KINGWOOD — About two weeks ago, 18 or 19 Republican state senators met in caucus to discuss their legislative priorities in the upcoming session.
Sen. Dave Sypolt, R-Preston, 14, discussed those priorities – which were narrowed down from a 23-page book of items, at a legislative kickoff event hosted by the Preston County Chamber of Commerce last week.
But first, Sypolt discussed the state’s budget and how well it is doing. General revenue was roughly $270 million above estimates at the end of November and it’s likely the year will end with a $800 million or $900 million surplus, Sypolt said.
Personal income tax is $90 million above the estimate, coal severance is up $86 million, and sales and service taxes are up $80 million, he said. There has been talk in the House and Senate about using some of that surplus to reduce the personal income tax liability for individuals.
“And I think with the additional growth of our economy, this will be the fourth year, provided we succeed, of having another flat budget,” Sypolt said. “In other words, we haven’t spent any more money last year than we did three years prior.”
One item discussed in the caucus was a pay raise for elected county officials. To go with that raise, Sypolt said, is a plan to realign and the way counties are classified from 10 classes to five.
Paid family leave for public employees is also on the table for the upcoming session
“Quite a few people thought that was a good idea,” Sypolt said. “That it would set a good example and provide a more stable workplace for individuals who have families and have medical needs.”
Another topic of discussion at the caucus was civil asset forfeiture laws.
“If a person is pulled over for some reason — a traffic stop — and they’re found with a large sum of cash on them, that can be seized by the police officer even though they’re not charged with a crime,” Sypolt said. “And then it’s the responsibility of the person who lost that asset to prove that it wasn’t involved in some sort of a crime. Craziest law I’ve ever heard. … I understand that there’s quite a push nationwide to reform those laws, so that actually people are innocent till proven guilty.”
Making a law to only allow special questions – such as bonds and levies – on regular election ballots rather than having their own election days was also discussed, Sypolt said.
There was talk of changing unemployment benefits so they are indexed to the unemployment rate – meaning if unemployment is high, you can collect the full 26 weeks. And if it’s low and there are jobs available, it should be shortened to incentivize people to go to work, Sypolt said.
Other topics discussed include:
- Addressing the foster care system
- A rewrite of the Division of Natural Resources code
- Reducing oil, natural gas and goal tax from 5% to 3%
- Reducing counties jail bill burden
- Eliminating the equipment and inventory tax
Del. Terri Sypolt, R-Preston, 52, said she could have been in the same meeting, as the House discussed many of the same things in its caucus. While every senator and delegate has their own pet projects, such as saving Hopemont in her case, the point of a caucus is to focus on the items that will benefit residents of the entire state, rather than just in individual districts.
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