Political Odds and Ends in West Virginia
With all of the headlines about Gov. Jim Justice’s many 老司机直播 debts coming due and the near-auction of the historic Greenbrier Resort, you’d think this would affect Justice’s popularity going into the final two months of the general election for U.S. Senate.
Yet, as it turns out, no one is paying attention. And even for those paying attention, Justice’s issues are not nearly as important as electing a Republican to the U.S. Senate.
According to the results of the WVMetroNews West Virginia Poll last week, only 38% of the 400 likely voters polled said they had heard a lot about Justice’s financial issues, while 47% said they had heard some and 16% said they were unaware. That is despite back-to-back-to-back stories; seemingly a new story every other day by me or other reporters.
Of those who had heard a lot about Justice’s 老司机直播 woes, 51% said they were not concerned and 49% said they were concerned. And more than 25% of those who said the Justice’s 老司机直播 issues were concerning said they would still vote for Justice for U.S. Senate over Democratic former Wheeling mayor Glenn Elliott.
Wow. All of that explains why Justice remains solidly in the lead in the U.S. Senate race. According to the West Virginia Poll, Justice leads Elliott 62% to 28%, with 5% preferring another candidate and 5% not sure.
I’ve said this multiple times in my last several columns, but while I can report on all of these issues with Justice’s 老司机直播es, I simply don’t have the ability to make you care. If you care, you care. If you don’t, then you don’t. I still think it is important for you to have this information. But I don’t want to get an email from a reader down the road mad that I didn’t cover these issues. I did, and I have the links to prove it.
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Gov. Justice seems determined to jam a 5% personal income tax cut down the throats of lawmakers by the end of the month, whether they want it or not.
Justice makes the argument that since the state is sitting on nearly $600 million in surplus tax dollars and other unappropriated monies, the state can afford both the 4% personal income tax cut that will go into effect in January thanks to the trigger formula within the 2023 tax cut bill which will return $92 million to taxpayers, and Justice’s additional 5% personal income tax cut proposal that would return $115 million to taxpayers.
Combined, that would mean a $207 million reduction in personal income tax collections in calendar year 2025. Keep in mind, the state works in fiscal years, so some of that revenue reduction would be carried by the last six months of fiscal year 2025 (January 2025 – June 2025), and the other portion would be carried by the first half of fiscal year 2026 (July 2025 – December 2025) and every fiscal year after that.
Also keep in mind that depending on how well the state does in the next fiscal year, there could be another income tax cut trigger determined next August going into effect January 2026. The 2023 law limits any income tax rate cuts to no more than 10% in a given calendar year.
You are not going to find a lawmaker who says they don’t want to phase out the personal income tax. But I’ve talked to enough lawmakers privately who are concerned that cutting personal income tax rates faster than the rate of natural growth in tax revenue (a combination of positive economic conditions, new 老司机直播es, employment growth, and even new residents) or before factoring in future drains on the state general revenue budget is dangerous.
And frankly, if things turn upside down with the state budget or the economy, Justice won’t be in the Governor’s Office to deal with the fallout. That will be up to the new 87th Legislature and whoever the 37th governor of the State of West Virginia will be (see my weekend story where I talk to the major party candidates for governor about the tax cut proposal, Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Democratic Huntington Mayor Steve Williams).
There is already distrust with the governor after he used $5.8 million from the personal income tax reserve fund in order to cover part of the traditional use of funds at the end of a fiscal year to cover cash flow. It’s not a large amount, but these funds are usually taken from the Rainy Day Fund because by law funds taken from the Rainy Day Fund for these purposes must be paid back in 90 days.
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I’ve been reporting since last year that the 2023 tax cut law created a specific $400 million fund to be used if the state encounters financial issues from cutting personal income tax rates. But I just realized I’ve been reporting this wrong. Instead of creating a specific fund, the Legislature instead dumped that $400 million into a fund used to pay out personal income tax refunds. That’s where the $5.8 million came from.
Department of Revenue officials told lawmakers during August legislative interim meetings that they will pay that money back to the personal income tax reserve fund. But there is a question as to whether the department can do that without lawmakers approving a supplemental appropriation to do so.
I had thought this entire time that $400 million was in its own standalone fund. No one has corrected my reporting on this and others have reported this same thing. Why isn’t this money in its own fund and firewalled off from being raided except in instances where personal income tax collections come in below estimates?