West Virginia State Auditor JB McCuskey is introducing several bills this legislative session to help improve the lives of West Virginians, make government smaller and save taxpayers money.
On his agenda, is a bill that will protect West Virginians and their property from foreign countries of concern. Countries like China and Russia will be banned from participating in tax sales. The bill is part of an effort to continue to improve the tax sale process.
SB 552 was a first step last year, which also awarded $10 million to communities across the state to tear down dilapidated properties. McCuskey is asking the legislature to commit more money to the effort and is introducing a bill to give property owners an incentive to clean up or tear down.
“We saw great success with SB 552 last year, but the work isn’t over,” McCuskey said. “For years, speculators have been using our property tax sale for bad and the property tax sale was a contributor to slum and blight throughout West Virginia. This new piece of legislation will help keep bad actors out of the tax sale and continue our efforts to clean up our communities.”
Another priority is the Prompt Pay Act, which will help protect contractors and vendors when doing work for the state of West Virginia and ensure they are paid for their work in a timely manner.
“The process is broken, there are no penalties for state agencies, who wait to pay invoices for six months and sometimes longer,” McCuskey said. “The State of West Virginia should not be putting West Virginia businesses out of business. The delay in payments is impacting payroll and, frankly, keeping many contractors from bidding on state contracts because they cannot afford to carry the costs, without getting a dime from the state. The Prompt to Pay Act will help our businesses throughout the state, improve the process and ultimately will drive down the cost of bids.”
The auditor is also introducing a bill to protect 2nd Amendment Rights, prohibiting credit card companies and payment networks from tracking firearm, ammunition and firearm accessory purchases or risk penalties on the next purchasing card contract bid process.
McCuskey is once again partnering with AARP to help protect seniors in West Virginia. The Auditor’s Office is working with the AARP to establish a restitution assistance fund that will be available to seniors and vulnerable adults who fall victim to retirement fund scams.
