MORGANTOWN – House and Senate Democratic leaders gathered at the Capitol Monday morning to talk about some of their ideas to keep West Virginia’s youth in the state.
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin, D-Greenbrier, called the state’s youth “our greatest export.”
He graduated from high school in 2000, he said, and today only about 10% of his classmates are stil here. He’s been a pastor for 13 years and he can count on one hand the number of kids in his youth group who’ve stayed here.
Our youth, he said, lack job opportunities, cultural opportunities and hope for the future. They need incentives that the majority aren’t offering.
“No young people have ever asked me to cut the state income tax to stay here in the state of West Virginia.”
The issues that need to be addressed, he said, include substance abuse, broadband, protecting education funding, clean water and equality for all. “We’ve got to give our young people a reason to stay.”
Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, said getting the whole state connected to broadband would both retain young people and draw remote workers. “The quality of life that we have to offer here, that we have been God-given by our environment, is something that is unique, really, to the East.
The probability that the income tax elimination plan could eviscerate education budgets will hinder upward mobility, not help it, he said.
Only a few actual bills were discussed. Delegate Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, talked about his HB 2665, to legalize and regulate a seed-to-sale adult-use cannabis program.
It would create a legal agricultural industry that would draw workers here, he said. A 17.5% excise tax would be devoted to infrastructure, education, law enforcement and PEIA. It is sitting in the Judiciary Committee.
House Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, mentioned two of his bills. One is HB 2586, to provide a full-ride PROMISE Scholarship for STEM majors. West Virginia is among the top states for student loan defaults, he said, so a full ride to keep people here and keep them from defaulting is important.
HB 2586 sits in House Education.
His other is HB 2547. It creates a stay-in-state income tax credit awarded over 10 years. Employers with qualified employees could also claim a credit. It also sits in Education.
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