The House of Delegates and Senate are at odds on how best to balance West Virginia’s budget.
Senate propositions to raise sales and cigarette taxes were dismissed by the House in a closed meeting Thursday.
Senate President Jeff Kessler said without bills to increase revenue, the Legislature will have to make more budget cuts or dip further into the state’s “rainy day” fund.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s 2015 executive budget already proposed using around $84 million of the $915 million fund. Kessler said without generating more revenue through taxes as much as 25 percent of the fund could be needed to balance the budget.
House Speaker Tim Miley said the hesitance for House Democrats to increase taxes has a lot to do with 2014 being an election year.
Tag: Rainy Day Fund
Senator Says Rainy Day Fund Could Be Used to Improve Roads
At the legislature Wednesday, one Senator urged his colleagues to take action on a hotly debated topic, the condition of the state roads. He’s asking fellow lawmakers to take action this session to improve paving across West Virginia.
Senator Robert Plymale stood at the end of the upper chamber’s morning floor session to bring attention to an issue often talked about in the legislature, but one he says lawmakers have failed in recent years to take action on.
Because of a lack of funds, the state is on an average 33 year paving cycle that the Division of Highways would like to see at 12 and a half.
“I don’t know how much it’s going to cost. I would say it’s going to be between $20 and $25 million to be able to do the right and appropriate paving cycle,” he said, “but we have got to find something even if it is in the Rainy Day Fund because this is a rainy day for our roads.”
The Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways, a group appointed by Tomblin to find new revenue sources for infrastructure development, has pushed off their final report until after the session meaning any recommendations from the executive on roads are still on hold.