Greenbrier East coach and U.S. Sen. Jim Justice poses with his pet Babydog before the Spartans' WVSSAC Class AAA girls basketball state tournament quarterfinal game against Sissonville on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Coliseum & Convention Center.
Greenbrier East coach and U.S. Sen. Jim Justice poses with his pet Babydog before the Spartans' WVSSAC Class AAA girls basketball state tournament quarterfinal game against Sissonville on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Coliseum & Convention Center.
When Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., voted with his Republican colleagues (including Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.) to take away more than $1 billion in funding for public broadcasting and another $8 billion in foreign aid, he issued a confusing statement.Â
"The days of wasting money with zero regard for the taxpayer are over," Justice said, as part of a longer statement about "putting Americans first."Â Â
For Justice, this is a pretty significant turn, at least in how he's viewed taxpayer dollars in the past. In his eight years as governor, he never seemed concerned about wasting taxpayer money by calling a ridiculous amount of legislative special sessions, usually to make up for his lack of attention to issues during the regular session. Sometimes, he called them just to try and push bills on which he had no consensus with the Legislature, even though he claimed he did. Those special sessions ended up being a colossal waste of time and taxpayer money.Â
He didn't seem to care about taxpayer dollars when he zoomed around the state to award prizes to people for getting vaccinated against COVID (prizes for which the administration, using taxpayer funds, might've massively overpaid, although the matter seems closed).Â
Justice commuted to the Capitol for eight years, failing to abide by the West Virginia Constitution (and a lawsuit agreement) that he live in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä. Was Justice personally footing the bill for his travel and security detail over that time?Â
Justice also has a history of tax problems, as it relates to his businesses and properties, along with problems paying legal settlements, fees, fines and employee benefits. The Greenbrier resort, owned by Justice, was headed for a courthouse auction last year until he was bailed out by a mysterious investment group connected to a company that is majority owned by the state bank of Abu Dhabi. That deliverance came as Justice was on the cusp of waltzing into the U.S. Senate.Â
The only thing Justice can say he's done for taxpayers is lowering the state income tax in bites that added up to more than 27% by the time he left office. Then again, the income tax is a progressive tax, so the cut benefits the wealthy, like Justice, more than the average West Virginian. The cuts also dealt a huge blow to state revenue, leaving a massive hole in the budget. That means state agencies that provide vital services to one of the poorest states in the country will continue to be understaffed and underfunded.Â
Bear in mind that Justice also seems to dislike public broadcasting. As governor, he tried to zero out the budget for West Virginia Public Broadcasting more than once. In 2022 WVPB, which was headed up at the time by Justice's former communications director, fired reporter Amelia Ferrell Knisely for her coverage exposing alleged abuse of people with disabilities within the state-run foster care system and psychiatric facilities. Although officials denied any connection, it was alleged that WVPB was being pressured, or even threatened, by Justice administration officials within the former Department of Health and Human Resources to drop its coverage of the issue.Â
Considering all of that, maybe this is more about settling scores for Justice, who can be very petty when he wants. Â
Regardless of motivation, it would seem the days of zero regard for the taxpayer are far from over, and West Virginia has Justice to thank for plenty of that.Â
