a number of West Virginia delegates to Washington, D.C. to try and amend the constitution on budget related charges.

The first, House Concurrent Resolution 36, would add West Virginia to the list of states applying for an Article Five Convention of States to amend the U.S. Constitution. Similar to a resolution approved in the state Senate last year, the convention would focus on amending the federal Constitution to require Congress to balance the nation’s budget each year, except in times of a national emergency.

House Bills 2424 and 4449 were also on the public hearing’s agenda. The bills provide the procedure for picking delegates to represent the state at such a convention and limiting the convention to the balanced budget amendment.

34 states would have to approve similar resolutions in order to actually call the convention of states.

Out of the fourteen speakers Saturday, 9 were against the measure and 5 spoke in favor.

House Judiciary Chairman John Shott says he’s astonished at the country’s level of debt and an Article Five Convention of States could be one option to rein in government spending.

“In concept, I think it makes a lot of sense,” Shott explained, “As with most things, a lot depends on how it’s implemented and what kind of protections you have, because I don’t think anybody would want a wide open runaway type conventions where, for instance, the Bill of Rights could be changed. We’ll consider those issues when it’s put on the agenda in the committee, and determine what, if any action, as a committee, we want to recommend to the full House.”

The Senate’s Judiciary Committee also took up a Convention of State’s bill Saturday. Chairman Shott, however, is unsure how soon his committee will take up the three proposals.

List of Restricted Pets Revisited and Adjusted

The state Department of Agriculture’s proposed list of restricted pets in West Virginia was revisited by members of the Legislative Rule Making Committee yesterday.

After intense criticism from the public and conflict between members of the Committee and the Department of Agriculture, Senator Herb Snyder proposed an amendment Monday removing a handful of animals from the list.

He told members of the committee his amendment’s intent was to bring the restricted list back to being about dangerous animals or invasive species that could cause environmental or physical harm to West Virginians, things like crayfish.

The committee also removed certain types of snakes from the restricted list, but West Virginians won’t be allowed to keep poisonous snakes like copperheads as pets.

West Virginians who already own animals that may soon be on the restricted list must get a permit to keep their pet.

The new rule will go before the full Legislature in January for approval before it takes effect.