CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kanawha County State Senator Richard Lindsay (D-08) says one of the biggest misses of the 2022 regular legislative session was work on inflation.
Lindsay, appearing on Tuesday’s 580-LIVE on 580-WCHS, said there is no piece of legislation that can solve inflation but there are ways to make it easier for West Virginians.
“There are ways we can soften that blow a bit. So that folks can hold on to more of their dollars in order to pay for bills, take care of their family, in order to achieve the American dream,” he said.
On March 10, the U.S. Labor Department reported inflation soared 7.9% over the past 12 months – the biggest spike since 1982. ABC News reported that the increase did not include the oil and gas price surge following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
According to AAA, gas prices in West Virginia on Thursday average $4.11 per gallon, up from $2.80 one year ago at this time.
Lindsay said there were two pieces of legislation himself and democrats proposed during the session that he believed helped with inflation. One included a ballot initiative for Nov. 2022, Senate Joint Resolution 13, that would have let people decide to raise the minimum wage from $8.25 to $10.25 with each additional raise hooked to the consumer price index.
Lindsay also mentioned the democrats introducing a sales tax cut from 6 percent initially to 4.75 percent.
“We did nothing to combat inflation. Nothing. Everyone talks about high energy prices, high water prices, high prices on consumer goods, and nothing was done to address that. At all. It was almost silent,” Lindsay said on 580-LIVE.
Another bill that Lindsay touched on during his appearance was the ‘Anti-Racism Act’, which missed a deadline for passage on the final day of the legislative session. The bill was sparked by the national conversation on critical race theory and brought hours-long debates to the House of Delegates and state Senate.
Lindsay called the bill a ‘bad bill’ because he said it would have kept teachers from teaching history and students from learning it, the ‘uncomfortable stuff.’
“Not uncomfortable because one person is better than the other but uncomfortable because some of our history is messy. I think what makes us an exceptional country, what separates us from countries like Russia is we embrace our history, warts and all, and we accept it for what it is,” Lindsay said.