State of the State Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Tiny Homes, The Water Crisis And The State Of The State, This West Virginia Week

On this West Virginia Week, we began with interim meetings of the West Virginia Legislature and then the 2024 regular session kicked off on Wednesday along with Gov. Jim Justice’s final State of the State Address.

On this West Virginia Week, we began with interim meetings of the West Virginia Legislature and then the 2024 regular session kicked off on Wednesday along with Gov. Jim Justice’s final State of the State Address.

We hear about a new program to build tiny homes for kids aging out of the foster care system and a look back at the West Virginia Water Crisis. There are also stories about Appalachian Power’s request to bill customers for an extra $231 million, and we have the minority response to the governor.

News Director Eric Douglas is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.

Learn more about West Virginia Week.

Justice Lays Out Achievements, Wish List In Final State Of The State

Gov. Jim Justice’s final state of the state address Wednesday night highlighted the homespun phrases he’s known for, and millions of state surplus dollars proposed for a variety of projects.

He reminded all assembled for a joint session of the legislature what his dad said, and Justice often quotes: “Don’t confuse effort with accomplishment and there’s always something you can do.”

“I believe that if you give it to God above and you give your best and you give your best like nobody’s business,” he said. “Good things will happen.”

Justice touted his efforts to provide school choice, to enhance tourism and embrace diversifying the economy, adding his usual caveat of never forgetting fossil fuels.

“For those crazies that are out there in Lala Land that believe you can do it all with the fuels today,” Justice said. “Go back to your crazy you know, to be perfectly honest, I don’t want to starve to death in the dark.”

On the heels of the personal income tax cuts passed by the legislature last session, Justice proposed eliminating social security taxes on everyone and instituting a Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

“Where folks that are struggling with daycare can at least write them off your taxes against your revenue,” he said. “We need this and we need this very badly and we need it right now.”

Justice proposed $50 million for a state-of-the-art agricultural lab at West Virginia State University. He also proposed $3 million for crisis pregnancy centers, $20 million for senior centers, $5 million for charter school growth, $150 million for the School Building Authority and $100 million to bolster West Virginia hospitals.

“This will help a lot of folks in our West Virginia hospitals all across our land,” he said.

Justice pointed to an end of the two-year state of emergency in the state Corrections system, with more than 350 National Guard members continuing to work in state jails and prisons.

“We are effective as we speak, downsizing the National Guard in our facilities,” Justice said. “And it is my hope beyond belief that by the end of the summer, the National Guard will be out of our facilities.”

A high school girls basketball coach for decades, Justice asked lawmakers to rethink the high school transfer rules passed during last year’s session that he said were creating lopsided scores and an uneven playing field.

“If we don’t watch out, we’re going to ruin, and I said ruin, high school sports in West Virginia,” he said. “This is going to really hurt us. I don’t know exactly what the right solution is. But I’m telling you there are some dadgum smart people in this room. And today I am absolutely pleading with you to figure it out.”

As Justice finished his address, Speaker of the House Roger Hanshaw, a Republican from Clay Country introduced House Bill 4025, the governor’s proposed budget appropriation for fiscal year 2025.

House Democrats Offer Minority Response To State of State Address

House Democrats presented a minority response to the governor’s State of the State address Thursday morning on the steps of the House of Delegates.

Minority Leader Del. Doug Skaff, D-Kanawha, opened by saying that his caucus was focused on making sure all West Virginians’ voices were heard.

“We’re going to ask who does this help? Who does this hurt?” Skaff said. “We don’t want to just spend the surplus money, we want to invest the surplus money. The goal is to invest in the future of West Virginia and invest in the people of West Virginia.”

He criticized the governor’s State of the State for having a lot of big ticket items without specifics or details, especially on how to pay for a 50 percent cut to personal income tax.

“We need a complete systematic approach to tax reform that impacts the most amount of West Virginians in the best way that we can maintain and sustain,” Skaff said.

In summarizing the minority position, Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, expressed a willingness to work with the governor, and said the minority would be “the adults in the room.”

“We want to make sure that we’re not cutting any vital services to any everyday West Virginians,” he said. “If in that plan, we have a pathway to make sure that we can replace monies, to the people that need it the most, we’re open to it. We’re never going to be against it.”

Democratic Party Vice Chair Del. Danielle Walker, D-Monongalia, said the House Democrats, who she dubbed The ‘Mighty 12’, are willing to work across the aisle and will stand for all West Virginians.

“As the Democratic Party, democracy is first,” she said. “We see at the beginning, day one yesterday that a lot of freedoms are going to be taken away. How will the people of West Virginia know what’s going on in their house?”

Walker was referring to a change in the House rules that removes rebuttal from debate of bills.

Del. Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, said while the rule change sounds innocuous, it represents a dramatic change in how business is conducted in the House.

“What it means is that you cannot offer any opinion about someone who’s offering an opinion about your ideas,” he said. “They can mistake them, they can misunderstand them. There are so many things that are involved. You should be able to present your ideas, have people comment, object, agree whatever it might be, and then you’ll be able to come back and respond.”

Justice Lays Out Agenda In Seventh Message To Legislature

Gov. Jim Justice offered his legislative wish list as part of his seventh State of the State address Wednesday night.

Relying heavily on a state revenue surplus of nearly $2 billion so far, Justice said he wanted to advance a 2022 economic development drive that he says brought 29 businesses into the state, invested more than $6 billion and created or preserved more than 6,000 jobs.

Since last session, Justice has been promoting a personal income tax cut. Last year, he asked for a 10 percent cut. This time he is asking for a 50 percent cut phased in over three years.

“We’ll do 30 percent the first year, 10 percent the next year and 10 percent the next year,” he said. “What will be the multiplier effect of that? Will it be six times or 10 times tomorrow. You will become your own stimulus package with zero growth.”

Justice also proposed sending $40 million to state hospitals to make adjustments and offset minimal reimbursement to Public Employee Insurance Agency (PEIA) insurance holders, and deliver a promised pay raise.

“I want to put $100 million back into our PEIA fund and give every state worker a five percent pay raise,” he said.

Both the House and Senate propose dividing the Department of Health and Human Resources into three separate cabinet agencies.

“I want to listen to every one of your ideas,” he said. “I want them to listen to your ideas. We all can do one thing. If we do it, we can make it better.”

On the education front, Justice proposed $37 million go to a school aid formula increase for first grade teachers, $15 million into the Hope scholarship program, $75 million into higher education deferred maintenance – and an initiative to let all parents see their child’s curriculum online.

“All of our parents deserve to know exactly what’s going on in a classroom. Without a question, our parents have always known what the best is for their kids,” he said.

He also proposed an $11 million dollar effort to stop hunger in West Virginia, $1 million for child pregnancy centers and an incentive program for veterans to move back to their home state. He also proposed spending $250 billion to consolidate state laboratories.

There was applause and standing ovations, but it remains to be seen how the legislature will receive Justice’s proposals over the next 60 days.

Historic Tax Reform Proposal To Highlight State Of The State

Gov. Jim Justice is also required by law to submit a 2023 fiscal year budget to the legislature.

Gov. Jim Justice will deliver his seventh State of the State address Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. He is also required by law to submit a 2023 fiscal year budget to the legislature.

On the heels of several major corporate economic development announcements in 2022, the governor said in a recent media briefing he will have several more such announcements tonight.

“We’ll have several announcements of companies that are coming to our state, or expansions of companies that are already here,” Justice said.

With a state budget surplus heading toward $2 billion, he said tonight’s address will highlight an unprecedented tax reform plan.

“We’ll be announcing the biggest tax cuts in the history of this state, hands down,” Justice said. “It’ll be a great year to celebrate our hard work as West Virginians.”

Justice had proposed a 10 percent personal income tax cut. House Majority Leader Eric Householder, R-Berkeley, has publicly said that the cut could be as much as 50 percent.

Other pressing issues expected to come up include PEIA, DHHR and education reforms along with roads and infrastructure.

W.Va. Governor Again Floats Idea Of Income Tax Cuts

Justice did not provide specifics during his weekly coronavirus hearing Wednesday. The Republican is scheduled to give his State of the State address to the Legislature on Jan. 11.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday that he will announce yet another proposal next week to cut taxes.

Justice did not provide specifics during his weekly coronavirus hearing Wednesday. The Republican is scheduled to give his State of the State address to the Legislature on Jan. 11.

“I want everybody to stay really close in tune to what we say that night,” he said. “Absolutely, we’ll be announcing the biggest tax cuts in the history of this state, hands down.”

Senate GOP leaders are expected to offer their own proposals.

Justice and lawmakers have been at odds on how to cut taxes for nearly two years.

The governor proposed a permanent 10% reduction in the personal income tax in July after the state ended the fiscal year with a record $1.3 billion surplus. The state Senate refused to take up proposal during a special session that month.

In October, Justice came up with another plan, saying he wanted to eliminate a personal property tax that residents pay every year on vehicles. That proposal was floated before voters in November rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have given lawmakers the ability to eliminate a business and inventory tax along with the personal property vehicle tax.

Justice’s ideas for tax cuts go back to his State of the State address in February 2021. Shortly after he began his second term, the governor proposed chopping the personal income tax in half for most earners. The proposal died in the Legislature shortly before the session ended.

State general revenue collections for December were $145.6 million above estimates, while collections for the fiscal year that began in July were $833 million above estimates.