West Virginia lawmakers OK bills on income tax cut and child care tax credit
Bills aimed to reduce West Virginians’ income tax burden are headed to the desk of Gov. Jim Justice
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Bills aimed to reduce West Virginians’ income tax burden are headed to the desk of Gov. Jim Justice.
One would reduce the state personal income tax by 2%. Another would provide a tax credit to help families pay for child care. The Republican governor is expected to sign both proposals, after they passed final legislative hurdles Tuesday during a special legislative session called by Justice.
Cuts to the state personal income tax have been a priority for Justice, who is nearing the end of his second term as governor and running for the U.S. Senate. He signed a 21.25% tax cut into effect last year, and the tax is scheduled to drop by another 4% in the new year, per a trigger in the 2023 law that allows for further tax cuts if the state meets higher-than-anticipated revenue collections.
Justice had initially been pushing the Legislature to consider cutting the tax a further 5% but amended that proposal to a more conservative 2% cut Monday.
A 2% cut in personal income tax rates would take effect on the first day of the new year and return approximately $46 million to taxpayers. Del. Vernon Criss, the House Finance Committee chair, said he would have preferred a 5% tax cut, but an agreement couldn't be made with the Senate to support that.
«I still think we are moving in the right direction,» he said. «That’s what we all want.»
The money to pay for the tax cut is coming from an expiring revenue bond and $27 million in savings the Justice administration said came from dissolving the former Department of Health and Human Resources into three new state agencies earlier this year.
Several Democrats spoke
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