CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia University administrators are applauding the governor’s state budget veto.
Nobody is more pleased than President Dr. Gordon Gee.
“I think it was risk not to veto it. I believe strongly that our governor has said precisely we need to invest in the state,” Gee said from inside the Capitol shortly after Governor Jim Justice referred to a Republican-led $4.1 billion proposal as “bullcrap”.
The House and Senate budget plan included no tax increases and $110 million in cuts.
“People say we don’t want to raise taxes. Well, you know, if you’re a university president and either they raise a little bit of tax or I raise tuition which is a tax on every parent and every student in the state,” Gee repeated. It is a message he’s pushed loudly as the legislative session headed into the final weeks without an apparent spending plan agreement.
Of the $110 million in cuts included in the budget that was vetoed by Justice, WVU would lose approximately $15.5 million in state funding.
Gee said the most recent threat to state backing is too much to bear.
“We have taken $30 million out because of state reductions and another $45 million we’ve taken out ourselves in order to right-size ourselves,” Gee calculated. “But, at some point you can no longer do that and deliver quality.”
A financial plan by Governor Justice would have cut the WVU budget by less than half of the $15.5 million included in the budget that was vetoed Thursday afternoon. Gee continued to push for legislative backing of that proposal.
“He has a vision. He has a plan. Unless someone comes up with a better vision or better plan, then let’s follow his lead.”