West Virginia
West Virginia House passes Social Security tax phaseout
- The Republican-led West Virginia House of Delegates voted Thursday in favor of a bill that would implement a gradual phaseout of the state’s tax on Social Security benefits.
- If signed into law, the bill would retroactively cut this year’s tax by 35%, and next year’s by 65%, before being eliminated completely come 2026.
- The phaseout was a key agenda item Republican Gov. Jim Justice stumped for last month in his final State of the State address.
West Virginia’s Republican-led House of Delegates approved a bill Thursday that would cut and gradually phase out the state income tax on Social Security benefits.
Eliminating the tax is a key priority for GOP Gov. Jim Justice, who announced it as part of his annual budget proposal during his final State of the State address last month.
In 2019, the Legislature passed a bill cutting the income tax on Social Security benefits for the state’s lowest earners — those making less than $100,000 filing jointly and $50,000 for a single person — over three years.
BILL LETTING TRAINED TEACHERS CARRY GUNS PASSES WEST VIRGINIA HOUSE
The proposal passed Thursday, which now heads to the Senate, would eliminate the tax for everyone else, also over a three-year period. The tax would be cut by 35% this year — retroactive to Jan. 1 — and 65% in 2025. The tax would be phased out completely by 2026.
It’s unclear what Justice will make of the proposal. His version would have eliminated the personal income tax on Social Security this year, retroactive to Jan. 1.
Seen here is West Virginia’s Capitol dome in Charleston, West Virginia. (AP Photo/Jeff Gentner, File)
Speaking in support of the measure, Republican Del. Larry Kump of Berkeley County said states surrounding West Virginia don’t tax Social Security benefits.
“This issue regarding taxation on Social Security or any pension or retirement program really grinds my gears, gives me legislative heartburn. We’ve been fooling around with this taxation issue on Social Security for many years now, and I’m grateful that we’re going to be doing some more on it.”
Kump said he’s also concerned about retired public employees and how cost of living increases are impacting their pensions. “But that’s another issue,” he said. “Let’s go ahead and pass this bill. It’s certainly better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. And let’s keep the light on for these people.”
The tax cut would cost around $37 million in both 2025 and 2026 and would impact more than 50,000 households.
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Last year, Justice signed a 21.25% income tax reduction into state law, returning more than $750 million to state residents amid a record budget surplus of $1.1 billion. But the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy urged caution Thursday, with Executive Director Kelly Allen saying in a statement that “continued efforts to erode and eliminate the personal income tax are undermining our ability to meet the needs of seniors, children and families across our state.”
A stunning report dropped on the 4th of July from Kentucky Sports Radio’s Jack Pilgrim of On3 that former West Virginia guard Kerr Kriisa had been arrested by the FBI on alleged fraud charges.
According to the report, Kriisa’s arrest was “in connection to a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme dating back to his time at West Virginia as a Mountaineer in 2023-24. He’s being extradited back to West Virginia with a court hearing scheduled for next week.”
No further details have been released at this time.
Kriisa’s time as a Mountaineer
Kriisa transferred from Arizona to West Virginia in the summer of 2023, expecting to be the point guard for Bob Huggins’ next team. Obviously, that went to the wayside when Huggins had his own off-court incidents that summer that ultimately led to his resignation.
Despite it being a brief period of time, Kriisa had developed a strong relationship with Huggins, and once the news dropped that he would no longer be the program’s coach, he put his name back in the portal. Interim head coach Josh Eilert had multiple conversations with him, and two days later, he withdrew his name, remaining a Mountaineer for a season.
Kriisa was suspended for the first nine games of that season after he admitted to accepting impermissible benefits during his time at Arizona.
During that extremely brutal year for WVU, Kriisa had the best year of his collegiate career statistically, averaging 11 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game while shooting 42% from both the field and from three-point range.
Kerr’s two other stops post-WVU
After one season in Morgantown, Kriisa transferred to Kentucky, but only appeared in nine games before suffering what would be a season-ending foot injury. In those nine games, Kriisa saw limited action off the bench, getting roughly 17 minutes per night.
To round out his collegiate career, Kriisa made his way back to the Big 12, landing at Cincinnati. There, he was bothered by a separated shoulder, causing him to miss several games, including the matchup against the Mountaineers in Morgantown. He did play in the second game against West Virginia and was held scoreless on 0/2 shooting in 15 minutes of action. Ironically, that would be the final game he would play for the Bearcats.
In 19 games with Cincinnati, he averaged 5.8 points, three assists, and 1.3 rebounds per game, connecting on just 33% of his shots.
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Baseball and the 4th of July. It goes together so well, and perhaps one day, we will see a pair of West Virginia Mountaineers sporting the red, white, and blue for Team USA in the Olympics (set to return in 2028) or the World Baseball Classic.
I know most everyone’s attention in West Virginia over the last two or so months has been consumed by the Mountaineers’ magical run to the College World Series, so you may not realize how much of a tear former Mountaineer star JJ Wetherholt has been on in the big leagues.
We’ll catch you up to speed.
In the first 81 games of his career, Wetherholt has hit 12 home runs, recorded 35 RBI, and has slashed .260/.357/.398. On top of being one of the best-hitting second basemen in the entire game, he is a perfect 9/9 on stolen base attempts and has been elite with the glove, committing just two errors on the season, giving him a fielding percentage of .994.
One of the best moments of Wetherholt’s red-hot start was this leadoff home run against Paul Skenes, last year’s Cy Young award winner.
JJ Wetherholt hits a leadoff shot off Paul Skenes! pic.twitter.com/7KzVkutArL
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 30, 2026
Hitting a bomb off one of the most talented pitchers in the game certainly raised some eyebrows, but I’m not sure even that tops what he did in just his second game, shooting a ball through the right side of the infield, collecting his first-ever walk-off hit in the majors.
JJ WETHERHOLT WALKS IT OFF! pic.twitter.com/5Adski5dMn
— MLB (@MLB) March 28, 2026
For you baseball junkies out there, Wetherholt currently has a WAR (wins above replacement) of 3.8. Only nine others in the entire MLB — pitcher or position player — have a higher rating. Those players are P Christopher Sanchez (PHI), P/DH Shohei Ohtani (LAD), OF Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC), SS Bobby Witt Jr. (KC), IF Kevin McGonigle (DET), P Chase Burns (CIN), P Jacob Misirowski (MIL), OF Andy Pages (LAD), and SS Otto Lopez (MIA).
The next big league star
I think if you polled 100 scouts at the next level, you would get pretty close to a consensus that West Virginia catcher/second baseman is going to be a really good player in the big leagues for a really long time. The hit tool is off the charts, as we all know, but the glove is just as impressive. He finished the season with an overall fielding percentage of .987, helping him earn All-American honors at two different positions, which is incredibly rare. I won’t go as far as saying it’s the baseball version of what Travis Hunter did at Colorado playing wide receiver and corner, but it’s pretty darn close.
As a sophomore, Kelly flirted with a .400 batting average for much of the season before ending the year with a .382 mark. He belted 19 home runs and drove in 63 runs. The scary thing for opposing pitchers is that he still has a ton of room to get bigger and stronger, which will only improve his power numbers and slugging percentage.
With another strong year in 2027, Kelly could be one of the handful of names considered to be the No. 1 overall pick in next summer’s draft.
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