Program would tax divorcing couples
by admin on 04/03/10 at 7:26 am
Charleston Daily Mail
By Ry Rivard
March 4, 2010
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The House of Delegates has advanced a bill that would relieve would-be justices from the burden of political fundraising.
Funding for the measure could come from new fees on lawyers and people appearing in court, including those going through a divorce.
The bill, which passed 67 to 30 on Wednesday, would reduce the potential for the appearance of bias as a result of campaign donations.
The program would offer candidates $200,000 initially for a contested primary, and $350,000 for a contested general election. Candidates must take several steps to qualify, including raising an initial batch of funds that would then be counted against primary financing.
But critics of the legislation – what some are describing as a pilot program – call it “immoral” and question its hefty price tag.
The program, according to lawmakers’ estimates, could cost the state upwards of $8 million for the 2012 election cycle.
Critics also question how the program would be funded. Money for it would come, in part, from new fees on lawyers and people appearing in court, including divorcing couples.
“That is a tax, notwithstanding whether we call it a fee or not,” said Delegate William Wooton, D-Raleigh.
The bill calls for a new fee for lawyers to practice in the Mountain State.
The bill also creates several new “fair administration of justice” fees, including a $100 fee for the majority of civil appeals and petitions filed in the state Supreme Court; a $20 fee on each civil action filed in circuit court, with several exceptions; a $20 fee on each party in a class-action lawsuit filed in circuit court; $20 on each plaintiff in a divorce; and a $10 fee on each plaintiff in a civil action filed in magistrate court.
Several lawmakers raised their eyebrows at the fee for divorce cases.
“I suggest it is immoral to pass a tax on a select number of citizens,” Wooton said.
