West Virginia’s Justice proposes pay raises, tax credits in state of the state address

(The Center Square) – West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice delivered his state of the state address on Thursday night, in which he called for pay increases for government workers, tax credits and other policies this year.

The Jan. 27 state of the state address was about two weeks later than initially planned because the governor was recovering from COVID-19.

“Whether there were times I was 15 minutes late or 20 minutes late or sometimes even later than that, I never really have been 15 days late,” Justice said in his speech in front of both chambers of the legislature and the state Supreme Court. “But I can tell you that I am extremely grateful that you are allowing me to come late.”

Justice said he intends to provide the state with a flat budget. Although the budget will include some spending increases, such as pay raises, he said the funding can be completely covered by the state’s surplus and it will not require dipping into the rainy day fund.

“We absolutely do not have any reason to grow government,” Justice said. “We absolutely need to watch the store every single day. You will absolutely see a flat budget, with some minor, minor increases for pay raises or whatever it may be, but we can cover that with our surplus.”

The governor is proposing a 5% pay raise for all state employees. This includes service personnel and teachers. He said one reason he supports a pay increase is to offset the impact of inhalation, for which he partially blamed President Joe Biden.

Justice also made some proposals for the state’s education system. He supports fully funding college classes taken by high schoolers and legislation that would make computer programming and coding classes mandatory for middle school and high school. He also supports a bill to add penalties for teachers who abuse children.

The governor is also proposing a tax credit to incentivize builders to construct homes. He also said he supports constructing a new state-of-the-art lab, which will put a public health, a law enforcement and an agriculture lab under one roof.

Additionally, Justice said he intends to further streamline government agencies. He will support bills that streamline the Department of Art, Culture and History, the Department of Health and Human Resources, the Department of Transportation and the Division of Correction.

The Republican governor will be working with Republican majorities in the Senate and the House of Delegates.

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