By Lacie Pierson, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Eliminating state funding to West Virginia and Marshall universities are among options House Majority Whip Paul Espinosa listed in a poll sent to Republican colleagues.
Espinosa said he wants to know which tax increases and budget cuts Republicans are willing to make to eliminate the state’s personal income tax. In an informal poll Espinosa, R-Jefferson, sent to GOP members of the House, he asked delegates if they would consider things like increasing the state’s sales tax to 8% and eliminating state funding to Marshall and WVU as well as halting the Promise Scholarship.
The poll asked lawmakers to consider 12 options lawmakers could exercise to offset the cost of losing $2.1 billion in revenue if the income tax is repealed during Gov. Jim Justice’s current term, which ends in 2024.
“Such a plan requires measures that are not politically popular standing alone,” Espinosa said in the poll first shared by Dragline, a blog following politics in West Virginia. “We need to determine if you would support such measures in order to achieve the goal of eliminating [personal income tax].” …
