By Phil Kabler, HD Media
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — With state tax collection expected to shrink 2.3 percent in the 2020-21 budget year, Gov. Jim Justice is proposing a “flat” $4.58 billion general revenue budget for the coming fiscal year — a drop of $108.64 million from the current West Virginia spending plan.
However, the 2020-21 budget bill — which was still a work in progress Wednesday evening — will use one-time appropriations to avoid spending cuts, state Budget Office Director Michael Cook said during a news briefing on the budget plan.
“We tried to maintain a flat budget,” he said.
That austere budget includes no across-the-board pay raises for public school or other state employees, and includes only about $49 million — roughly 1 percent of the total state budget — for new funding initiatives.
The proposed budget includes a $26.4 million increase for Child Protective Services, a program that has been overwhelmed as the opioid drug crisis has shattered families statewide. …