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Gov. Jim Justice filed his official candidacy paperwork for the 2024 Republican primary for U.S. Senate on the same day he gave his last State of the State address. He then spent much of his speech telling West Virginians what he's done for them lately, and little time on what he plans to do in the coming months.
"We climbed that mountain together. We pulled the rope together every step of the way, and the view at the top is breathtaking," Justice said of West Virginia's current circumstances.
It will be up to ordinary West Virginians to decide whether they feel as though they are at the top of a mountain with a breathtaking view, or still facing the same socio-economic challenges with which they've been struggling.
In the meantime, lawmakers will have to carefully parse the budget bill for fiscal year 2025 they were handed Wednesday. Highlights given by Justice sound promising, but the devil is in the details and some of those details don't feel much like minding the store properly in a fiscal year when all that flowing federal money we've gotten since 2020 will be turned off.
In his speech, Justice said "my administration does not believe in growing government." But a few of his budget proposals could end up doing just that, according to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr, R-Putnam. He flagged some as having the potential for "base-building."
It will be up to lawmakers to decide whether, after years of flat budgets, we are ready to grow the base. Is the ship finally righted? Is it time to put the fruits of all that labor to work? They'll have to make that call based on what best serves Mountain State residents and what is the best use of their tax dollars.
"I believe that God always shows up. I believe in my life that what we all … should be doing is making things better," Justice said. "You can do so much for this great state, it's unbelievable."
It's true, lawmakers can do it, if they get their priorities in order, and if they decide not to go back to the kick-the-financial-can-down-the-road mentality they vowed to eradicate.
Will that look like Justice's grand vision? We'll find out over the next eight weeks.