An editorial from The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on Thursday scratched out of the state budget $67 million worth of spending, including funds to help children and families and to prevent domestic violence, and then signed a nice new tax break into law.
There was cake and festivities with Jim Justice of the Greenbrier and the New Orleans Saints football team in the governor’s office while he signed the tax credits for tourism developers.
Meanwhile, programs that have been shown to help families bring up children who are ready for school and future opportunities fell a great deal lower on the priority list.
Gov. Tomblin says he was concerned that the Legislature was taking too much out of the state Rainy Day fund for ongoing expenses. To be sure, the Legislature would have been more prudent to raise the cigarette tax to make up that needed funding.
But people put their money where their priorities are, and cutting funding to efforts that help West Virginia’s working and struggling parents while celebrating tax breaks for wealthy entrepreneurs speaks volumes…
