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House Holds the Leverage as Budget Moves to Morrisey · Commentary - TJ Meadows

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  Speaker 1: The big story out of the Capitol Thursday was the budget.
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  Speaker 1: The Senate took the House's version, made some amendments, and
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  Speaker 1: then rolled the document right back across the Capitol. The
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  Speaker 1: House passed the compromise Thursday evening, and that move sets
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  Speaker 1: up a pretty interesting final week of the legislative session,
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  Speaker 1: a couple of observations and maybe a couple of hopes
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  Speaker 1: as we head toward day sixty. Right now, the House
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  Speaker 1: has the stronger hand. Really, you can argue it has
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  Speaker 1: most of the leverage. Lawmakers around the Capitol were quick
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  Speaker 1: to point out the governor has five days to review
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  Speaker 1: the bill and issue any line item vetos. But here's
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  Speaker 1: the strategy. The legislature is still in session, so if
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  Speaker 1: the Governor redlines something, lawmakers can simply override it before
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  Speaker 1: they adjourn. Passing the budget this early in the session
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  Speaker 1: takes a lot of leverage away from the governor, and
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  Speaker 1: that appears to have been the House's plan from the start.
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  Speaker 1: That said, there's another layer to all of this, the
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  Speaker 1: tax cut. The governor created headroom for that proposal by
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  Speaker 1: cutting his revenue estimates by about five percent, but as
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  Speaker 1: House Finance Chairman Vernon Chris keeps reminding anyone who will listen.
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  Speaker 1: The budget itself doesn't cut taxes. It's an expenditure bill.
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  Speaker 1: If you want a tax cut, that takes a separate law.
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  Speaker 1: And right now the tax cut bill is still sitting
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  Speaker 1: on Chris's desk in House Finance, which means it's still
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  Speaker 1: a bargaining chip. In my view, the biggest opportunity on
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  Speaker 1: the table right now is Team West Virginia House Bill
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  Speaker 1: four thousand and one. Successful economies don't cut their way
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  Speaker 1: to prosperity, they grow their way there, and Team West
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  Speaker 1: Virginia is designed to help the state compete for major
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  Speaker 1: economic development projects by putting experienced deal makers in position
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  Speaker 1: to close those deals. The House has already given ground
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  Speaker 1: in the budget negotiations. The Hope Scholarship gets funded for
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  Speaker 1: five quarters using surplus dollars as opposed to general revenue.
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  Speaker 1: The Hope Guardrail legislation is dead, and lawmakers look willing
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  Speaker 1: to meet the governor in the middle on about a
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  Speaker 1: five percent tax cut that's reasonable give and take. The
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  Speaker 1: governor could walk away from that with a clear win.
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  Speaker 1: My hope is that Team West Virginia becomes part of
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  Speaker 1: the final agreement between the House, the Senate, and Governor Morrissey. Actually,
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  Speaker 1: I hope it already is. And if holding the tax
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  Speaker 1: cut bill in reserve helps move things in that direction,
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  Speaker 1: then so be it, because otherwise West Virginia risks missing
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  Speaker 1: one of its best opportunities to grow the economy, keep
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  Speaker 1: people here, and build long term prosperity. We'll find out
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  Speaker 1: soon enough. The next few days at the Capitol will
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  Speaker 1: tell the story.