Deja vu

I give Gov. Jim Justice credit for pointing out that some promised remedies for West Virginia’s ills didn’t pan out. In a televised town hall meeting, he told the audience:

“Really and truly, let’s just be brutally honest. We passed the right-to-work law in West Virginia. And we ran to the windows looking to see all the people that were going to come — and they didn’t come. We got rid of prevailing wage. We changed our corporate taxes and we’ve done a lot of different things. And we’ve run to the windows and they haven’t come.

“We’ve absolutely built the field in a lot of different places thinking build the field and they’ll come, and they didn’t come.”

It’s hard to argue with that. The promised benefits of West Virginia’s 2007 tax cuts under the leadership of one party never happened. And the state has lost about 60,000 people, more than the population of its capital city, since the push for anti-worker legislation began in 2015 under the leadership of another party.

The governor promises that things will be different this time around, with his plan to drastically cut or phase out the state income tax. I’m sure he has the best of intentions, but, for some reason, I keep thinking about Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick, in the old Peanuts comic.

(In case that cultural reference is dated, it didn’t work out well for Charlie Brown.)

The state income tax provides more than 40% of revenue for the core state budget, to the tune of over $2 billion per year. Eliminating or drastically reducing it would involve shifting taxes to the least wealthy or eliminating state investments in people, infrastructure and health at all levels. Or, more likely, it will mean a bit of both.

West Virginia’s income tax is the only progressive tax in the state, meaning that those with more resources pay a somewhat higher rate. According to an analysis of the proposed legislation, 63% of the tax cuts will go to the top 15% of earners. Proposed rebates notwithstanding, overall taxes likely would go up on people in the lower 60%, who, by necessity, spend most of what they make on taxable goods and services.

Even if all the proposed new and/or increased taxes are enacted, it would still leave a budget gap of about $185 million. That means that more cuts to state programs and services would be required. And that’s assuming that the Legislature agrees to all aspects of the plan, which seems pretty iffy.

The plan includes an increase in the regressive consumer sales tax to 7.9%, increasing excise taxes on soft drinks, beer, wine, tobacco and such; taxes on “luxury goods;” and taxing some new services. All these are likely to arouse a great deal of opposition from retail and industry groups, which have a long history of getting pretty much whatever they want from compliant lawmakers.

We also can be sure of hearing a rousing round of protests from and about the economic impact on border counties, if West Virginians take their purchasing power elsewhere. About 30 counties are at or near the border of another state. More to the point, our colonial overlords extracting the state’s mineral wealth might not be happy about changes to severance taxes.

If these groups get their way, the revenue hole to be made up would be even deeper and the overall package probably would include even more budget cuts.

Proponents claim that any impact will be more than compensated for by the hordes of new people flooding into the state. However, as a saying variously attributed to Yogi Berra, Mark Twain and many others goes: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

I will venture to make one, however: If West Virginia’s leaders cut investments in the things that make a place worth living in — good schools, higher ed and job training, child care, parks and natural resources, public libraries, good roads, broadband, access to health care, support for the elderly — nothing will stop the bleeding of our youngest, best and brightest.

(This ran as an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.)

What could possibly go wrong?

 One of my favorite WV delegates likes to call the legislature a "bad idea factory." I think it's more like a bad idea giant industrial combine with a global supply chain this year. If I summarizing the session so far, it would be something like "burn it down and lock em up."

As if dismantling the state of West Virginia wasn't enough, a house committee wants to pass a resolution calling for an Article 5 constitutional convention. Supposedly, the proposed convention would be limited to enacting term limits to congress, which I think is itself a bad idea, but there's nothing that guarantees any limits on other changes if they open it up. I mean, what could possibly go wrong by rewriting the US Constitution?

Anyhow, there was an online public hearing about the measure last Friday. Several people who spoke in support of the measure were from out of state groups. Here's what I had to say:

I am speaking today in opposition to this measure.

I’m no engineer, but I know engineers frequently try to reduce friction in designing various types of machines. The framers of our constitution deliberately took the opposite approach: they created a system that basically guaranteed friction in terms of the separation of powers and various forms of check and balances to limit that damage that could be done in the heat of the moment without such safeguards.

They created a system that made major changes to the constitution possible but not necessarily easy. Twenty seven amendments have been enacted in 244 years, which amounts to an average of one amendment for every nine years of our existence as a nation.

This system has served us well through those years in good times and bad and has withstood many crises. It is for this reason I oppose efforts to amend it by means of an Article 5 constitutional convention. Proponents of such a measure may claim that the purpose of any such convention could be limited to dealing with a small number of issues. However, Article 5 itself poses no such limits once the process has begun. The risks of such a measure are incalculable.

Some have argued that such a measure would be desirable so that term limits could be enacted on congressional representatives. In fact, voters have it within their power to limit the terms of elected officials at every election cycle. Elected officials can limit their own terms at any time. 

Constitutionally limiting such terms would run counter to good government. The intricacies of congressional procedures and public policies can take a long time to learn. We all know that it takes a while to get good at anything.  Term limits would be a barrier to that knowledge, leaving it to unelected officials. If one is concerned about a deep state, this should be an object of concern. 

Would anyone want to serve in an army, a fire department or a hospital entirely staffed by fresh and inexperienced recruits?

Finally, research in game theory has shown that the incentives to cooperation increase with the possibility of future interaction, which is one reason why historically the US senate with its longer terms has been described as more collegial than the house. In a time of extreme polarization, we need to do all we can to promote rational debate and policy making in the interests of the nation at large.

The bad and the ugly (good being in short supply): a WV legislative update

As you may have noticed, the WV legislature is in session and the intent seems to be to burn everything down and lock everybody up. My comrade Lida Shepherd recently prepared an exhaustive update on criminal law legislation that is or may soon be in play. It's probably more than you want to know--we wish we didn't know it too! Oh, yeah and probably more bad stuff has been introduced since...and this is only the bad criminal law stuff. Some of the other stuff is as bad or worse. Enjoy!

Criminal Justice Reform Legislative Update  - current as of Friday, March 5th  

Here are the bills we have our eye on… 

Positive bills we support

HB2094.            Ensures restorative justice can be used in any juvenile case when all parties agree    PASSED HOUSE! 

 Needed action: Please contact Senate Judiciary members and ask they support HB 2094 to help advance restorative justice practices in West Virginia.  HB 2094 recognizes the positive impact restorative justice can have for our kids and our communities. And while a lot of work remains to increase capacity to implement these programs, this bill ensures that a restorative justice process will be an option in any juvenile case if all parties agree to participate. 

Read and share “You cannot be tougher on crime than preventing it in the first place- Delegate Graves hopes restorative justice can help offenders” – Gazette-Mail, Feb. 27

 HB2552.            Removes the one-time limit on the expungement of certain criminal convictions

HB2553.            Reinstates the juvenile justice reform oversight committee

HB2305.            Creates a tax credit for hiring people with certain qualifying criminal convictions

HB 2864             Restores voting rights for people on probation or parole

Needed action: More sponsors! 

Other positive bills yet to be introduced but be on the lookout for:

·       “Ban the box” on state job applications

·       Reentry bill to allow for 180 day early release to community supervision and enhanced funding for transitional housing and reentry services

·       Ending felony murder rule for juveniles 

Bills that are THUMBS DOWN

The following we oppose because they either enhance criminal penalties or shift cost burdens of incarceration,  instead of reducing our reliance on incarceration and extended punishment.   

HB2257.            Subjects people convicted of most drug felony crimes with up to 10 years of extended supervision – PASSED HOUSE

Needed action: Contact Senate Judiciary committee members and ask them to not consider HB 2257 

Talking points: I am asking you to please NOT take up HB 2257 in Senate Judiciary, a bill that is NOT smart on crime.  This bill would add up to 10 years of extended supervision for people with drug offenses after they complete underlying sentence, including any period of parole. Violation of the supervision would result in additional incarceration of up to 10 years. HB 2257 is NO JOBS AND HOPE: instead of creating pathways to employment, stable housing, and drug treatment, this bill would subject people to more supervision, strap them with additional fees, and make it more likely that they return to prison. All of this will drive up recidivism, put more strain on families, and cost West Virginia taxpayers more money.  

Read and share “Major Step Backwards for Criminal Justice Reform” – WV Gazette-Mail, March 2nd 

HB2017.            Rewrites the Criminal Code

Read and share WV Criminal Law Reform Coalition blog HB 2017, a massive sentencing rewrite, enhances penalty for over 200 felonies and why we strongly oppose this bill as introduced

HB 2747             Transfers parole board to the Office of Administrative hearings – To Veteran Affairs committee

HB2184.            Increases the penalties for exposure of governmental representatives to fentanyl or any other harmful drug – PASSED HOUSE

HB2253.            Creates new penalty for to forgery and other crimes concerning lottery tickets – PASSED HOUSE

HB2563.            Requires certain municipalities to pay for the incarceration of inmates - To Political Subdivisions then Finance

HB2379.            Makes criminal invasion of privacy a felony  - To the Judiciary

HB2310.            Relates to death penalty for first degree murder  - To the Judiciary then Finance

HB2377.            Apply death penalty for first degree murder of law enforcement officer or first responder - To the Judiciary

HB2273.            Dividing pretrial detention jail costs between arresting authorities - To the Judiciary then Finance

Please also check out WV Criminal Justice Reform Facebook page for news and updates. 

Thanks for your interest!