Please find my disclosures here.

Welcome back to PITying the Rich. Over the past few days, I have taken you through income tax basics and the possible consequences of its elimination for West Virginia. In this final (and short!) installation, I discuss . . . 

My Own Ideas

On both the taxing and spending fronts, there are many things that West Virginia could change that may be better suited for the legislatures’ policy objectives of economic development, population increase, and overall growth. Right off the cuff, here are some changes I think we could implement. (This is a very basic list, but I am happy to go into more depth with these in later articles if the demand is there).

• Implement a flat income and capital gains tax rate of 3.5%. This would make us increasingly competitive with our surrounding states (only Pennsylvania has a lower flat state income tax of 3.07%) while keeping a steady stream of revenue and proportionally taxing all income levels the same.

• Modify the Promise Scholarship to make community college tuition paid for for the first two years, with guaranteed admission to in-state higher education institutions if certain benchmarks are met. This (1) would likely reduce some spending because community colleges are inherently cheaper, (2) would encourage students to stay closer to home to save money for the first two years, and (3) would allow students time to figure out what interests them before spending money on a more expensive degree from a more established program.

• Eliminate the Sunday morning alcohol rule and raise the tax on liquor sales by 1%. Brunch is as sacred as a church pew to youngins these days. This rule is antiquated, and its elimination is a no brainer.

• LEGALIZE RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA. Every single state that has done this has been able to regulate and tax it. Economies have boomed, tourism has flourished, populations have grown, people are more content. Keep an eye out for an article coming soon where Johnny McFadden (another Mountaineer Media blogger) and I outline what this system could look like for West Virginia.

• Broader marketing and advertising of federal tax incentives and additional piggybacking. The federal New Market Tax Credit, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, Historic Tax Credit, and Opportunity Zones provisions are all areas that West Virginia could “piggyback” off of, creating further state tax incentives for investors that want to take advantage of these provisions at the federal level. An example of such an idea was floated by Delegate Higginbotham a few years ago when the Opportunity Zone legislation first became effective, when he introduced state legislation that would permanently eliminate state capital gain taxation for capital gains invested in West Virginia’s Opportunity Zones. Unfortunately for us that didn’t gain traction.

• Cut and/or redirect spending. I realize that Big Jim isn’t the type to be fiscally responsible, considering West Virginia received $1.25 billion under the CARES Act and still has $688 million left to spend. But, if he were the type, these are some of the epiphanies he could have: Perhaps public officials don’t need enough money that enables them to spend $32,000 on an ugly, luxury couch. Perhaps the Department of Corrections doesn’t need $238 million and West Virginia can instead transition to ticket-based punishments for non-violent and petty drug offenses instead of incarceration. Perhaps the Department of Commerce doesn’t need $21,000 of Community Block Grant Funds to spend on a lavish retreat instead of helping flood victims. Perhaps all of those excess expenditures could be directed toward more fruitful things (like broadband).

Conclusion

Thank you for making it to the end of PITying the Rich. I hope it made you chortle while offering some useful tidbits to use at your next family gathering. A final word and meme.

We all want Jim’s Dream:

But to accomplish that dream, we need a properly funded government with reasonable and realistic spending plans that works for all of us. Or we could end up with this reality: