Latest / Commentary - TJ Meadows / Hope and Budget in the Game of Politics

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Hope and Budget in the Game of Politics · Commentary - TJ Meadows

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: There's plenty to like in the budget that rolled out
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  Speaker 1: of House financed Thursday. First, basic budgeting, discipline, Medicaid, and
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  Speaker 1: the Hope Scholarship are obligations. The House funds them with
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  Speaker 1: general revenue dollars reasonably certain to arrive, instead of gambling
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: on potential surpluses. That's as it should be. Second, the
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: House leaves about thirty million dollars unallocated in general revenue.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Both the Governor and Senate spent every available dollar general
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: or surplus Alike, the House chows contingency planning instead. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: the state has more than one billion dollars in rainy
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: day funds, but those are for true emergencies, not routine
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  Speaker 1: budget balancing. That too, is as it should be. But
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  Speaker 1: the real story isn't accounting, it's politics. The House budget
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  Speaker 1: includes no income tax cut, not ten percent, not five percent,
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  Speaker 1: not even a placeholder. That's a direct pushback against Governor
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  Speaker 1: Morrissey's bent and his desire to be viewed as a
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  Speaker 1: tax cutter, just as other governors have been, in particular
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  Speaker 1: Jim Justice. Here's Morrissey's challenge. West Virginia would have to
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: live paycheck to paycheck to afford a tax cut right now,
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  Speaker 1: the state has already reduced revenue through prior tax cuts.
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  Speaker 1: Another reduction requires either major spending cuts or new taxes
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  Speaker 1: like a higher sales tax. Even the Senate's proposed vape
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  Speaker 1: tax cut raises only about twenty two million dollars of
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  Speaker 1: the roughly two hundred and fifty million needed. And remember
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  Speaker 1: the current trigger plan ties tax cuts to growth. There's
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  Speaker 1: a reason more triggers haven't kicked in yet. Meanwhile, roads,
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  Speaker 1: special education funding, and child welfare demands remain unresolved. Priorities
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  Speaker 1: also important. The proposed cut isn't a massive rate change.
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  Speaker 1: It's a reduction of five to ten percent of the
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  Speaker 1: current rate, meaning relatively modest savings for most taxpayers, even
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  Speaker 1: higher income earners. Enter the Hope Scholarship Bill, originally in
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  Speaker 1: House Finance on Wednesday. Reviewing the program may be good policy,
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  Speaker 1: but it also could be leverage. The House may be
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  Speaker 1: signaling here support a more cautious budget, and the scholarship
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  Speaker 1: program remains largely untouched for now. Think about it. The
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  Speaker 1: governor has more allies in the Senate than in the House.
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  Speaker 1: Those senators support Morrissey but likely need him as well
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  Speaker 1: in their effort to stave off primary challengers, especially when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to funding campaigns. That sets up a classic
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  Speaker 1: political test Senators balancing loyalty to the governor against downside
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  Speaker 1: risk of going against him on the tax cut, while
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  Speaker 1: House leaders use policy pressure on Hope to move senators
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  Speaker 1: along who might not otherwise go with a no tax
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  Speaker 1: cut budget. Architects of the strategy are probably betting more
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  Speaker 1: Senators go with a no tax cut budget to protect
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  Speaker 1: Hope than those that would risk Hope restrictions in order
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  Speaker 1: to get a tax cut through. Governor Morrissey fired back
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  Speaker 1: directly at House Finance Chair Vernon Chris on social media Thursday,
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  Speaker 1: arguing tax cuts and school choice are core Republican priorities.
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  Speaker 1: It will take much more than an ex post to
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  Speaker 1: persuade Chris he's wrong on the budget. For what it's worth,
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  Speaker 1: I don't think he is wrong.