Budget Negotiations Continue with Three Weeks Left in W.Va. Session

On The Legislature Today, Republican leaders this week released their 2018 budget framework and progressed a bill to reform the state’s tax system, while Gov. Jim Justice made changes to his budget bill that he says will result in a $54 million surplus next year. 

Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy Executive Director Garrett Ballengee and Senior Policy Analyst for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy Sean O’Leary discuss the plans.

The House Judiciary Committee took its first look at a bill to expand broadband internet access in the state. Liz McCormick reports the bill’s goal is for all West Virginians to have access by 2020.

 
Senators are still debating a bill that explicitly repeals Common Core in West Virginia, even though the standards are no longer being taught in West Virginia schools. The bill would have also required the West Virginia Board of Education to adopt education standards that are some 20 years old, but that portion of the bill was amended on the floor.