Senate President Carmichael (R-Jackson) and House of Delegates Speaker Armstead (R-Kanawha) released their framework for the legislature’s budget bill today.
President Carmichael said the plan would be to spend no more that we have.
In their proposed framework there would be no tax increases and would limit the budget to $4.055 billion dollars as opposed to Governor Justice’s proposed $4.5-Billion-dollar spending limit.
President Carmichael said, “The people of West Virginia can’t afford to write that check. We must live within our means.”
Speaker Armstead said tax increases to boost the economy has been debunked and the legislature is committed to lessen spending.
President Carmichael then reiterated that he isn’t talking about cuts but rather sustaining what they already have. The framework that they are providing would contain government growth and reduce spending in that way.
President Carmichael said he would not support the governor’s proposed tax increases but he will support his tax reforms. One such reform would be the bill that would repeal the income tax and replace it with a consumption tax. This bill is currently in the Senate.
When questioned about how the cuts will effect agencies’ current operations President Carmichael said that any cuts will hurt how they currently operate. He wants to see them become more efficient and responsible with the funds they do have. He also said that he is willing to go into those off limits territories when it comes to cutting the budget.
Speaker Armstead said in regards to education, “When we talk about education cuts, we are not talking about cutting in to the classrooms. We are talking about cutting the education bureaucracy on a state level.”
When asked about the Governor’s reaction President Carmichael said, “James seems as though he will be cooperative and we as a legislature are willing to work with him. But all we can do is control our own behavior.”
President Carmichael commented on the state of budgeting practices and said, “We are announcing that we are planning on living within our means and its news.”
Although there is no proposed budget bill from the legislature yet, President Carmichael and Speaker Armstead are confident that the budget will be passed by day 60 of the legislature. They explained that the drafting of the actual budget bill won’t take long, it is knowing what they want in the bill that takes a while and since they are announcing the framework on day 34, the rest should fall in to place shortly.
