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West Virginia Trying To Balance Budget Costs
By: Associated Press
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The House of Delegates and Senate are at odds on how best to balance West Virginia's budget.
Senate propositions to raise sales and cigarette taxes were dismissed by the House in a closed meeting Thursday.
Senate President Jeff Kessler said without bills to increase revenue, the Legislature will have to make more budget cuts or dip further into the state's "rainy day" fund.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's 2015 executive budget already proposed using around $84 million of the nearly $1 billion fund. Kessler said without generating more revenue through taxes as much as 25 percent of the fund could be needed to balance the budget.
House Speaker Tim Miley said the hesitance for House Democrats to increase taxes has a lot to do with 2014 being an election year.