MORGANTOWN – Gov. Jim Justice topped a long list of State of the State legislative proposals with a 50% personal income tax cut.
Justice addressed a joint gathering of the House and Senate and other state officials in the House chamber Wednesday evening, the first day of the 2023 legislative session.
Justice called on the Legislature to aggressively look at cutting the personal income tax. “It is an opportunity right now that none of us could ever imagine.”
He talked about all of the state’s natural advantages. “Who in the world wants to move to South Dakota?” When it was recently cold here, it was even colder there. He coined the term “South Dakota-sicle.”
And he talked about his approach to change. “Don’t do it or make a big splash. So here comes me cannon-balling into the big pool.” Creating the West Virginia tsunami.
He proposed spreading the cut across three years: 30%, 10% and 10%. “People will come.”
Justice opened his speech with praise for the state’s progress. “There’s so much good going on in this state right now, it’s hard to get it all in.” And he joked about bringing Babydog onto the House floor last year so he could flash her hindquarters at naysayers. “Babydog says she’s really sorry she couldn’t make it tonight.”
He hinted at his possible U.S. Senate run, saying when his term as governor is over we might be seeing him in Washington.
In 2022, Justice said, 29 companies invested $6.19 billion in the state, creating 3,300 jobs and preserving 3,100 existing jobs.
He honored some of those companies by creating a new honor, the Business Knights of West Virginia. He hopes these knights will use their honor to help promote the state.
Along with his tax cut he listed his other proposals:
- For state retirees over 70 who worked for at least 25 years, a minimum $1,000 pension and a one-time bonus of $1,500.
- To help local hospitals that struggle with low PEIA reimbursements, a $40 million adjustment.
- A school aid formula increase of $37 million to put teacher aides in first-grade classrooms.
- To address hunger in West Virginia, $1 million to food banks. And to honor his late uncle, Posey Perry, who worked as a coal miner and upon retirement visited food banks every day, $10 million for the Posey Perry Emergency Food Bank Fund.
- Use $677 million in American Rescue Plan Act money in two ways: $500 million for the economic enhancement impact fund and $177 million to the state fund for water and sewer projects.
- Because schools should be responsible to students and parents, and not special interest groups, a bill to direct schools to make all curriculum available online for parents to see.
- A fourth 5% pay raise for state workers and $100 million for the PEIA fund.
- For the Hope Scholarship, allowing parents educational choice of private and home schools, $15 million.
- For higher education deferred maintenance, $75 million.
- Following the overturning of Roe v Wade and the passage of updated abortion law, $1 million to child pregnancy centers.
- Another $20 million for the Governor’s Nursing Workforce Expansion Initiative to train more nurses.
- Another $10 million to help struggling EMS services.
- A new Welcome Home fund of $500,000 to offer a $5,000 incentive for veterans to return to West Virginia. This would be a test run to see how it works and possibly expand it.
- To consolidate the three state laboratories – for agriculture, law enforcement and public health – under one roof in a new building, $250,000 across two years.
For some issues, he simply urged the Legislature to take action: locality pay for corrections officers, where some border counties have a 70% vacancy rate; DHHR legislation; incentives for people to become foster parents.
He closed, “For all of us, God bless this incredible state of West Virginia. It is so wonderful it is off the charts. And God bless this incredible country.”
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