MORGANTOWN – The House of Delegates passed an economic development bill Wednesday that has been a priority for legislative and economic development leaders. The House also passed its version of the higher education funding formula bill and sent it to the Senate.
HB 4002 creates the Certified Sites and Development Readiness Program bill – a drive to make West Virginia more competitive with other states for businesses and industries scouting potential sites for new locations. Those companies want shovel-ready sites with solid infrastructure and access to transportation corridors.
The program will be administered by the Economic Development Department and will feature a process for applicants to identify and describe potential sites for economic development and investment. Applicants must be governmental entities: municipal, county, regional and state.
The department will select participants and suggest a prioritized list of site improvements for approved applications and reevaluate sites as improvements are made.
The program will offer two types of grants. One will be a 50% match for direct improvements, with the maximum grant to be established at a later date by the department. This grant must be paid back when the site is sold or leased for development.
The other grant is a micro grant for up to $25,000 to assist in site improvements. Both grants must be spent within 12 months.
The bill also creates a Certified Sites and Development Readiness Fund to handle the money that will flow.
There was no discussion about the bill. Earlier in the session, Speaker Roger Hanshaw told The Dominion Post, “We know we’re competing against every state in the union and most other countries in the world. We know that capital is not always patient.” Investment decisions often have to be made quickly and the state needs to have sites ready and to prepare every site possible for immediate construction, development and deployment of investment capital.
The vote was 98-0 and the bill goes to the Senate.
HB 4008 establishes a new higher education funding formula. The formula is performance based, focused on student success and institutional goal measures, with productivity incentives. The bill gives latitude for the Higher Education Policy Commission and Council for Community and Technical College Education to revise the metrics over time.
Delegate Paul Espinosa, R-Jefferson and a former Education chair, praised the bill and talked about his first time serving on the Education Committee in 2013, seeing the disparity in funding among the various two- and four-year institutions.
In studying the problem, he said, “I came to the conclusion that there really wasn’t a rational, fair and transparent basis for the way our higher education institutions are funded.” This bill helps solve that.
Delegate Larry Rowe, D-Kanawha, also praised it, saying it’s based on a successful Tennessee model. “It’s a system of encouraging completion of degrees. … I think the work that’s been done is remarkable.”
It also passed 98-0 and goes to the Senate. The Senate passed and sent its version of the bill, SB 550, to the House on Feb. 10 and it is sitting in House Finance. No decision has been made on how the bills might be reconciled so one can go to the governor.
Senate action
SB 146 updates a short description in state code regarding the state schools superintendent’s authority to interpret school laws or state board rules when a written request is submitted.
Judiciary chair Charles Trump, R-Morgan, said the code was drafted in 1866 and last updated in 1923.
The bill adds that except where a court has ruled otherwise, the various state and local boards and the Public Employees Grievance Board should give substantial deference to the superintendent’s interpretation.
It passed 25-9 and goes to the House. Locally, the four Republicans voted for it, the two Democrats against it.
SB 415 caps annual state severance tax collections going into the General Revenue Fund at 8.5% of the general fund. Any revenue above that amount will go into an Economic Development Growth Encouragement Fund.
It passed 34-0.
SB 570 requires law enforcement officers to undergo training on how to deal with people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. It passed 34-0.
SB 591, Trump said, stems from the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Newly elected Wayne County Republican Delegate Derek Evans participated in that and resigned on Jan. 9 after he’d taken his oath of office.
Because the district sits entirely inside the county, Trump said, the law was unclear on how to fill the vacancy, and that led to litigation decided by the state Supreme Court.
Because there will be more, newly drawn, single-county districts for the 2022 election, Trump said, this bill is important; it clarifies that for a legislative vacancy in one of those, the county party executive committee will draw up the list of nominees from which the governor can select.
It passed 34-0.
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