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GOP Lawmakers Are Saving Money

Any number of dishonest claims are being made by well-funded opponents of West Virginia state Senate President Bill Cole, who is running for governor.

One is that Cole and fellow Republicans cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars unnecessarily for a special session of the Legislature to approve a budget.

Those who followed the regular legislative session closely understand political maneuvering by Democrats was part of the reason the special session was needed, of course.

Still, let us talk about what it costs taxpayers to run the Legislature under GOP control:

In large measure because of reforms put in place by Cole, it costs less than it did when Democrats were in the majority.

The Legislative Auditor’s office looked into it and found that last year, the first in which Republicans were in control, the Legislature cost $4,655,573. With this year nearly over, the cost has been $4,616,762.

In contrast, the price tag for 2014, when Democrats were in the majority, was $5,325,656. The previous year cost $5,605,651.

Critics of Cole and the Republicans are right, in a way: Voters should be looking at who wastes money in Charleston.

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