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sraasas familiy! i love them dearly

Tacito, Annali XI 23-24

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A direct stream of funding that would support the state’s Emergency Medical Services got a unanimous vote of support from the West Virginia House of Delegates this week. “Well, I want to say to the Finance Committee, thank you; thank God we finally got something done,” Delegate Buck Jennings, R-Preston, said on the House floor ahead of the vote, adding that he had been trying to find permanent state funding for EMS since he first got elected in 2018. House Bill 5168, which passed Feb. 23, would transfer a total of $12 million through the state Office of Emergency Medical Services at the end of each Fiscal Year from the State Lottery Fund. It would direct $6 million to the EMS Salary Enhancement, Crisis Response, and Mental Health Treatment Fund; $3 million to the County EMS Fund; and $3 million to the All-County EMS fund. Counties would be required to match the funds, which they could do through a levy, severance funds or private donations. “In all reality, this is a historical day if this body passes this and it makes it all the way to the governor; we’re actually putting the first permanent funding to support the EMS workers of the state of West Virginia,” said Delegate Joe Statler, R-Monongalia. “I think we’re telling our first responders out there that we care. We know that they do a job for us every day, they’re out there working and that we’re willing to reach out to help them, to try and keep them going.” Members of the House Finance Committee also acted this week to preserve the jewel of the state’s Capitol Complex, the Culture Center. Delegates heard from Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby about the extensive deferred maintenance she inherited with the 50-year-old building and took a tour to see the problems firsthand. House Bill 5685 would allow excess lottery funds to be used as revenue bonds for necessary renovations with appropriate legislative oversight. The House overwhelmingly passed the West Virginia Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing Growth Act Feb. 27. The measure, House Bill 4006, includes a host of initiatives to support growth in the state’s aerospace industry. The Aerospace Development Program under the state’s Department of Commerce would encourage construction, operation, development, maintenance, manufacturing and expansion of the industry. The West Virginia Job Development Grant Program under the Division of Economic Development would allow aerospace businesses to enter into agreements with the Division to create a special revenue fund, utilizing grants and private funds to create new jobs. Another change would adjust the way capital additions to manufacturing facilities are appraised, at salvage value, for property tax purposes, and finally it would create the MRO Workforce and Aviation Maintenance Education Act, requiring the Council for Community and Technical College Education to develop an aviation and aerospace industry pathway. “I think this is a very creative way to encourage companies to invest in West Virginia and then stay for a long time because of the way their investment goes in and they employ people, those dollars eventually do flow back into their companies, but it’s over a long, substantial period of time,” said Delegate Clay Riley, R-Harrison, in explaining the bill before the vote. “This is a situation where you have the opportunity to have companies come in and locate for 50 years, to be able to continue to be able to employ the citizens of West Virginia. “We have a strong history of the aviation and the aerospace industry with Chuck Yeager and Katherine Johnson and Homer Hickam. This just sends a message to the world that we still have those folks, and they’re right here in the state of West Virginia, and this bill allows every county to prosper and every opportunity for every county to be successful.” The House also passed a budget bill back to the Senate this week for continued deliberation. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14. Read the full article

The last day to introduce bills is Feb. 17, and 69 House bills have passed the House. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the House of Delegates finished the week by voting to leverage a tax credit that would bring in private investment for small West Virginia businesses, and the bill is in line to be the first completed legislation of the session. Delegates Passed Senate Bill 1, the West Virginia First Small Business Growth Act, Feb. 13 after having amended most of the provisions of its counterpart, House Bill 4003, into the measure the previous day. The bill would offer a limited tax credit against the West Virginia Insurance Premium Tax to financial institutions that invest in state-certified growth funds. Only businesses principally operating in West Virginia with fewer than 250 employees at the time of their application with at least 60% of their workforce in the state would be eligible to receive the funds, with the West Virginia Department of Commerce overseeing the program. “As someone who grew up in a family that owned their own small business that paid for my education and everything else I needed, this is a bill that I just take a lot of personal pride in,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman J.B. Akers, R-Kanawha, the lead sponsor of House Bill 4003, in presenting the West Virginia First Small Business Growth Act on the floor before the vote. “This bill is focused on existing West Virginia businesses. This is a promise that we have made that we’re going to start focusing as much of our attention as possible on existing West Virginia businesses, and this bill provides them with the capitalization they need to grow.” Akers said it would mirror a federal program already successfully operating in 18 other states, including Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. “We’ve got private investors providing private capital to private companies,” he said. “The government is not involved in this other than … as a safeguard and guardrails.” House Majority Whip Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer, who also serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Revenue, spoke about the bill ahead of the vote as well. “I don’t mind telling you that high finance is not necessarily my specialty, and when I looked at this bill it made my eyes spin just a little bit because there’s a lot of detail here and there, but the reality is the impetus of this bill is pretty simple,” Gearheart said. “It makes a pool of capital available to West Virginia businesses that currently cannot access that kind of capital. “Businesses that are successful that have the opportunity to grow and become even more successful and to expand what we do here now can have access to the dollars in order to do that by means of this bill, and it really is that simple.” Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, spoke before the vote to explain how being in a border county gives him the perspective that forms his urgency for this initiative. “We see a lot of this activity,” he said. “I look around the room to Mason County and Cabell County and Jackson County; we see it all the time, we’re competing for those people that live in our valley to locate their businesses on one side of the river or the other. “Finally — finally — in the financial structure of our state, we’re going to have the opportunity to help small businesses.” The bill passed by a vote of 87 to 3 and returns to the Senate for its review. If the Senate approves, the bill will be the first completed legislation of the 2026 regular session and will go to the governor for action. Also this week, the House unanimously approved: House Bill 4011, which would allow expanded material recycling; House Bill 4749, which was written and presented to the Legislature by a teenager who is in foster care, and would expand the Foster Child Bill of Rights; and House Bill 4089, which would require insurance coverage for scalp cooling systems that preserve of hair during chemotherapy treatment, also known as Jessica Huffman’s Law. The last day to introduce bills is Feb. 17, and 69 House bills have passed the House. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14. Read the full article

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Several bills passed the full House of Delegates this week by unanimous votes for a total of 24 House bills sent to the West Virginia Senate for its consideration. House Bill 4028, which would exempt building materials and construction work from state or municipal sales and use tax used for the construction, repair or maintenance of a public school facility, passed the full House unanimously Jan. 28, and has the potential to allow as much as 15% more spending on public education facilities. School Building Authority Executive Director Andy Neptune addressed the House Finance Committee last week when this bill was in the hearing stage and described it as a win for his agency, for contractors and for counties. “We believe this is going to increase the purchasing power,” he said, noting the 6% sales tax plus 1% in supplies savings would give the SBA “more bang for our buck” and helps counties stretch their bond dollars for projects as well. “We can redirect the millions we would be saving off of that back to us to be able to go with other projects,” Neptune said. “For example, so many times counties will come to us for roofing projects that also involve HVAC projects, and the cost is just too much to be able to help with as much need as we have across the state; this would allow us to be able to look further into those counties and be able to say, ‘well, we’ll tie together HVAC projects with the roof,’ which realistically should be done when you think about this … .” The Skills to Work Act, House Bill 4005, passed the full House Jan. 27. It would align work requirements to U.S. Labor standards, which expands apprenticeship opportunities for 16- to 18-year-olds, allowing them safe, supervised, hands-on training for an in-demand economic environment. “This is about being able to bridge a gap,” said Delegate Ryan Browning, R-Wayne, the lead sponsor of the bill. “Too many of our high school seniors graduate and feel like they have to leave the state to find a good job, but this bill establishes a direct connection between education and employment by creating structured, supervised apprenticeship programs that lead directly to job opportunities. “Students gain hands-on experience while employers continue refilling our local talent pipeline.” House Bill 4002, which would establish the West Virginia Collaboratory, also passed the House Jan. 27. The initiative would facilitate public policy research projects through the state’s research institutions of higher learning and distribute the expertise to be utilized by state and local governments in their work. Two more measures that passed unanimously Jan. 29 were House Bill 4626, which would form a grant program to allow U.S. Food and Drug Administration trials with the controlled substance ibogaine for the treatment of opioid use disorder, substance use disorder and any other neurological or mental health conditions, and House Bill 4610, which would ensure the state’s current law to allow “right-to-try” cutting age medicine for terminally ill patients would extend to patients with life-threatening or severely debilitating illnesses as well. House Bill 4437 also passed unanimously Jan. 29, and it would allow Gold Star parents to receive one vehicle registration free of cost. “Gold Star parents have lost a son or daughter in service to the nation, serving to protect and defend your freedom and safety at home and abroad,” said Delegate Charles Sheedy, R-Marshall. “The ability to display a Gold Star license plate on their vehicle denotes them having lost a son or daughter and should call up our respect to recognize their sacrifice. To receive a free plate shows that the people of West Virginia are grateful for their sacrifice.” The last day to introduce bills is Feb. 17, and 1,012 bills have been introduced in the House. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14. Read the full article

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia House of Delegates finished its first full week of the 60-day regular legislative session with seven House Bills having passed the full Chamber and been sent to the West Virginia Senate for deliberation. “Nearly all our Delegates told us they wanted to double down on putting West Virginians to work because the best way we can fix so many other problems in our state is to help put as many West Virginians as possible to work in good-paying jobs,” said House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay. “These legislators have been consistent, focused and they have been hard at work having the necessary conversations to move these bills forward.” Many members of the House took time Wednesday during Trades Day at the Legislature to celebrate the success of the Skilled Trades Apprenticeship Nontraditional Degree (STAND) Program. The program allows those who complete their apprenticeships to apply their on-the-job and classroom training toward college credit. It was created during the 2024 legislative session and funded during the 2025 session. The West Virginia Building and Construction Trades received the national Construction User’s Roundtable Workforce Development Award for the program back in November and shared it with the House of Delegates this week. “What we’re seeing right now is a lot of young people are going straight into college,” said Delegate Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, a sponsor of the STAND Program. “They’re amassing a large amount of debt and then coming out still trying to find a job with whatever their degree program is. “We have a slate of bills this year that sends a clear message of what we’re here for, and that’s to support workers, support fair competition, support local jobs and also making sure that we ensure accountability when taxpayer dollars are on the line.” The full house passed House Bill 4007, related to industrial access roads, Jan. 23, with only a few dissenting votes. The bill would update the 25-year-old program to account for inflation, doubling the amount of money a county or municipality could request within one year for industrial access road construction to help projects get completed faster. House Bill 4008 also passed the full House Jan. 23. It is another measure aimed at flexibility for communities to cultivate right-sized and responsible economic growth in every corner of the state. The measure would expand the current grants to include 5-acres sites for grants of as much as $75,000 in assistance, 20-acre sites for as much as $100,000 and sites of more than 20 acres may be eligible for as much as $250,000. The last day to introduce bills is Feb. 17, and 798 bills have been introduced in the House. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14. Read the full article

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia House of Delegates finished its first full week of the 60-day regular legislative session with seven House Bills having passed the full Chamber and been sent to the West Virginia Senate for deliberation. “Nearly all our Delegates told us they wanted to double down on putting West Virginians to work because the best way we can fix so many other problems in our state is to help put as many West Virginians as possible to work in good-paying jobs,” said House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay. “These legislators have been consistent, focused and they have been hard at work having the necessary conversations to move these bills forward.” Many members of the House took time Wednesday during Trades Day at the Legislature to celebrate the success of the Skilled Trades Apprenticeship Nontraditional Degree (STAND) Program. The program allows those who complete their apprenticeships to apply their on-the-job and classroom training toward college credit. It was created during the 2024 legislative session and funded during the 2025 session. The West Virginia Building and Construction Trades received the national Construction User’s Roundtable Workforce Development Award for the program back in November and shared it with the House of Delegates this week. “What we’re seeing right now is a lot of young people are going straight into college,” said Delegate Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, a sponsor of the STAND Program. “They’re amassing a large amount of debt and then coming out still trying to find a job with whatever their degree program is. “We have a slate of bills this year that sends a clear message of what we’re here for, and that’s to support workers, support fair competition, support local jobs and also making sure that we ensure accountability when taxpayer dollars are on the line.” The full house passed House Bill 4007, related to industrial access roads, Jan. 23, with only a few dissenting votes. The bill would update the 25-year-old program to account for inflation, doubling the amount of money a county or municipality could request within one year for industrial access road construction to help projects get completed faster. House Bill 4008 also passed the full House Jan. 23. It is another measure aimed at flexibility for communities to cultivate right-sized and responsible economic growth in every corner of the state. The measure would expand the current grants to include 5-acres sites for grants of as much as $75,000 in assistance, 20-acre sites for as much as $100,000 and sites of more than 20 acres may be eligible for as much as $250,000. The last day to introduce bills is Feb. 17, and 798 bills have been introduced in the House. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14. Read the full article