For the first time in state history, a chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court presented the court’s budget proposal to a Senate Finance Committee that now has authority to reduce that budget request.
In presenting the court’s $131.15 million budget proposal for 2019-20, Chief Justice Beth Walker on Tuesday pledged a new era of transparency and cooperation with the Legislature, following a tumultuous year that saw two justices convicted in federal court, and four justices impeached by the House of Delegates.
“There are five justices now on the Supreme Court of Appeals who are working as a team,†she told committee members. “We’re dedicated to working with you, working to regain your trust, working to regain the public’s trust.â€
The Supreme Court budget hearing was the first since voters overwhelmingly approved the Judicial Budget Oversight Amendment to the state constitution, giving the Legislature authority to set the court’s budget. Previously, the Legislature was prohibited from reducing whatever budget request the court submitted.
Attending the hearing were Justices Tim Armstead and Evan Jenkins, elected in special elections last fall, and Justice John Hutchinson, appointed to the court last month.
The justice who made the budget presentation a year ago, Allen Loughry, has resigned and is awaiting sentencing in federal court after being convicted on 10 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud and making false statements to federal investigators.
The budget proposal Walker presented Tuesday is $8.6 million less than the court’s current budget, even with a $3 million increase in the personal services line item to cover the governor’s proposed $2,160 pay increase for state employees.
Walker said the proposed 2019-20 budget request does not include funding for any planned legislation — including Gov. Jim Justice’s proposal to create an intermediate appeals court.
Justice’s budget cuts the court’s funding by $3.6 million, to $136.15 million, by including $5 million to fund the creation of the intermediate appeals court.
Walker said the court is not taking a position on the issue, although, last week, she told a legislative interim committee that, excluding Workers’ Compensation appeals, the court’s caseload has remained steady at about 1,100 cases a year for many years.
“I will invite the Legislature to use that data,†she said when asked if the steady caseload contradicts the need for an intermediate court.
Tuesday’s hearing on the Supreme Court’s budget seemingly went off on a tangent at one point, with senators raising questions about $245 in purchases from Victoria’s Secret, billed to court-assigned state Purchasing Cards. That included a $64.95 purchase posted by the Auditor’s Office on Jan. 2.
Walker said the purchases are part of a Juvenile Drug Courts incentive program. She said each Juvenile Drug Court is authorized to spend $1,000 a year to purchase gifts to celebrate sobriety milestones or, as was the case of the most recent purchase, graduation from drug court.
“It is not a violation of our P-Card policy or the auditor’s P-Card policy,†Walker said. “It is a purchase out of the line-item for Drug Court incentives.â€
The initial purchases were for gift cards, a practice Walker said the court stopped last summer after a legislative audit raised concern about verifying that the cards were actually awarded as incentives.
Senate Finance Chairman Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, questioned whether the drug courts had approached local businesses about donating gifts for the incentive program.
Blair said his No. 1 priority this legislative session will be to again pass the budget bill before the end of the 60-day regular session. His No. 2 priority will be to analyze the Supreme Court budget “line-by-line.â€
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