West Virginia Senate Passes Budget Without Teacher Raises; Governor Justice To Call for Special Session
Trending
CHARLESTON -- The West Virginia Senate passed a budget Wednesday that doesn't include funding for teacher raises, setting up a potential showdown with the House of Delegates and prompting Gov. Jim Justice to call a special legislative session focused on education.
Senators voted 20-14 on the proposal one day after they gutted a House version of the budget that would have raised teacher salaries by about 5 percent. The bill now heads back to the House. Lawmakers there are expected to call for a conference committee where senators and delegates will be selected to come up with a final version of the budget.
Republican Gov. Jim Justice says he wants teachers to get a pay increase and has been lobbying lawmakers. Teachers' union leaders say they are hopeful educators and school service personnel will end up getting raises.
Justice issued the following statement late Wednesday:
"With three days left in the legislative session, we still have not achieved what I promised the people of West Virginia -- a 5 percent pay raise for all teachers, school service personnel, state troopers, and all state employees. It's very clear to me now that we won't get to the finish line in the remaining three days, but it's critically important that we still get there before the new fiscal year begins on July 1, 2019.
"In order to follow through on the 5 percent pay raise that was promised we have to take a different path."
Justice said he will call a special session today to focus on "education betterment" in the state. The special session will begin as soon as the current session ends, and Justice said the Legislature will recess immediately so members can go out and listen to teachers, parents, community leaders and all those with a vested interest in improving education.
"When the legislators return to the session, they will be ready to tackle the issues and get it done," the statement notes.
Justice pointed out that many education reforms are worthy of consideration, including increasing the number of school nurses, counselors and psychologists, and that he issues deserve adequate time to be debated and considered. He also noted that the money to cover the 5 percent raise will be included as an unappropriated expense in the FY 2020 budget expected to be approved before the current legislative session ends.
"I know our legislators, education community, and the people of West Virginia want our education system to be better and believe that our employees deserve a raise, so you have my word that we will get it done," Justice said in the statement.
In other Senate business Wednesday, bills that would put a combined $37 million hole in the state's tax revenue starting next fiscal year were taken up by the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday afternoon.
∫ House Bill 2673 would exempt low-producing oil and natural gas wells from paying 5 percent severance taxes and instead require them to pay a fee of 2.5 percent of the value of the natural gas or oil produced from those wells. That money would go to a fund to plug abandoned oil and natural gas wells.
HB 2673 would exempt owners from paying severance taxes on oil wells that produce an average of at least 1.5 barrels but no more than 10 barrels of oil per day and natural gas wells that produce between 5,000 and 60,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day. Instead, the fees paid on such wells would be deposited in the Oil and Natural Gas Well Plugging Fund.
∫ House Bill 3142 would lower the severance tax rate for steam coal from 5 percent to 3 percent over three years.
Republican senators supporting the bill said that HB 3142 could help make West Virginia's steam coal more competitive with other markets. They also argued that it could lower electric utility prices in the state.
"The more we can support the businesses that generate revenue, the better off this state is," said Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam. "We still have coal-fired plants in West Virginia."
Not all senators were impressed. Sen. Doug Facemire, D-Braxton, questioned the economics behind the severance tax cut numbers.
"I just don't know that we can afford this," added state Sen. William Ihlenfeld, D-Ohio. "We're doing things to help this industry. I know it's struggling. I want to see coal miners go back to work .. but I don't think when you do the cost-benefit analysis that the numbers work here. This is just more than we can afford now."
∫ The finance committee also amended the provisions of House Bill 2829, which eliminates the severance tax on limestone and sandstone.