Voters To Decide on Supreme Court Spending Oversight Amendment

A constitutional measure on West Virginia’s Nov. 6 ballot would allow lawmakers to have some control over the state judiciary’s budget. The amendment would allow the Legislature to decide each year whether to reduce the state courts’ budget, but not less than 85 percent of the previous year’s budget. It also would require the Supreme Court’s chief justice to answer budget questions before lawmakers. The chief justice, in consultation with other justices, currently has constitutional autonomy in deciding how the system spends a $139 million annual budget. Voters will decide on the amendment on Tuesday.