February 2nd, 2017 by WCBC Radio
Cuts in government services and tax revisions are on the agenda for the legislative session starting next week, according to the leader of West Virginia's House of Delegates.
Speaker Tim Armstead said Thursday that a budget deficit of up to $600 million next year is the big issue on everyone's minds. The two-month session starts Wednesday. No state program or agency, not even education or health, should be kept off-limits, he said.
Both Republican and Democratic legislators want government cuts, not tax increases, Armstead said. "We want to see a streamlined government. We want to see a right-sized government," he said.
Newly elected Gov. Jim Justice, a Democrat, has called the financial situation dire. His administration has already begun dropping vehicles from state agency fleets, ahead of the budget he'll propose next week for the fiscal year that begins in July.
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