CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WVVA) – With time winding down for budget negotiations, W.Va.’s Hope Scholarship sparked debate over fiscal responsibility on the House floor.
Delegates in opposition to the funding voiced concern over the program’s already-hefty price tag Thursday, which is only expected to grow. During debate, Del. John Williams (D-Monongalia) asked House Finance Chair Vernon Criss (R-Wood) “Is it safe to say that the pre-funding will be 3 times the size of what we’re appropriating today?” “It could be,” replied Criss.
“This is about fiscal responsibility, fiscal conservatism,” said Del. Dana Ferrell (R-Kanawha.) “We have to meet the needs of a lot of things in West Virginia and make sure they’re properly funded.”
On the other side, supporters of the funding argued they made a promise to West Virginia’s students that must be kept.
“It represents a priority that we established in law as a body just a few years ago,” said Del. Pat McGeehan (R-Hancock.) “A commitment to our students. Many of them rely on this commitment. It’s not about not being fiscally conservative, it’s about our obligations to the state and prioritizing those obligations in a fiscally conservative manner.”
But despite disagreement, Delegates Thursday passed two separate bills to fund the Hope Scholarship to the tune of around $62 million dollars. It’s a move Del. David Pritt (R-Fayette) vocally opposed on the house floor. A public school teacher himself, Pritt voted against the Hope Scholarship previously but said his recent opposition isn’t about school choice.
“I’m not willing to rehash fights that we lost. Those of us in Public Ed that were initially against hope, the Hope Scholarship, we fought that and we lost. and that’s just a fact. At this point it’s about a priority when it comes to an allocation of funds. You know, this line item is going to balloon every year,” said Del Pritt. “We have made other obligations to our state employees to fund PEIA, their health and life insurance, we’ve made obligations and promises to our Department of Corrections employees.”
The two bills passed Thursday, House Bill 3356 and House Bill 3357, are both headed to the State Senate for further approval.
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