This Week in the House of Delegates
For the week ending Feb. 4, 2022
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the House of Delegates finished the third week of the regular legislative session having taken a big step toward diversifying the state’s economy.
The House completed legislative action Jan. 31 on Senate Bill 4, sending it to the Executive for action. The bill repeals a 26-year ban the Legislature had enacted to ban nuclear power and allows for the possibility of nuclear energy production rounding out West Virginia’s power portfolio and indicating to the global economy that the state is successfully transitioning its economy.
“Technology is moving quickly, and West Virginia has to keep up to compete on a global scale, which also means meeting the global economy’s demands,” said House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay. “We don’t think the fossil industry is going away any time soon, nor do we want it to. Our fossil industry will continue powering the country for the foreseeable future, but we want to be sure West Virginia is providing options and signaling to the rest of the world that we’re a great place to consider doing business of all kinds.”
Hanshaw created the Coalfield Communities Workgroup at the conclusion of the 2021 regular legislative session to focus on ways to solve the problems facing coal communities. Members of the workgroup traveled throughout the state listening to community members and compiling a report of both the struggles and suggestions. The Select Committee on Coalfield Communities was created last week to formalize and continue the group’s efforts. That committee reported out its first bill this week, House Bill 4479.
“A lot of effort has been going on both openly and behind the scenes with our Coalfield Communities group ever since the end of last year’s session, and we’re so pleased to already have a bill created and passed out of our brand-new committee,” said Delegate Ed Evans, D-McDowell. “I know it can be discouraging when it feels like nothing is being done or things aren’t moving quick enough, but we’re excited to have regular, weekly meetings now and really work through a lot of the recommendations we’re ready to see implemented.”
House Bill 4479, the Coalfield Grant Facilitation Act of 2022, would create a commission to administer the necessary matching funds to secure federal, private or nonprofit grants for coalfield community organizations or entities to fund development projects. The new commission also would coordinate with higher education institutions throughout the state to help in applying for those grants.
Under a bill sponsored by House Finance Committee Chairman Eric Householder, R-Berkeley, Tax Freedom Day would come sooner in West Virginia. House Bill 4007, which was introduced Feb. 3, would reduce personal income tax rates and create a fund for half of each fiscal year’s general revenue surplus to be deposited, rather than going to the state’s Rainy Day Fund as it does now. That fund would be kept as a safeguard to offset any potential loss of revenue and would be managed by the Secretary of Revenue, in collaboration with the West Virginia Investment Management Board and West Virginia Board of Treasury Investments.
“Tax Freedom Day is the date when, theoretically, taxpayers on average have worked enough days to earn exactly what’s needed to pay their total tax bills for the entire year,” Householder said. “Right now, it’s mid-April for West Virginia, and I want us to be able to keep more money in our pockets to get to Tax Freedom Day sooner.”
As of Feb. 4, a total of four bills had completed the legislative process. The last day to introduce bills in the House is Feb. 15 and the regular session ends at midnight March 12.
Contact: Ann Ali at (304) 340-3323