In April, West Virginia Executive (WVE) asked its readers to share their opinions on the 2017 legislative session, including which bills they strongly opposed or supported and ideas for addressing the state’s budget deficit.
The request was made in an effort to create conversation about opportunities—both missed and explored—in an effort to help steer the state toward prosperity with the help of those who know it best: its people. WVE also wanted to give a voice to West Virginians as the state’s elected officials continue to search for a way to bridge the budget gap for Fiscal Year 2018 and future years. WVE offers “Moving the Mountain State Forward” in hopes of sharing citizen insight that will help West Virginia reach its full potential.
Tom O’Neill
Buckhannon, WV
Senate Bill (SB) 61, which passed the Senate unanimously for the second year in a row but was not taken up in the House, would have narrowly expanded the existing sales and use tax exemption for repair and maintenance of aircraft and aircraft engines. Currently, the exemption is limited to aircraft owned by airlines or government entities. The bill would have opened it up to aircraft owned as part of a fractional ownership program, such as NetJets.
The bill came back with a fiscal note of effectively zero because this kind of work is not currently being performed in West Virginia. Without this exemption, the servicing and repair of these fleets of jets are taking place in other states where the services are not subject to sales tax. With the exemption, we could see hundreds of additional jobs at the North Central West Virginia Airport in Harrison County at companies like Bombardier and Pratt & Whitney.
We realize that during a legislative session in which removal of sales tax exemptions on personal services was on the agenda, extending exemptions on servicing private jets may be a tough sell. However, SB 61 could have resulted in the growth of a sector of the state’s economy that provides high-paying jobs with benefits, many of which are filled by veterans, at no cost to the state treasury.
West Virginia’s growing aerospace industry represents precisely the kind of economic diversification and high-quality jobs we all recognize the state needs. SB 61 would further promote that growth and represents the possibility of a fantastic return on investment for the state.
Ed Welch
Charleston, WV
House Bill (HB) 2815, passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, changes our higher education system in West Virginia. It virtually eliminates state control over West Virginia University, Marshall University and West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine—which are called exempt institutions—and dramatically reduces the Higher Education Policy Commission’s authority over regional colleges and community and technical colleges. West Virginia’s educational goals for efficiency and effectiveness cannot be achieved by having 25 independently competing institutions, just as we did not build our state’s highway system by giving autonomy to 55 independent counties.
The exempt institutions sought more independence to counteract their reduced state funding. Lost is the reality that their tuition revenue has increased two and half times more than their funding reduction.
The presidents of the eight West Virginia Independent Colleges and Universities opposed the legislation because it makes any cooperation and collaboration in higher education more difficult. It creates state-funded private colleges who can now use state funds to compete directly with private schools that are not given direct state support. This is detrimental for higher education and for West Virginia.
Walt Auvil
SB 76, also known as the Creating WV Second Chance for Employment Act, was intended to improve the employment prospects for ex-convicts. The most recent version of this bill, which was passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, will allow certain nonviolent offenders to reduce their convictions from felonies to misdemeanors if they can demonstrate 10 years of good behavior to the court in their area.
Some version of this bill has been introduced in the Legislature for several years and has routinely gained bipartisan support. The cost to society from the inability of former felons to obtain employment is large. With our outsized prison population, this problem will continue to grow. Upon release, nonviolent felons are sometimes reduced to relying on the underground economy or returning to crime due to lack of opportunity in the above-ground economy. One barrier is their report of a felony conviction on job applications. This needed measure will ameliorate that effect in appropriate case and deserves support.
Gregg Wingo
Lewisburg, WV
Marijuana, whether hemp, medical or recreational, is the future of West Virginia if we are brave and wise enough to grab the brass ring. There is no question that it was the dominant issue of the 2017 legislative session, and it will be at the back of the Legislature’s mind as they negotiate the crippling budget cuts caused by the lack of tax revenues that they have developed due to their small government philosophy. Only the sales, agricultural and tourism revenues from marijuana can guarantee the future for ourselves and our children.
We all fought hard for the following medical marijuana and hemp bills this year because they lay the groundwork for this promising future. SBs 76 and 386 and HB 2453 all passed and were signed into law by the governor. We did it with no money, no national support and no political influence. It is an issue for the people and a victory by the people of West Virginia. As is normal for the House, HB3035, the first full legalization bill submitted by Delegate Hornbuckle, was never placed on the HHR committee agenda for review.
Michael Holstine
Dunmore, WV
I fully support HB 3093, which passed and was signed into law by the governor, as the first true legislative action to provide broadband at FCC-minimum speeds to our rural population. For too long West Virginia has ranked near the bottom in broadband service in a country that ranks 11th in the world. Rural locations like Pocahontas County rank 55th in the state due to the lack of fiber infrastructure and the choice of providers that will serve these minimally populated areas. Arguments that we overbuild these served areas is disingenuous at best. If sufficient speed is not provided by the existing, most-times sole, internet provider, then it is incumbent that the Legislature allow build-outs to occur and never stand in the way of this progress. High-speed internet access is no longer a luxury. For the benefits of telemedicine, online business, licensing, government services and software updates, high-speed internet is an absolute necessity and will provide the means for West Virginians to stand on equal footing with their counterparts in other states.
Max Grove
Belington, WV
Concerning the medical cannabis bill, I am very much opposed to this legislation. Let’s call it by its real name—the legalized use of marijuana bill. The marijuana lobby laid out the various ways to use this stuff on Metro News. You can smoke it, vaporize it and make food stuffs with it. It sounds like Colorado to me. This drug will become the new opioid experience in West Virginia, and grandma’s medicine will become her grandson’s recreation.
Also, concerning the 2018 budget bill: as a retired individual, I cannot expect to spend money the same way that I did when I was gainfully employed. Likewise, West Virginia cannot spend the way we did when coal was king with plenty of money rolling in. Our children and grandchildren are now making the policies in Charleston, and I fear that we, the over 65 crowd, did a very poor job of teaching them that we cannot spend what we do not have.
Mychal Schulz
Charleston, WV
SB 76, popularly known as the second chance bill, represents a great idea that unfortunately was watered down during the legislative process into a law that will have little practical effect.
As originally introduced, SB 76 allowed an individual convicted of a misdemeanor or a nonviolent felony to expunge the conviction by petitioning a court starting one year after completion of the individual’s sentence. Certain felonies were justifiably excluded, including crimes where the victim was a child.
Unfortunately, SB 76—which passed the Senate unanimously—was significantly watered down in the House of Delegates, which eliminated the expungement provision and instead allows an individual to petition a court to change a nonviolent felony to a reduced misdemeanor after three years. Therefore, the final version of SB 76, which was signed into law by the governor, will have little practical effect because anyone seeing the words reduced misdemeanor will interpret it to mean felony, meaning that barriers to employment, housing and other services will remain in place. Congress passed its own Second Chance Act in 2008. Since 2013, 40 states and Washington, D.C. have enacted new or expanded second-chance legislation. Today, more than 70 million Americans have some type of criminal record—the same number as have college diplomas.
West Virginia needs and deserves better than it got this session, and hopefully the second chance bill will get a second chance so lawmakers can get it right.
Anna Dailey and Jill Rice
Morgantown, WV
HB 2933 would have removed an existing exemption from the consumer sales tax for professional services, and we strongly opposed this bill. This tax is not a tax on professionals such as lawyers, accountants and others but rather, like other taxes, is a tax on the consumers of these services.
Professional services firms employ thousands of people in West Virginia. Our border states do not tax legal services—only three states in the U.S. do. Our professionals will be at a competitive disadvantage as clients turn to out-of-state firms to avoid the tax. West Virginia professionals would risk losing work and revenue. This proposal discourages businesses from relocating and expanding to our state since all businesses inevitably require legal and accounting services. Many also require architectural, engineering and other professional services. This, in turn, negatively affects economic growth and development at a time when West Virginia needs it the most. Additionally, it could have had a discriminatory effect on small and emerging businesses that must often rely on outside services as opposed to hiring in-house professionals. If these businesses cannot compete, the market for professional services is further diminished. HB 2933 was tabled on its third reading in the House.
Roberta Baylor
Kingwood, WV
I strongly supported SB 647. SB 647 would have allowed county commissions to place $1.10/$500, at their will, on the county transfer tax to go specifically to the local economic development authority. This bill was crucial for local authorities to continue the work they do to retain and create jobs in their individual counties in the state. While entities such as convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) and county farmland protection boards have a dedicated funding stream through West Virginia State Code and receive funds throughout the year, economic development does not. Economic development is funded solely through a line item in the budget.
The proposed budget for FY 2018 reduces the amount each county receives for the year to $14,400, which amounts to $792,000 for the entire state. In most counties, the funds distributed to CVBs and farmland protection significantly exceed the funds expended on economic development. This bill would have given individual counties the ability to decide if they want to fund their local economic development efforts through the transfer tax but did not require them to do so.
In our state, where attracting and retaining businesses to provide jobs for our residents is one of our top priorities, this additional funding is needed to be competitive in the national and international marketplace. This bill could have provided the funding needed for the organizations who work with the local companies by providing information on job training programs, low interest loans, infrastructure expansion, business expansion and other related items to keep them in West Virginia. Local EDAs are often the organizations working with companies who want to relocate to West Virginia. These are the organizations whose main purpose is creating and retaining jobs for West Virginia residents. This bill was crucial to economic development and to the continued growth of our great state. SB 647 died in the House Finance Committee.
Erica Strother
Charleston, WV
As someone whose daily work involves helping girls prepare to be leaders in their own lives, I support the rural broadband bill, or HB 3093, for its potential to improve the quality of life for girls. Access to the internet may not sound as significant as the inequalities of poverty or sexism, but it is an increasing barrier to progress. This access can be pivotal in addressing the ingrained inequities of today’s society. The internet is an essential tool that grants girls across our state access to the wider world—a world of networks and connectivity, communities, health and financial information and business skills training. It has massive social and economic benefits, and since the internet is like having your own library at home, it empowers girls to become leaders in their own education. With increased internet access comes freedom, encouragement to be more inventive and entrepreneurial and a chance to dream big. You can’t reach a goal you can’t see and with increased internet access, girls will see first-hand that there truly are no limits to what they can do. HB 3093 was signed into law by the governor.
Edward George
Charleston, WV
Bringing an end to the ban on retail Sunday spirit sales will close out one of the Mountain State’s last remaining blue law prohibitions and is projected to add up to $1.6 million in new taxes and profits for the state while delivering a boost to local businesses.
Following the lead of 39 states across the country that are reaping the benefits of additional revenue through the abolishment of prohibition laws that are nearly a century old, the passage of SB 479 will provide West Virginia with much needed funds to help fill the budget gap.
With Sunday being the second-busiest shopping day of the week, this step into the 21st century also provides convenience for consumers. Delayed shopping outings or trips across state lines will no longer be needed to allow consumers to check off everything on the grocery list on Sundays. I am proud to have lobbied for this bill on behalf of our client, the Distilled Spirits Council, and I look forward to seeing the financial benefit that it will bring to West Virginia. SB 479 remained in the House at the end of the regular 2017 session.
Roger Hanshaw
Clay, West Virginia
In full disclosure, I was the lead sponsor on this HB 3093, and I am not giving you an unbiased opinion. This bill has the potential to improve internet access and service all over West Virginia. The bill, which was titled the Broadband Expansion and Enhancement Policies act, authorizes the formation of internet service cooperatives in West Virginia. This makes our state eligible for millions of dollars in federal funding for development of new internet services in West Virginia. The bill also gives greater authority to the West Virginia Broadband Council and will allow it to begin taking some action on a series of things beyond just its former advisory role. This alone would have been a positive step, but coupled with the other developments in this bill, the entire package is a good development for the state of West Virginia. HB 3093, which passed both the House and the Senate, was signed into law by the governor on April 27, 2017.
