MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In his second legislative session as Governor, and now backed by a different party affiliation, we’ll likely learn a little more about Governor Jim Justice, State Senator Bob Beach said on WAJR’s Morgantown AM.
“I don’t think the D, the R, or the I after his name really means anything to him,” said Beach. “He has, I don’t want to call it an agenda, but he has some things in mind that he believes will fix the state of West Virginia. And I think he’ll bring those things forward in his State of the State speech.”
It’s been about one year since he was sworn in as the 36th governor of West Virginia. In that time, the West Virginia economy has seen a slight rebound, the budget situation has become less dire, and voters offered definitive support for his road bond proposal.
“He’s one of those guys who likes to see things happen quickly, and he wants to see results quickly,” Beach said. “So that’s where it takes him sort of outside politics.”
And that makes it hard to predict exactly who Jim Justice will be in 2018, Beach said.
“He’s a unique guy,” Beach said. “He doesn’t play the political game. He does do a little bit of that grandstanding, as we’ve seen before with that bull manure and whatever else. But, he’s just a different kind of guy, and he can be at times very difficult to read.”
Already, Justice has shown in the early days of 2018 the same type of consistency in 2017 — he’s willing to go all over the political spectrum.
“You’re not going to pigeon-hole him as far as parties go,” Beach said. “Folks think he came in as a ‘D’ and now he’s an ‘R.’ That’s just not the guy. He’s just not that type of person.”
One item on this year’s agenda could include a proposed phase out of the business inventory tax, an idea that drew criticism from two of the Monongalia County Commissioners. Beach said he was concerned by the possibility as well. Supports have said the tax makes West Virginia less competitive with it’s neighbors, but Beach said the revenue has to come from somewhere.
“All we’re doing is just squeezing the balloon, and it’s inflating on one end and sinking down on the other,” Beach said. “We can keep doing that all day long, but somebody still has to come up with the money to support are school systems.”
Approximately 27 percent of the personal property taxes collected in West Virginia are distributed among the 55 counties in this state. Beach said every County Commission should be concerned.
Beach also said he’s interested in looking at bills that could help spur the growth of a hemp industry in West Virginia, including a possible multi-state regional compact. That could draw additional complications due to federal intervention.