Marion lawmakers have mixed reactions on Justice's State of the State proposals

Jan. 14—CHARLESTON — Lawmakers representing Marion County in Charleston have mixed opinions about Gov. Jim Justice's State of the State address.

Wednesday night, Justice opened the 2023 legislative session with his yearly address. He ran through a myriad of topics and policies he hopes will pass during the 60-day session.

The largest and most controversial proposal he presented was his plan to rework the state income tax system. In his speech, he said his plan will reduce income tax by 50 percent over the next three years.

The tax cut would be 30 percent the first year then in increments of 10 percent the next two years.

In addition to the income tax cut, he also proposed cutting the car tax, a 5% raise for all state employees, a $1,500 bonus for some retirees and putting $100 million into the Public Employees Insurance Agency, the health insurance provider for government employees and their families.

Marion County's five representatives are split across party lines, with three Republicans and two Democrats.

Del. Phil Mallow, R-75, Del. Mike DeVault, R-74, and Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-13, were each excited by the governor's proposals and think they will do good for the people of West Virginia and Marion County.

Mallow said that the details of the plans that come out in debate and discussion on the House floor will decide how the proposals pan out.

"There were many exciting comments from the Governor that will benefit not only the folks in Marion County but will also allow for important positive changes for all West Virginians," Mallow said in an email exchange with the Times West Virginian. "Anytime that you can reduce taxes, improve the educational system, give financial support to our hospitals and PEIA and develop a better design and makeup of the DHHR, it will be beneficial to all Mountaineers."

DeVault shared Mallow's sentiment.

"Gov. Justice touched on a lot of issues that need attention, not only for Marion County but for the entire state," DeVault said. "Some items are as easy as adding money to a particular problem, some items need some policy changes to correct."

Oliverio said the governor's speech was "a real whirlwind of items," but what stuck out to him were the improvements to PEIA, which has been in dire need of attention for several years.

Senate District 13, which Oliverio represents, covers much of both Marion County and Monongalia counties, two of the largest school districts in in the state, which employ thousands of West Virginians. Any policy that seeks to improve their lives and health is a priority for Oliverio.

"My district is home to the biggest percentage of public employees in West Virginia and also home to the highest number of hospital employees," Oliverio said. "If we can do something in government that ensures the health insurance to our employees that also ensures our hospitals get paid... that's a win-win."

On the other side of the aisle, Marion County's Democrats are wary of some of the ideas pitched by the governor.

Del. Joey Garcia, D-76, and Sen. Mike Caputo, D-13, both agree that most of the plans presented by the governor are necessary changes, their concern is that any tax cuts or spending should be done responsibly.

"The income tax reform is at the top of the governor's wish list, but we haven't seen any real plans for that yet," Caputo said. "My biggest fear is that it'll benefit the top wage earners and the bottom earners won't get much benefit."

Garcia had a similar takeaway from the governor's address.

"What I think we're going to see is a divide between the governor and the Senate Republicans and the House Republicans," Garcia said. "So we're going to have these battles over what gets passed while we all know what the problems are and we need to work together to provide a sane solution that solves those problems."

On the issues of PEIA and benefits for retirees, both Garcia and Caputo called it long overdue.

Just recently, one West Virginia hospital said it would no longer accept patients who were insured by PEIA because the system does not reimburse medical providers at the same rate as other health insurance plans. This issue will likely be addressed this session as well.

Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.