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A guide to belt-tightening in Charleston

What if West Virginia state government could get by with less than Gov. Jim Justice wants legislators to give him?

It can. We don’t need the $400 million to $450 million in tax increases the governor is seeking.

Suggesting that government spend less is a sure-fire way to elicit this response from public officials: “Oh, yeah? Well, if you’re so smart, you tell me where to cut!”

OK.

Justice is proposing nearly $4.8 billion in spending from the general revenue, lottery and excess lottery funds next year. That’s nearly $200 million more than was budgeted for those funds during the current fiscal year. Given the midyear spending cuts ordered by former Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, it’s around $235 million more than we’ll actually spend.

Slicing that much from Justice’s proposals would get us back to current spending levels.

Here goes:

* First on the chopping block has to be Justice’s request for a $105 million “Save Our State” fund he could use for economic development and infrastructure projects.

* Next, the Infrastructure Transfer Fund was budgeted for $26 million this year. Justice wants $46 million. Take $20 million off his request.

* This year’s appropriation for the Teachers Retirement System is $320 million. Because its investments aren’t doing well, Justice wants $388 million next year.

We’ve done well for several years in reducing the TRS unfunded liability. Take off half, or $34 million, of the increase being sought.

* Ditto for the State Police retirement fund, to reduce the governor’s request by about $4 million.

* Stop paying those involved in the greyhound racing industry to breed dogs, for a savings of $2 million.

* This year’s budget includes $957,000 for statewide emergency medical services program support. Justice wants nearly $2.3 million next year. Unless someone can provide a good reason not to, cut $1 million from his request.

* Community and technical colleges got $5 million for capital improvements this year, and the governor wants the same next year. Put off some of the work and save $2 million.

That’s $168 million in cuts from the governor’s proposal, based on a cursory reading of budget documents.

There’s more.

As you may have noticed, there was great wailing and gnashing of teeth earlier this year, when Tomblin ordered those midyear spending cuts. They were needed because income for the $4.187 billion general revenue budget was running short.

So, how much spending was actually eliminated? Just $34.8 million, according to Justice’s budget report to legislators. That’s less than 1 percent of what state officials had planned to spend.

Several other actions were taken to make up for the shortfall. They included $25 million in “Workers’ Comp Redirect,” $25 million from a one-time reduction in Medicaid spending, and $5 million taken from a reserve used to pay state income tax refunds.

Justice wants to take $123 million from the emergency Rainy Day Fund to make up the rest of the deficit for this fiscal year.

Here’s what some West Virginians may wonder about those numbers:

* First, why not make the Medicaid reduction a two-year thing, to save $25 million next year?

* Second, given that many Mountain State households have had to trim household budgets by more than 1 percent, why can’t the bureaucracy reduce spending more? Even a 1 percent real cut in Justice’s budget proposal would save nearly $50 million. Add ’em up, and the savings outlined above come to $243 million. It’s a start.

Now, as the governor might say, I realize my numbers are based on an uneducated look at the budget numbers. I’m prepared to hear the “you just don’t understand” reactions from Charleston.

But here’s something I do understand: West Virginians are sick and tired of being told we have to tighten our own belts even as government grows bigger.

Mike Myer can be reached at mmyer@theintelligencer.net.

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