West Virginia lawmakers tout progress at session’s midpoint
By Steven Allan Adams, Parkersburg News and Sentinel
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Thursday marked the halfway point of the 2020 legislative session, and leaders of both the Senate and House of Delegates Thursday briefed reporters, editors and publishers of the state’s daily and weekly newspapers.
The West Virginia Press Association held its annual Legislative Breakfast at the Cultural Center in Charleston. Attendees heard from Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson; House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay; House Minority Leader Tim Miley, D-Harrison; and state Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone.
So far, nine bills have passed both the House and Senate, with two of those bills being signed Wednesday by Gov. Jim Justice.
Carmichael said the focus for his chamber in the remaining 30 days was passing legislation to lift West Virginia out of the outlier category.
“We live in a state that is on the rebound. We are doing better, but there is so much more we can do,” Carmichael said. “Our efforts are to put West Virginia in the mainstream. We want to allow our people to compete for jobs and opportunity on a level playing field. When we’re out of step with the rest of America, we need to get in line.”
One of those efforts is Senate Joint Resolution 8, phasing out the business and inventory tax on manufacturing machinery and equipment. The resolution would phase out the tax over four years and eliminate $100 million in tax revenue that goes to provide funding for county governments and school systems. That funding would have to be replaced by the governor through the general revenue fund.
“We have to realize when we put this tax on our entities that want to create jobs, growth, and manufacturing…we’re hurting our own people,” Carmichael said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look at a map and see that West Virginia is an incredible outlier with this tax. We’re working hard to find ways to eliminate that tax. It’s not easy, otherwise it would be done.”
The resolution requires a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the Legislature, and a vote by the public in a special election. It remains in the Senate Judiciary Committee, though Carmichael said he expects the committee to take up the resolution.
Stollings, a Democratic candidate for governor in the May 12 primary, said Senate Democrats remain concerned about keeping county budgets whole. “The fear of a lot of Senate Democrats, and I suspect House Democrats, is that if we cut or did away with the business and inventory tax, that’s a $100 million dollar hole in the local county and school system budget. If we can find a replacement, then we can find a way to get rid of this regressive tax.” …