Republican States Struggle With How to Replace Income Taxes

A plan by West Virginia Republicans to repeal the state income tax ended with a whimper over the weekend, just as Mississippi’s did several weeks earlier, demonstrating that support for those initiatives is easier to find than ways to offset the huge revenue loss.

“Pay-for’s matter and that has been the real challenge for lawmakers.” said Jared Walczak, vice president of state projects at the Tax Foundation, a right leaning think tank.

In West Virginia and Mississippi, Republican-controlled Houses, Senates and Governors coalesced around removing the income tax to attract new businesses amid population declines. They could not agree ...