MORGANTOWN — “My gut tells me that if we don’t watch out in West Virginia, we’re going to get in real trouble,”
Gov. Jim Justice said as much on Thursday in remarks largely focused on a looming decision over a mandatory mask order that could come early next week.
Justice explained that one need only look at the explosion of cases around the country — including a record 50,000 new positive cases nationwide on Wednesday — to see reason for concern.
He pointed to states like Texas, Arizona and Florida — which contributed more than 10,000 new positive cases on Wednesday alone — as portents of what very well may be coming.
“I don’t want to be the person trying to rescue us once the flood’s already got us in the middle of the river. I want to make sure we get on high ground before it ever comes,” Justice said.
He explained that such an order would be difficult to enforce.
He also acknowledged that masks have become somewhat of a political issue, explaining, “I’m going to make the decision that is the best decision Jim Justice can make. Not the decision that’s the best political decision. Not the decision that is a part decision.”
“This is some level of inconvenience if we have to do this. I get it. I get it. But I’m not going to apologize for that because really and truly, all I’m trying to do is help you,” Justice said. “So if we have to do that, that’s what we’re going to do.”
The remarks came a day after Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom asked the governor to mandate masks or at least allow county commissions to work with their respective health departments to make their own determinations.
He pointed to the looming return of WVU students as well as recent positive cases where hundreds of people were exposed in a gym and downtown bars as reasoning.
“We just need to get mandated masks in the businesses and start moving forward before the students come back,” Bloom said, pointing to the slow but steady rise of positive cases in Monongalia County, now at 161.
Commission President Ed Hawkins agreed.
“If you don’t want to make is statewide, give the county the ability to say yes or no,” Hawkins said. “Put the onus on us. Put it on the commission. We’ll have a vote on it.”
Also on Thursday, Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy explained the unusual circumstances through which roughly $1.3 million moved out of the state’s coffers between Tuesday night — the last night of the fiscal year — and Wednesday morning.
He said $3.8 million in income taxes came in on Tuesday, but $1.3 million of that was income tax withholding from state employees’ July 2 paychecks, which meant that money got bumped over into the 2021 fiscal year.
“It is very unusual to have a pay cycle straddle the close of a fiscal year, but that’s exactly what happened and we learned from it,” Hardy said.
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