Day One: The Current Disposition of West Virginia, according to Gov. Jim Justice
The governor is certain to give us all something to talk about with tonight's State of the State address
Good morning and welcome back to 60 days.
It’s Wednesday, January 11th — the first day of the West Virginia Legislature’s regular session, the starting line to what Dave called a “marathon” in Monday’s missive.
The start of the race means the grand experiment that is 60 Days will hit your inbox each weekday morning from now until the session ends in March.
That’s the plan, anyway. We’re counting on you to keep us motivated to stick to it. It’s going to take a lot of coffee!
The main event is Governor Justice’s State of the State address this evening.
According to the state constitution, “The governor shall at the commencement of each session, give to the Legislature information by message, of the condition of the state, and shall recommend such measures as he shall deem expedient.”
Governor Justice has not been shy about his desire for a tax cut. In a preview of his speech last week, Justice said he’ll announce the largest tax cut in state history. He’s been touting a huge budget surplus to justify it.
But is cutting taxes really a good idea? The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy doesn’t think so. The watchdog group is urging state lawmakers to be cautious, saying the surplus is largely a mirage. The WVCBP posted a Twitter thread late last week, based on a blog post by top analyst Sean O’Leary.
At any rate, the West Virginia House and Senate will gavel themselves into session at noon and then it’s downhill from there for the next two months.
There might be some booze floating around ahead of the Governor’s speech this evening — but who could blame anyone for indulging? With so many people squeezed into the House chamber, I’d probably want a little fortification, too.
Our friends at West Virginia Public Broadcasting will air the speech live at 7pm on both radio and television. You can probably find it elsewhere as well.
By the way, Dave and I are going to try doing a live Substack thread as the Governor delivers his remarks this evening. Think of it as live tweeting but, in this case, only with 60 Days subscribers.
Expect an email from us shortly before the speech gets underway. We welcome your comments as the speech progresses.
We’ll try not to fumble it.
While putting together this newsletter, I ran across this tweet last night about Secretary of State Mac Warner’s announcement that he’s entering the race for governor.
Bon Jovi references aside, Warner became the state’s chief elections officer after defeating Natalie Tennant in 2016. He’s a military veteran and points often to his time in uniform.
Following the 2020 election, Warner assured West Virginians the voting protocols he oversaw in the state were secure. But he did go on to back a lawsuit challenging election results in four swing states — and he attended a “Stop the Steal” rally on the West Virginia capitol grounds just ahead of the January 6th riot in Washington, D.C.
Given all this early interest in the race for governor, we’re guessing the announcements aren’t quite over yet.
This year’s legislative information packet is now available. It includes pics of lawmakers, their phone numbers at the state capitol in Charleston, district maps and more. We downloaded it from the legislature’s website, so you won’t have to go looking for it. This is the sort of thing we do for our subscribers.
Got something you think we should know about and want to see here?
A press conference?
Or some other event that’s focused on the legislative session?
Again, we’re not going to be on the ground in Charleston, so we don’t want to make any coverage promises we can’t keep. But where appropriate, we can help get the word out.
Hit the comment button and tell us what’s catching your eye.
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Good job