A Daily Mail editorial from the Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Republican majority in the West Virginia House of Delegates smartly rebuffed a spending proposal Monday — a devious attempt by House Democrats — to embarrass Republicans and mismanage state finances.
But by the end of the day, House Democrats had simply embarrassed themselves.
The original spending bill, requested by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, would move $52 million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to the general revenue fund so the state can keep paying its bills amid declining tax revenues and a budget crisis, the Gazette-Mail’s Eric Eyre reported Tuesday. Democrats proposed moving that money — and an additional $6 million from other government accounts — to help fund PEIA.
The governor’s proposal, which did pass the House intact on Tuesday, is to use that money to pay for programs — Medicaid, Social Services, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, among others in the current budget.
“[Monday’s] amendment was a shameful, thinly veiled political ploy that was not intended to help the state’s public employees and retirees, but rather give some a talking point to use in campaigns at the expense of the poor and disabled,” House Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, said after the floor session…
