Senate Passes Bill to Divert Comp Fund Tax Revenues to Budget Shortfall

The West Virginia state Senate voted unanimously Thursday to approve a bill that will take $92 million in revenues from a tax on coal and natural gas producers that had been dedicated to paying off the debts of the state's workers' compensation fund to make up for a shortfall in the state's budget. Senate Bill 419, by Minority Leader Jeffrey V. Kessler, D-Marshall, will also discontinue the severance tax when the new fiscal year begins July 1. State lawmakers are diverting the funds because most of the liabilities of the Old Workers' Compensation Debt Fund have been paid o...