CHARLESTON, WV - Today, Governor Jim Justice announced that he is pushing for a bill to fulfill a campaign promise to limit lawmaker pay to a total of five work days for any special session dealing with the budget. Last year, the West Virginia Legislature spent $ 35,000 a day on special session and now Governor Justice wants to be responsible and cap the extra pay that members of the House and Senate receive for a special session.
"Our lawmakers wasted $600,000 last year because they couldn't come together to pass a budget on time," said Governor Justice. "We've got to be more responsible than that. If it takes the Legislature umpteen weeks to pass a budget they won't get paid beyond five days under my plan. The people of West Virginia expect action to fix the budget crisis, and the pay cap will ensure we aren't wasting time and money to do the job we were all elected to do."
All members of the House and Senate get an extra $150.00 per day for regular, extended or special sessions. This bill means that the most a member of the Legislature can make would be $750 for a special session on the budget. |