Justice Calls New Special Session
Trending
CHARLESTON - While a special session of the West Virginia Legislature called to order by Gov. Jim Justice during the previous month to consider tax reform and an abortion law update remains paused, Justice called an additional special session set to begin today.
Justice issued a proclamation Saturday night calling the Legislature into special session beginning at 1:30 p.m. today to consider an economic development bill and a funding appropriation for secondary road maintenance.
The first bill would create a Certified Industrial Business Expansion Development Program within the Department of Economic Development. The program would encourage the location and construction of high-impact industrial plants when the facilities require access to renewable sources of electricity.
The Department of Economic Development would determine whether a facility meets qualifications for being a high-impact industrial business development district, including whether the facility would have a positive economic impact on the state, if the facility has the potential to attract at least two other downstream businesses and can be no more than 2,250 acres located on land sold or leased by the state, county and city governments.
The bill would free any company wishing to provide renewable energy to the high-impact industrial business development district from the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission, thus becoming an exempt wholesale generator, disabling the competition with other electric providers.
It’s unclear if the bill is aimed at a specific industry or energy source, but interest has been growing since the beginning of the year regarding nuclear energy, including the use of advanced small modular reactors also known as SMRs. Lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year lifting a state ban on nuclear energy.
The second bill would use $150 million in surplus tax revenue in the general revenue fund for the Division of Highways for secondary road maintenance. According to the state Department of Transportation, 495 paving projects remain for 2022, representing 786.1 miles of work. There are 4,081 ditching projects, 2,327 patching projects and 14,675 stabilization projects remaining, with more than 29,000 projects completed so far in 2022.
The initial special session called by Justice on July 25, remains paused as lawmakers face differences associated with a bill banning abortion, unless the circumstances fall within a narrow scope of exceptions, and also as lawmakers and the Governor debate the best strategy to provide tax relief to West Virginians.
The Senate and the House of Delegates adjourned July 29, subject to the recall by legislative leaders after the House refused to concur with changes made by the Senate to House Bill 302, the abortion bill.
HB 302 would ban all abortions beginning at fertilization except for medical emergencies, a non-medically viable fetus, the instance of a pregnancy when a fetus develops outside the uterus and in the instance of incest or sexual assault under certain circumstances.
The House plans to briefly resume the abortion special session today to appoint its five members to a conference committee, though a time has not been set. Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, advised he would not resume the special session until more consensus was reached between House and Senate Republicans.