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Editorial

Politicians’ vision for state’s financial future doesn’t fit the reality

Gov. Justice is beating the same income tax drum he banged on through most of the regular legislative session, and he’s drumming up even less enthusiasm this time around. In the latest iteration of his taxation fixation, Justice proposes to slash personal income taxes by up to 10%. This, even as legislators still have an eye on the personal property tax cut set to be on the ballot in November. Of course, how much you save depends on how much you make. So, like every proposed income tax cut, this one helps higher earners more than it helps lower earners. According to 2019 data ...

Court rightly stops Hope Scholarship

A week ago, Kanawha Circuit Court Judge Joanna Tabit ruled, correctly, the Hope Scholarship violates the West Virginia Constitution. Judge Tabit said, “The Hope Scholarship Program in my view undermines the free education system by requiring the Department of Education to take funds appropriated by the Legislature [for public education] and transferring them to the Hope Scholarship Fund, which is then tasked for dispersing funds for private education.” And that was one aspect — and arguably the strongest — of the argument made by the plaintiffs suing to stop the program: ...

Recall effort unnecessary

A group of “concerned citizens” are leading an effort to recall all seven members of Morgantown City Council. The effort — spearheaded by a man who twice ran for office, including city council, and twice lost — is based mostly on tensions between the city and firefighters and police officers. City of Morgantown Communications Director Andrew Stacy was kind enough to speak with a member of the editorial board to clarify a few things. It is the city manager’s job to set and implement pay structures for city employees. That said, the city’s total payroll is included in ...

The Supreme Court cripples the EPA

If the rest of the nation didn’t think highly of West Virginia before, they certainly won’t now.  Because, the Supreme Court sided with Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA now has limited power to, oh, you know, protect the environment. The specific question at hand was whether the EPA, under a specific provision of the Clean Air Act, could issue “significant” rules regarding the “best system for emissions reduction,” in this case by setting carbon dioxide limits in such a way as to encourage energy ...

Guns aren’t the problem? The data disagree

On Sunday, July 3, a gunman walked into a mall and opened fire. Armed with one rifle and one pistol, the 22-year-old killed three people and wounded (to varying degrees) 30 more. On Monday, July 4, a gunman climbed onto a rooftop and opened fire on a Fourth of July parade. Armed with a semiautomatic rifle (and another in the car), the 21-year-old unloaded two 30-round magazines and most of a third into the crowd below, firing roughly 83 bullets. He killed seven people and injured a couple dozen more. But that’s mostly where the similarities end. The first incident happened in ...

What will W.Va. decide on abortion?

When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, several states had trigger laws or old laws that immediately went into effect. Ohio is one of the former: A trigger law banning abortions at six weeks took effect within hours of the court’s ruling. Three days later, a pregnant 10-year-old girl walked into a clinic. She was six weeks and three days pregnant and could not legally obtain an abortion in the state of Ohio. She was referred to a clinic in Indiana. West Virginia is one of the latter: With the fall of Roe, a law from the mid-1800s again takes effect, or so says the attorney ...