Recent editorials from West Virginia newspapers:
Jan. 10
News and Sentinel, Parkersburg, W.Va., on the need for opportunities for young people:
Just two states, Maine and West Virginia, lost population last year, the Census Bureau reports. And of those left in the Mountain State, a disproportionate percentage are older people.
Attractive career opportunities are few and far between in our state. That is why young people often roll up their high school diplomas or college degrees and go elsewhere.
Our population loss between 2012 and 2013 was not dramatic - only about 1,000 people - but it is part of a trend.
So is the aging of our state. Last year, 79.4 percent of West Virginians were 18 years of age or older, according to the Census Bureau. Only three states had higher percentages. And the state has a much higher proportion of residents 65 or older than most other states, at about 16.8. The national average is 13.7.
None of this is news. Again, it is part of a decades-long trend, and it is something thoughtful West Virginians have worried about for a long time.
Clearly, more needs to be done to keep young people from leaving our state. Government cannot do that, except to the extent that it uses low taxes and a minimal regulatory burden to make West Virginia attractive to businesses.
Some progress has been made in that regard during recent years. But the Census Bureau numbers show it has not been enough.
At the end of his state of the state address on Wednesday, Gov. Tomblin acknowledged the state’s population loss and called former West Virginia residents to ” … come home to take advantage of the growing opportunities that we are creating for you.” Lawmakers should ensure the state is creating those solid opportunities for young people to raise their families and build a life here.
Unless state officials can do better, the unpleasant - and unsustainable - trend will continue.
Online:
https://newsandsentinel.com
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Jan. 13
The Herald-Dispatch, Huntington, W.Va., on state budget cuts mounting, with the reserve fund as a suitable option:
Some West Virginia lawmakers disapprove of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s plan to use money from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to plug a deficit in the state government’s budget.
While their desire to keep the Rainy Day Fund healthy is understandable, it’s also clear rainy days are here in regard to the state’s budget situation. That means it may well be time to pull some money from that fund to meet the state’s constitutional requirement of a balanced budget.
Tomblin’s budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 totals $4.726 billion, or about $146 million more than expected revenues. To make up part of that gap, he’s proposing tapping into the Rainy Day Fund to the tune of about $84 million.
Using the fund to fill a budget deficit has not been done before, and some lawmakers are worried that it could set a poor precedent, paving the way for the fund to be raided again in the future and hurting the state’s credit rating and financial underpinnings.
The state has been channeling money into the Rainy Day Fund for years, to the point that it now has about $920 million. State officials have boasted about how West Virginia has one of the healthier reserve funds in the country.
Meanwhile, Tomblin has been ordering spending cuts, which are beginning to take a toll, particularly on Marshall University and other higher education institutions in the state.
For the current budget year, universities and colleges, as well as various state agencies, were hit with a 7.5 percent budget cut. Then, just last week, Tomblin ordered a combined $33 million more in cuts for the remainder of this budget year. That means state aid for Marshall will shrink by about $7 million altogether.
But there’s more: Tomblin’s budget plan calls for Marshall and other higher education institutions to expect a further reduction in state aid of 3.75 percent in the coming year. Marshall already has restructured and left positions vacant to absorb part of the reductions, but it still has raised tuition and fees, making the cost of an education higher. Just how much of the cost can be shifted to students and families?
Of course, there is more to the budget picture than colleges and universities. Other factors are at play, including whether the pay raises Tomblin is proposing for teachers, other school personnel and state employees are justified. Also, State Budget Director Mark McKown told lawmakers that he “would think there are still accounts out there with some excess money in them,” a comment that begs the question of why that “excess money” hasn’t been calculated, collected and tossed back into the budget. That should be done.
Another alternative is to raise taxes and/or fees, but that’s not likely to happen.
Borrowing from the Rainy Day Fund seems an obvious answer for the coming year. Officials expect the budget picture to improve within a couple of years, and meanwhile options for shoring up the state’s budget structure should be explored. Even with $84 million removed from it, the fund still will be healthy and the money can be restored during better times.
But for now, it’s time to stop the rain.
Online:
https://www.herald-dispatch.com
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Jan. 12
Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette on safeguards needed, post-spill:
If Freedom Industries had alerted everyone immediately about its massive chemical spill, West Virginia American Water might have closed its Elk River intake and prevented contamination of the public water supply across eight counties.
Or, if the utility had installed detectors to spot strange chemicals, they might have stopped the flow before it was too late.
Why weren’t better protections in place to shield 300,000 West Virginians from this calamity?
As environmental reporter Ken Ward Jr. noted Sunday, Freedom Industries had dutifully obeyed the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act by reporting chemicals stored at its Elk tank farm. But officialdom apparently paid little attention. After the spill occurred, state and local emergency officers said they knew almost nothing about the pollutant - even though it had been properly disclosed.
Washington pollution watchdog Fred Millar reminded Ward that the whole point of industrial disclosure laws is to make communities aware of hazards they face. “It’s just head-in-the-sand to be ignoring this type of threat,” Millar said.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said it’s obvious that Kanawha Valley emergency systems had done “not enough” to prepare for possible trouble from the decrepit plant.
Why didn’t Freedom Industries alert authorities, instead of waiting until neighbors complained about foul odors and called inspectors?
Why didn’t West Virginia American Water have detectors that could have spotted an intruder chemical and closed the intake?
As soon as this mess is over, legislators and other public leaders must find ways to impose better safeguards for the people.
Online:
https://www.wvgazette.com
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