EDIT 5/27/2016 2:59PM: At this time, the House has agreed on a budget. It now goes to the Senate, who reconvenes on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
Well, West Virginia, we are at another crossroads. Or roadblock, depending on how you see it.
Earlier in the year, I wrote about how my governor was planning on dropping the PROMISE scholarship, a scholarship that many West Virginian higher education seekers depend on to pay for college. That issue has reared its ugly head again, and on May 27, funding cuts almost passed the Senate and House which would effectively cut nearly all funding to certain schools.
As of writing, we are 35 days away from a government shutdown in the state of West Virginia. This means that, if no budget can be agreed upon in those 35 days, those five weeks, then West Virginia’s summer and even fall is uncertain. My mom will be without a job (either being furloughed or laid off, whichever they decide on) along with thousands of other state workers. This strikes a nerve with me because it seems as if the legislators are all but worried about what is happening. It seems like they don’t actually care about the wellbeing of their constituents and are only concerned with their own personal gain. When did politicians stop caring about what their people want and solely focus on their own personal gain?
Then again, why should they care? They’re getting paid for the special sessions and will probably still get paid if the budget does not get passed. Every day they spend sitting in the capital wastes a little over $35,000. At the time of writing, we are up to $315,000. Now, I’m fairly certain that money could have been put to better use, instead of making sure the Senate and/or the House could meet for an hour or two then dismiss for the weekend.
I guess you could say I am a volatile mix of mad and disappointed. On one hand, I don’t quite expect anything from my Legislature. For as long as I could remember, both the Democrats and Republicans (with Democrats being in control of the house for the past seventy or so years) have run amuck, and partisan bickering has turned our state into a shell of what it could be.
