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Social Media Post May Backfire on Morrisey · Commentary - TJ Meadows

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  Speaker 1: Governor Patrick Morrissey stirred things up on social media late
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  Speaker 1: Friday evening. He posted that West Virginians are still waiting
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  Speaker 1: for the legislature to deliver meaningful income tax relief, noting
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  Speaker 1: time is running short and urging citizens to demand lawmakers
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  Speaker 1: pass tax cuts now. I asked the Governor on X
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  Speaker 1: whether that post should be interpreted as meaning a five
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  Speaker 1: percent income tax is simply too small, or whether he
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  Speaker 1: would reject that kind of deal entirely as part of
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  Speaker 1: the budget agreement. There was no response, but the timing
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  Speaker 1: of the post is important. The House and the Senate
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  Speaker 1: had just reached agreement on the state budget. That budget
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  Speaker 1: doesn't include the governor's proposed ten percent tax cut. However,
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  Speaker 1: the prevailing view around the capitol is that legislative leaders
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  Speaker 1: are prepared to allow a five percent cut based on
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  Speaker 1: reduced revenue estimates coming from the governor's own office, and remember,
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  Speaker 1: the legislature can't change those estimates. Senate Finance Chair Jason
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  Speaker 1: Barrett already indicated the Senate sees the five percent tax
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  Speaker 1: cut as significant and worth doing. So when you read
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  Speaker 1: the governor's post in that context, it sounds a lot
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  Speaker 1: like a rejection of the legislature's plan and agreement. Morrissey
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  Speaker 1: appears willing to walk away from a deal where everyone
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  Speaker 1: could claim some level of victory, including himself, perhaps betting
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  Speaker 1: that the political upside of pushing for a larger cut
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  Speaker 1: out weighs accepting a smaller one, but that strategy carries risk.
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  Speaker 1: The reaction online was mixed. Plenty of people supported tax relief,
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  Speaker 1: but others pointed to potholes, water infrastructure, and special education
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  Speaker 1: funding as higher priorities. Lawmakers see that too, and remember
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  Speaker 1: the legislature already weakened the governor's leverage by passing the
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  Speaker 1: budget early. If House leaders decide to simply leave the
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  Speaker 1: five percent tax cut sitting in a desk drawer and
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  Speaker 1: direct surplus money toward roads or schools instead, the governor
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  Speaker 1: could wind up with no Tees tax cut at all.
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  Speaker 1: And if he eventually accepts the five percent deal after
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  Speaker 1: publicly criticizing it, he risks looking like he blinked. In
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  Speaker 1: other words, what started as a political push for a
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  Speaker 1: larger tax cut could end up with the governor boxed
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  Speaker 1: into a corner. Great politicians usually find a way out
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  Speaker 1: of corners like that. The question is whether Morrisey can
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  Speaker 1: or can't.