Gov. Jim Justice described the special legislative session as “unbelievably successful” during his administrative briefing on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Screenshot from Gov. Jim Justice’s briefing)
Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday took a victory lap, celebrating what he described as an “unbelievably successful” special session and lamenting those who he said claimed he did not have a plan to see his bills — namely a tax cut — passed.
The largest success for Justice, he told reporters on the weekly briefing, was the passage of a bill to cut the state’s personal income tax by an additional 2%. Justice initially requested to see the tax cut come in at 5%, but earlier this week amended the call down to 2% as a compromise with legislators who worried about the impacts on the state’s long term financial health.
The passed tax cut will amount to about 40 cents more a paycheck for the average West Virginian.
“It’s not going to put all the money in the world in people’s pockets, is it? That’s never been the reason why,” Justice said. “I’d like to have done more, but at the same time, am I tickled to death? 100% tickled to death. You said you couldn’t be done. You said you’ll never get it done. I’ve heard it over and over and over … It’s done.”
Justice said he still believed that a 5% tax cut would have been more than possible to achieve, saying “there’s no big deal there.”
“The difference between five and two is surely not significant,” he continued.
The most significant part of the tax cut, he said, will be the “multiplier effect” and the money it puts back into the economy. The total tax cut amounts to about $46 million, which will mean a reduction of that amount in the state’s revenue collections as it is implemented. Justice said he believes that cut will put about $460 million into the state’s economy.
“Is [a 2% tax cut] the absolute biggest thing? Nope,” Justice said, before continuing to say that the efforts to cut multiple taxes — and specifically the personal income tax — will bring more people and businesses to the state of West Virginia.
The road to achieving the 2% tax cut was not straightforward. Since Justice first proposed the 5% additional personal income tax cut earlier this year, concerns have been raised about the lack of long term economic forecasting in the state and continued decreases to the state’s revenue collections.
The tax cut will also take effect before the long term impacts of other, previously passed tax cuts are realized, which seemed to make financial leaders in the state cautious over the implementation.
They spent weeks asking the governor’s office for more details on the state’s budget needs and potential revenue decreases. It does not appear those answers ever came publicly, though lawmakers apparently found — in addition to funds from paying off a revenue bond — about $25 million that could be cut from somewhere within the state’s health agencies to cover the incoming revenue drop. Details on where exactly those cuts will come from have yet to be shared.
Justice insisted that, despite these challenges and remaining questions, there was a plan all along to complete the tax cut as well as other pieces of legislation, including a long-needed child care tax credit to offset costs for families.
“Well, we had a plan. We had a plan all along. And we’ve been working through the summer and everything and on and on and on with the legislature in every way,” Justice said.
Overall, 37 bills were passed during the special session, which initially started on Sept. 29 before lawmakers recessed for a week and returned to the Capitol on Monday. Passed bills, in addition to those mentioned above, included several surplus appropriations, a bill to enter the state into an agreement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a bill allowing charter schools in the state to request funding from the School Building Authority, among other things.
Even while they passed, some lawmakers were critical of the move to put non-emergency items — like the nuclear agreement — on the special session call, saying they could have waited for the regular session where the items could have been properly vetted over more time.
Justice, however, said that’s just how he does business.
“I’m a different animal. That’s all there is to it. We have different styles,” Justice said. “… It may be different than the way a past governor would have done something, but remember, the past governor was celebrating and cutting a ribbon at a Taco Bell. Well, I don’t want to cut a ribbon at a Taco Bell. I want to cut a ribbon at a Nucor company, or Berkshire Hathaway … whatever it may be.”
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