By CHARLIE BOOTHE Bluefield Daily Telegraph CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Area legislators say they don’t know exactly what to expect when they head to Charleston today for a special budget session called by Gov. Jim Justice. But three local members of the House make it clear they will not support a[Read More…]
Government
Justice wants tax changes
By LACIE PIERSON The Herald-Dispatch CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice issued a list of tax and fee measures, plus a 2 percent raise for the state’s classroom teachers, for lawmakers to consider when they reconvene for a special session at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 4. The governor[Read More…]
Mid-Ohio Valley lawmakers stand firm against tax increases
By BRETT DUNLAP The Parkersburg News and Sentinel CHARLESTON. W.Va. — Local state lawmakers are standing firm in their resolve not to see any additional tax increases as Gov. Jim Justice called a special session for the West Virginia Legislature to work out a budget for the state. One Wood[Read More…]
West Virginia lawmakers set to tackle budget in special session
By JOSELYN KING The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register WHEELING, W.Va. — A proposed 20-percent decrease in West Virginia’s income tax rate — offset largely by a 1-cent-per-dollar increase to the state’s sales tax — is expected to be on the desks of West Virginia lawmakers today as they return to[Read More…]
Justice outlines special session agenda
By RUSTY MARKS The State Journal CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is putting four bills on the agenda in a call for the Legislature to return for a special session at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 4. Justice vetoed the budget bill lawmakers passed at the end of[Read More…]
Progress on WV budget compromise still murky
By LACIE PIERSON The Herald-Dispatch HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — There’s no shortage of reports about the budget talks among Democrat Gov. Jim Justice and GOP-majority leaders from the Senate and House of Delegates in the Mountain State. Whether any of the involved parties are listening to one another is a different[Read More…]
Senate majority leader says calling special session for Thursday premature
By ANDREA LANNOM The Register-Herald CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Senate Majority Leader Ryan Ferns says he feels calling legislators into a special session Thursday is premature because an agreement hasn’t been reached between all parties. In a phone interview Tuesday, Ferns, R-Ohio, said he hoped the governor would change his mind[Read More…]
State Auditor makes plans in case of a government shutdown
By ANDREA LANNOM The Register-Herald CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia State Auditor said he is making preparations to make sure if a government shutdown happens, it will have the least possible outcome on the state. In a phone interview Tuesday, Auditor J.B. McCuskey said he is working with his office’s[Read More…]
Lawmakers express concern over tiering severance tax, increasing sales tax
By ANDREA LANNOM The Register-Herald CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some House of Delegates members are expressing their concern over parts of the proposals for the state’s budget, especially as it relates to border counties. In a series of news releases, delegates singled out increasing the sales tax and tiering the severance[Read More…]
Water pollution changes lost when coal bill passed
By KEN WARD JR. Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Lawmakers approved controversial language that could increase the amount of toxic chemicals discharged into West Virginia’s river and streams, but later removed the language from state law with the passage of a bill aimed at lessening a separate water quality restriction[Read More…]