Coronavirus

Manchin praises work on COVID relief bill, criticizes Justice

CHARLESTON -- U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Tuesday the state's share of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package would benefit West Virginia for years to come.

Manchin held a virtual briefing with media Tuesday afternoon to go over the specific details of the proposal presented by President Joe Biden and passed by the U.S. Senate on Saturday. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to approve the Senate changes to the bill in the next few days.

"It's bold, it's strong, it has a lot of different areas it covers, and we worked very hard on it," Manchin said.

The Biden plan includes $1,400 in direct payments to individuals making less than $75,000, a $3,000 child tax credit and makes it fully refundable, and extends enhanced unemployment benefits until Sept. 6 at $300 per week - a deal pushed for by Manchin after the House of Representative passed a $400-per-week extension through August.

Manchin was accused of holding up the bill by insisting on those changes to pandemic unemployment benefits. Manchin said his only goal was to make sure people receiving those benefits didn't have to pay taxes on those benefits later on.

"We've never, ever exempted taxes on unemployment benefits," Manchin said. "(The bill) took much longer … because it was the first time we heard about it. So, we finally came to a compromise, because unemployment benefits were going to run out."

The $1.9 trillion package also includes $350 billion in aid to state, county, and municipal governments. The funding can be used to offset losses in tax revenue attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns, though the bill includes provisions prohibiting states from using the funding for state pension plans as well as offsetting tax cuts.

West Virginia's share includes $1.25 billion for the state and $677 million in direct funding for county and municipal governments. That finding will be divided up and sent directly to local governments, with $176 million going to Community Development Block Grant cities, $153 million going to smaller cities and towns, and $348 million going to the state's 55 counties based on population.

State and local governments can use those funds for coronavirus-related expenses, as well as for water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure projects. The funding is good until 2024, when any remaining dollars would be clawed back by the federal government.

"This is something that's vitally needed throughout every little community and every larger city in West Virginia," Manchin said. "It's the first time that I know of in history that the federal government has sent money directly to a community or to a town, and said, 'you can use this for your most desperate projects you have.'"

Manchin said he saw remarks made by Gov. Jim Justice on Monday during his COVID-19 briefing blaming the Senator for putting in a provision into the bill prohibiting funds from being used to offset any proposed tax increases or reductions. House Bill 2027, Justice's personal income tax reduction and tax increase proposal, was introduced in the West Virginia Legislature on Tuesday.

"In this situation, (Manchin) has absolutely bent back double triple to hit at me for some reason," Justice said Monday. "What he is doing is hurting West Virginia. It's just a slap at West Virginians."

Manchin said the prohibition on the use of COVID relief dollars for tax revenue offsets was always in the bill and remained unchanged throughout the process between the two bodies of Congress.

"It's sad," Manchin said. "That language you're talking about has always been in all of them. You can never backfill any holes."

Manchin questioned Justice's logic of attempting to cut taxes as the state and nation are still within the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think it's very ill advised, especially in pandemic. A tax overhaul is difficult in the best of times," Manchin said. "I would just advise whatever you're going to do, postpone it for a while until you can see when the pandemic's over, then make some decisions."

The Biden pandemic package also includes the following funding for West Virginia: $800 million for state education funding, $260 million for childcare, $10 million for Head Start, $140 million for broadband expansion as well as $2 million for Wi-Fi hotspots, and millions more in funding for vaccine distribution and rural healthcare. West Virginia will also benefit from $8.5 billion set aside for rural hospitals and $7.6 billion for community health centers.