MORGANTOWN — About 30 senior citizens and concerned residents attended a town hall meeting on Thursday hosted by Delegate Rodney Pyles, D-Monongalia.
The session was at The Village at Heritage Point and focused primarily on topics relevant to seniors, including West Virginia’s inclusion on a list of 13 states that continue to tax Social Security benefits.
Pyles circulated a petition of support for a number of senior-focused pieces of legislation he intends to reintroduce in the coming session, including bills targeting the elimination of state income taxes on social security; protections for social security and Medicare; increases to the social security cost of living adjustment and increases to the social security death benefit.
According to Pyles, he’s optimistic that the exemption of Social Security from state income taxes could receive broad support. The key, he explained, will be finding revenue to replace those lost through such an exemption.
He pointed to a failed revenue package previously presented by Governor Jim Justice, which included things like taxes on sugary beverages and increased taxes on high earners as a good start.
“The main part of his revenue package died in the Senate on the last day. So we need to get the governor behind the revenue package that he presented last year. That will make up for the lost income from removing the tax on social security,” Pyles said.
Fleischauer agreed.
“I think there’s a chance this could happen this year, that both Republicans and Democrats agree that this is a good idea,” she said. “But somehow it’s going to have to be paid for.”
Along with Social Security, topics of discussion also included issues like the Public Employee Insurance Agency, or PEIA, and prescription costs.
