Blog Posts > The Legislature Gave, and the Governor Hath Taken Away
March 21, 2014

The Legislature Gave, and the Governor Hath Taken Away

Governor Tomblin exercised his line item veto power today, trimming over $64 million from the budget sent to him by the legislature earlier this week. While the legislature had restored many of the cuts to children and family support programs that were in the FY 2015 budget proposal, the governor vetoed that funding, keeping the cuts in place. The governor also cut funding increases for the state police and for the expansion of an in-home senior service Medicaid program. 

Governor Tomblin originally called for borrowing $83 million from the Rainy Day fund, and the legislature increased that amount to $147 million in order to fund Medicaid. The governor vetoed that increase, and the final FY 2015 budget will borrow $100 million from the Rainy Day Fund for Medicaid. According to the governor’s veto letter, there will be additional funds available to appropriate to Medicaid at a later date. If this happens, it means that the Governor is really only vetoing $17 million – not the $65 million that is being reported.

Here’s how that works. In the governor’s proposed budget, Governor Tomblin appropriated $376.3 million for Medicaid through the Medical Services line item (Fund 0403, Activity 189), while transferring $83.8 million from the Rainy Day Fund into the Medicaid Trust Fund. Together, these actions provided $460.1 million for Medicaid.

In the compromise budget reached between the House and the Senate, $147.6 million was transferred from the Rainy Day Fund into the Medicaid Trust Fund, an increase of $63.7 million over the governor’s proposal. But the compromise also reduced the General Revenue appropriation for Medicaid to $312.6 million, a decrease of $63.7 million. So, like in the governor’s proposal, the two actions together provided $460.1 million for Medicaid, but the legislature’s action freed up $63.7 million in General Revenue, which they used to restore some of the governor’s proposed cuts and increase various line items. 

But, the governor vetoed the $147.6 million transfer, reducing it to $100 million. But, the governor can not use the line item veto to increase an appropriation, so the General Revenue appropriation for Medicaid remains at $312.6 million, $63.7 million below the governor’s proposal. The governor could reduce the Rainy Day transfer, but he can’t reverse the Medicaid line item reduction that the Rainy Day transfer offset. 

Since the vetoed transfer from the Rainy Day fund didn’t actually reduce any base budget appropriations, the Governor’s vetoes only cut $16.9 million out of the base budget ($12.6 million in General Revenue and $4.3 million in Lottery). 

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The $16.9 million vetoed by the governor will presumably be funneled back into Medicaid (to help make up for the general revenue line item reduction). And the governor is counting on $26 million from the “haircut bill” to appropriate to Medicaid. However, these actions will still leave Medicaid about $5 million short of the $460 million it received from General Revenue and the Rainy Day transfer in the legislature’s enrolled budget, necessitating further budget maneuvers.

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The stated reason for the vetoes was to ensure that the Rainy Day Funds (Revenue Shortfall Reserve Fund A & B) did not drop below 15 percent of the budget over the next three fiscal years.  Currently, the Rainy Day Funds hold “$914 million in cash” or about 21 percent of the FY 2015 general revenue fund budget.

According to the Governor’s veto letter, the budget bill passed by the legislature would grow the base-budget thereby increasing future budget gaps that would require additional revenue from the Rainy Day Fund. The projected budget gap in FY 2016 is $126 million, $44 million in FY 2017, and $0 in FY 2018. Of course, the Governor’s assumption is that the legislature would dip into the Rainy Day Fund over the next three years to fill these gaps instead of raising revenue by increasing the tobacco tax or other taxes.

Below is a list of all of the governor’s vetoes for the FY 2015 budget. 

Agency/Department

Line Item

FY 2015 Enrolled

Final With Vetoes

Vetoed Amount

General Revenue

 

 

 

 

WV Development Office

Regional Contracting Assistance Center

$375,000

$208,215

$166,785

WV Development Office

Local Economic Development Assistance

$4,688,940

$1,850,000

$2,838,940

State Department of Education

Current Expenses

$2,797,390

$2,627,390

$170,000

State Department of Education

21st Century Innovation Zones

$466,144

$266,144

$200,000

State Department of Education

21st Century Learners

$2,187,598

$2,062,598

$125,000

Department of Education and the Arts

Educational Enhancements

$350,000

$200,000

$150,000

Division of Health – Central Office

Primary Care Centers – Mortgage Finance

$343,505

$229,003

$114,502

Division of Human Services

Family Resource Networks

$1,762,464

$1,612,000

$150,464

Division of Human Services

Domestic Violence Legal Services Fund

$400,000

$370,000

$30,000

Division of Human Services

In-Home Family Education

$1,000,000

$750,000

$250,000

Division of Human Services

Grants for Licensed Domestic Violence Programs and Statewide Prevention

$2,500,000

$2,142,100

$357,900

Division of Human Services

Children’s Trust Fund – Transfer

$300,000

$220,000

$80,000

Adjutant General – State Militia

Unclassified

$16,710,103

$15,524,044

$1,186,059

Division of Corrections – Correctional Units

Corrections Academy

$1,602,129

$1,502,129

$100,000

WV State Police

Personal Services

$59,075,965

$58,568,052

$507,913

WV State Police

Childrens Protection Act

$947,942

$935,819

$12,123

WV State Police

Current Expenses

$11,219,232

$10,397,784

$821,448

WV State Police

Vehicle Purchase

$2,403,790

$1,500,000

$903,790

WV State Police

Communications and Other Equipment

$1,338,968

$1,268,968

$70,000

WV State Police

Trooper Retirement Fund

$4,625,240

$4,586,341

$38,899

WV State Police

Handgun Administration Expense

$81,668

$80,420

$1,248

WV State Police

Capital Outlay and Maintenance

$314,425

$250,000

$64,425

WV State Police

Automated Fingerprint Identification system

$704,920

$671,994

$32,926

Division of Criminal Justice Services

Child Advocacy Centers

$1,702,466

$1,502,466

$200,000

Division of Criminal Justice Services

Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Commission

$150,000

$100,000

$50,000

Bureau of Senior Services

Transfer to DHS for Health Care and Title XIX Waiver for Senior Citizens

$19,457,690

$15,957,690

$3,500,000

Higher Education

West Virginia University – Parkersburg

$10,081,330

$9,858,752

$222,578

Higher Education

West Virginia Advance Workforce Development

$3,645,095

$3,445,095

$200,000

Higher Education

West Virginia University

$103,099,869

$102,999,869

$100,000

WV Development Office

Regional Contracting Assistance Center

$375,000

$208,215

$166,785

WV Development Office

Local Economic Development Assistance

$4,688,940

$1,850,000

$2,838,940

State Department of Education

Current Expenses

$2,797,390

$2,627,390

$170,000

State Department of Education

21st Century Innovation Zones

$466,144

$266,144

$200,000

State Department of Education

21st Century Learners

$2,187,598

$2,062,598

$125,000

Department of Education and the Arts

Educational Enhancements

$350,000

$200,000

$150,000

Division of Health – Central Office

Primary Care Centers – Mortgage Finance

$343,505

$229,003

$114,502

Division of Human Services

Family Resource Networks

$1,762,464

$1,612,000

$150,464

Division of Human Services

Domestic Violence Legal Services Fund

$400,000

$370,000

$30,000

Division of Human Services

In-Home Family Education

$1,000,000

$750,000

$250,000

Division of Human Services

Grants for Licensed Domestic Violence Programs and Statewide Prevention

$2,500,000

$2,142,100

$357,900

Division of Human Services

Children’s Trust Fund – Transfer

$300,000

$220,000

$80,000

Adjutant General – State Militia

Unclassified

$16,710,103

$15,524,044

$1,186,059

Division of Corrections – Correctional Units

Corrections Academy

$1,602,129

$1,502,129

$100,000

WV State Police

Personal Services

$59,075,965

$58,568,052

$507,913

WV State Police

Childrens Protection Act

$947,942

$935,819

$12,123

WV State Police

Current Expenses

$11,219,232

$10,397,784

$821,448

WV State Police

Vehicle Purchase

$2,403,790

$1,500,000

$903,790

WV State Police

Communications and Other Equipment

$1,338,968

$1,268,968

$70,000

WV State Police

Trooper Retirement Fund

$4,625,240

$4,586,341

$38,899

WV State Police

Handgun Administration Expense

$81,668

$80,420

$1,248

WV State Police

Capital Outlay and Maintenance

$314,425

$250,000

$64,425

WV State Police

Automated Fingerprint Identification system

$704,920

$671,994

$32,926

Division of Criminal Justice Services

Child Advocacy Centers

$1,702,466

$1,502,466

$200,000

Division of Criminal Justice Services

Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Commission

$150,000

$100,000

$50,000

Bureau of Senior Services

Transfer to DHS for Health Care and Title XIX Waiver for Senior Citizens

$19,457,690

$15,957,690

$3,500,000

Higher Education

West Virginia University – Parkersburg

$10,081,330

$9,858,752

$222,578

Higher Education

West Virginia Advance Workforce Development

$3,645,095

$3,445,095

$200,000

Higher Education

West Virginia University

$103,099,869

$102,999,869

$100,000

Other Revenue

 

 

 

 

Revenue Shortfall Reserve Fund

Medical Services Trust fund – transfer

$147,552,295

$100,000,000

$47,552,295

Lottery

 

 

 

 

State Department of Education

Current Expenses

$3,653,750

$1,269,375

$2,384,375

Library Commission -Lottery Education Fund

Libraries – Special Projects

$786,250

$0

$786,250

Bureau of Senior Services

Senior Citizen  Centers and Programs

$2,284,740

$1,284,750

$999,990

Bureau of Senior Services

In-Home Services and Nutrition for Senior Citizens

$4,420,941

$4,320,941

$100,000

Total

 

 

 

$64,467,910

 

 

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