CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A proposed increase of the state tobacco tax and the funding of PEIA was the main concern of local leaders following Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s State of the State address Wednesday night.
Tomblin’s proposal included a 45 cent raise of the cigarette tax. State Sen. Corey Palumbo (D-Kanawha) didn’t think it was enough.
“I’m someone who would support a larger increase than 45 cents,” Palumbo said. “Although his proposal may be to phase it in, and it might be a larger increase over time, which is probably okay.”
Delegate Mike Pushkin (D-Kanawha), was in favor of a raise as long as it was sure to bail the PEIA out of a $120 million budget shortfall.
“I would like to see the numbers that show that (the raise) would be able to adequately fund PEIA,” said Pushkin. “A lot of us think we might need to put a little bit more on there. The important thing is we have to fund PEIA.”
Pushkin thought that the Mountain State’s drug epidemic was an area that common ground could be found on both sides of the aisle in the Legislative Session.
“Combating the addiction in this state is one issue that both sides of the aisle can and will work together on,” he said. “I’m very hopeful to hear the governor recognizes that some of the medically assisted treatments are actually contributing to the problem. When he mentioned licensing of suboxone prescribers and methadone clinics, that’s definitely something we need to look into.”
Tomblin disapproved of the ongoing debate over Common Core in his speech.
“Over the past year, the delivery of public education in West Virginia has been used as a political football by members of both parties,” he said in the address. “It’s disappointing. It’s unacceptable. And it’s a disservice to our kids.”
Delegate Michel Moffatt (R-Putnam), a vocal opponent of Common Core, made it clear again he wanted to see Common Core repealed this session.
“I disagree with the governor. It’s not a political football. We must do what’s right for our children and we must end Common Core,” Moffatt said. “The data collection, the testing, the teaching of the test; we need our teachers to do less paperwork and more teaching.”
Moffatt was also not necessarily in favor of raising any tax.
“I was surprised to hear about the tobacco tax. I’m not sure there’s an appetite for tax increases,” he said. “We keep hearing from all the experts about how tax increases are bad for the economy. Maybe a sin tax like this is a good thing in some areas. We have to look at the entire budget and see how it goes.”