Charleston, WV – West Virginia House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle sharply criticized the Republican supermajority in the House of Delegates on March 27th, for killing HB 2688 that would have exempted overtime pay from taxation, directly undermining a key economic promise repeatedly made by President Donald Trump.

Hornbuckle said, “Republicans in the House of Delegates had an opportunity to support working West Virginians by making overtime pay tax-exempt, an issue that not only we feel strongly about and offer bipartisan support – but an issue championed by President Donald Trump himself. Time and time again this session the Republican Supermajority has put corporations and self-interest ahead of the common West Virginians priorities of challenge like lowering their utility rates and keeping more money in their pocket. This was a promise that Republicans campaigned on, and one of the few issues we agree upon so we’re taken aback why we aren’t taking up this measure when their supermajority has the votes to put this important legislation up for passage so that we can work together on an important issue like most of our constituents would like for us to do.”

West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin said, "Republicans campaign on issues like exempting overtime pay and tips from taxation to score political points, but when it comes to delivering on those promises they seem to develop amnesia and forget about them once they're in office. The GOP supermajority had all the votes necessary to pass this popular, common-sense tax cut for working people, yet they chose not to."

Pushkin noted that the West Virginia legislature might simply be following Trump's lead since the exemption on taxes on overtime pay was notably absent from the budget reconciliation bill recently passed by the House of Representatives. "Trump campaigned on it but didn't care enough to get it introduced in the House budget," Pushkin said. "Clearly, promises made to working people mean little to Trump or the Republican legislators who claim to support his agenda."

The West Virginia Democratic Party calls on voters to hold Republicans accountable for their continued failure to prioritize the economic needs and livelihoods of hardworking West Virginians.