State lawmakers in West Virginia plan to introduce legislation that would, if approved, appropriate state money to the federal government to help fund the construction of President Trump’s border wall.
Three Republican delegates — Carl Marti, Patrick Martin, and Caleb Hanna — announced on Tuesday they will introduce a bill that would divert $10 million from the state’s nearly $200 million surplus to the wall’s construction.
“West Virginians support our President and the wall,” Martin said in a statement. “They’re sick of seeing Washington politicians sit on their hands while drugs and criminals pour over our border. It’s time for the states to stand up and do what they can to support our President in his fight to protect innocent Americans.”
President Trump won in 2016 by 42 points in West Virginia, where there nation’s opioid crisis is front and center.
“We have been in contact with multiple law enforcement officers and judges about the drug epidemic, and every single one has told us 90 percent of the drugs coming to our state are coming in from Mexico,” Martin said.
With Trump and Senate Republican leadership declining to accept any spending legislation without the funds, and Democrats refusing any bills with it attached, a partial government shutdown has left 800,000 federal employees without pay until a deal is struck.
The West Virginia delegates’ proposal is being drafted and will be formally introduced in the state legislature in the coming days.
