West Virginia's unemployment compensation fund has taken a stronger hit this year than anyone anticipated. Predictably, the knee jerk reaction of Democrats is to raise taxes. Of course the taxes will hit hardest the small businesses who employ most of the people in the state. Increased costs mean that these businesses will have to lay off more workers, thus increasing the strain on the fund.
Republicans argue that since we have reached unexpectedly tough times, that instead of crippling our small business community, we ought to remove some money from the Rainy Day Fund. Doing this reduces strain on the economy while meeting the obligations of the state.
Critics contend that the Rainy Day Fund is for severe times and natural disaster cleanup.
It may not be metaphorically raining hard in West Virginia yet, but creating burdens that will result in huge job losses across the state is a bad idea. We cannot predict the course of the economy. We also do not know how many businesses are working on a razor thin margin.
Let's give businesses and workers in West Virginia a break. Don't tax even more jobs out of existence.
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