Legislature Story Archives - Page 2 of 10 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

State Transportation Project Contracts Top Out Year At $1 Billion

The number could be even bigger if lawmakers reverse a change they made in 2016, Secretary Jimmy Wriston testified.

The West Virginia Department of Transportation reports an “unheard number” of projects under contract for the year.

As the year comes to a close, Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston told lawmakers his department has a billion dollars of projects under contract.

“That’s unheard of in Highways,” he said.

Still, Wriston told the Joint Oversight Commission on Transportation Tuesday, the number could be even bigger if lawmakers reverse a change they made in 2016.

Prior to then, Wriston said, a sales tax on road construction materials directly funded the department’s projects. But lawmakers diverted those revenues to the general fund.

“Just looking at that sales tax, you could see how much more we could be doing,” Wriston said.

Wriston estimated the revenues to be in the tens of millions.

Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, chair of the joint commission, told Wriston that restoring the sales tax revenues to the department is something “I’d personally like to see us correct there.”

Justice Appoints New Delegates

Lewis graduated from West Virginia State University (WVSU), where he lettered in football and received a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice. He then attended law school at Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Two new members of the West Virginia House of Delegates have been appointed in the past week.

Republican Jeff Campbell, of Lewisburg, will serve on behalf of the 46th district, which covers part of Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties.

Campbell replaces Mike Honaker, who resigned to take a position with the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security. Campbell will serve the remainder of the unexpired term.

Campbell graduated from Concord University with a bachelor of arts degree in communications and a bachelor of science degree in education. He was named Outstanding Alumnus of the Year in 2019.

Campbell has also been a radio broadcaster in Greenbrier County since 1985 and serves as statistical coordinator for West Virginia University football broadcasts.

On Tuesday, Gov. Jim Justice announced that Democrat Hollis Lewis, of Charleston, will serve on behalf of the 57th district, which covers Kanawha County.

“I know Hollis will do a great job,” Gov. Justice said. “I’m really proud to be able to appoint him, and we wish him the very best.”

Lewis replaces Doug Skaff, who resigned earlier this month. Skaff said he plans on using the extra time to focus more energy on his businesses and coaching his three sons at soccer.

Since returning to Charleston in 2013, Lewis has held several positions, including Kanawha County Magistrate and adjunct professor at WVSU.

Lewis sits on several boards, including Charleston Urban Renewal Authority and the Clay Center, and is an Omega Psi Phi Fraternity member.

“First, I would like to thank God for filling me with vision and purpose,” Lewis said. “I look forward to serving the communities that make up the 57th District and the State of West Virginia.”

Lawmakers Hear Updates On DHHR Reorganization

The three appointed secretaries of the new bureaus of the DHHR provided lawmakers with updates on restructuring within the department. Legislation passed in 2023 required the department to be reorganized and split into three agencies after concerns of inefficiencies in the system.

Members of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability voiced concerns about the restructuring of the Department of Health and Human Resources on Tuesday.

The three appointed secretaries of the new bureaus of the DHHR provided lawmakers with updates on restructuring the department. Legislation passed in 2023 required the department to be split and reorganized after concerns of inefficiencies in the massive agency.

The new secretaries are Dr. Sherri Young, incoming secretary of the Department of Health, Dr. Cynthia Persily, incoming secretary of the Department of Human Services and Michael Caruso, incoming secretary of the Department of Health Facilities.

Young said and her fellow secretaries are identifying critical vacancies in their departments and consolidating some empty positions.

“We have met with our respective new departments, within our bureaus and offices so that we can better understand what needs they have as far as critical vacancies and what positions need to be filled, and how we could be more administratively responsible with the positions that haven’t been filled for quite some time,” she said.

Young also reported a decrease in vacancies in the Bureau for Social Services, the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement, the Bureau for Medical Services and the Bureau for Behavioral Health.

However, the Department of Health Facilities, the Bureau for Public Health and the Bureau for Family Assistance increased in vacancies.

Caruso explained the problem in his presentation.

“Basically, we don’t pay our people enough on an hourly rate,” Caruso said. “All right, and neither does the rest of the systems. The fact is that most of our employees have just jumped to the contracted services.”

Caruso also reported that he brought in Baker Tilly US, LLP, an advisory, tax and assurance firm, to do a benchmark study on all facilities and perform a complete financial review.

“Those studies were completed last week, those studies will be integrated, and we will educate our leadership team as well as our CEOs over the next week and a half,” Caruso said.

Health Management Information Systems, or HMIS, are software used to manage and analyze healthcare data. Caruso said he is looking to improve the Department of Health Facilities’ HMIS.

“We are looking internally to improve that process and improve that program, as well as potentially looking at other outside vendors to cover our emergency or electronic medical records,” Caruso told lawmakers.

Persily reported a reduced vacancy rate in the Department of Human Services and accredited that to pay raises and access to behavioral health services for Child Protective Services workers.

“So the work that you did in the last session, to increase salaries, to provide regional salary differentials, it’s worked. We have reduced significantly the vacancies in that particular job classification,” Persily said. “I believe that in January last year, when you heard about this, the rate was about 30 percent. And our rate at the end of July was 17 percent.”

Lawmakers questioned the secretaries on their proposed structuring of the departments, voicing concerns about the level of bureaucracy operating in the agency.

Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor, asked the secretaries to be proactive instead of reactive in their planning.

“My only concern is I don’t want to duplicate what we’ve been doing when we have this great opportunity to create something new,” Summers said.

Persily said she and the other secretaries will have a model in place by January 1, 2024, the deadline for the department to split, but advocated for flexibility.

“We are not going to be wedded to a model if it doesn’t work, and we will constantly be improving that model as we move along. And so any changes would be for efficiency, and for functionality,” Persily said. “But what I will say is that you will, you will see some consistencies across the three departments, you will see that we there are some things that each department needs.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Personal Property Tax Credit Clarified For Taxpayers

All motor vehicle property taxes due in 2024 but paid in 2023 may be claimed as a credit on a taxpayer’s 2024 income tax return. This issue first came up when the legislature proposed doing away with the personal property tax as a tax reduction measure, but county officials voiced concern about the loss of revenue.

After taxpayers and county sheriffs expressed confusion over the West Virginia Motor Vehicle Property Tax Adjustment Credit, the West Virginia Legislature passed a bill to straighten it out in the recent special session.

Gov. Jim Justice signed the bill Wednesday.

“This is an example of good government,” Justice said. “We recognized a problem and fixed it as fast as we could. This bill brings clarity and relief to West Virginia taxpayers and allows everyone to pay their full vehicle property tax this year without being penalized. We should never punish someone for paying their taxes on time, and this bill ensures that we are treating all taxpayers fairly.”

Now all motor vehicle property taxes due in 2024 but paid in 2023 may be claimed as a credit on a taxpayer’s 2024 income tax return. This issue first came up when the legislature proposed doing away with the personal property tax as a tax reduction measure, but county officials voiced concern about the loss of revenue. This taxpayer credit won’t harm country governments and school boards.

Taxpayers can pay the full ticket now or pay half in 2023 and half by April 1, 2024. Taxpayers who pay their personal property taxes on time will receive a rebate on their 2024 income tax return — even if the second half was paid in 2023. That is the return that taxpayers file in 2025.

Everyone is eligible for this credit except for motor vehicle dealers. Leasing companies are eligible for the credit and are required to pass the savings on to the consumer.

Any taxpayers that do not owe West Virginia income taxes and are not required to file a state income tax return will be able to file a claim for rebate in early 2025 of their motor vehicle property taxes paid without having to file a full return.

Continue to check tax.wv.gov for more information and form requirements as they become available.

Death Certificate Delays Discussed In Legislative Meeting

Dr. Sherri Young, the new Secretary of the Department of Health, discussed staffing shortages in the Office of the Medical Examiner during a meeting of the Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Resources Accountability.

Some families are waiting months to receive a loved one’s death certificate from the state Medical Examiner’s office, a health committee for the legislature learned this week.

She said the office has severe staffing needs and the need for more space.

“Actually, we do need about seven to 10 spaces for us to be able to complete multiple autopsies at one time,” Young said “We have three tables open at the time at this time. So the ability to be able to work on multiple reviews at the same time would be much, much needed as well.”

Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, asked about the delay in death certificates.

“I had a lot of questions and concerns about the amount of time it takes for people to get finalized death certificates,” Grady said. “But there’s a bad backlog. Some people are waiting for two years, which causes financial hardship a lot of times on the families. Is there a plan?”

Young said that the average wait for a death certificate is 200 to 250 days in West Virginia and suggested areas for improvement.

“Some immediate plans would be, as we discussed with Senator Takubo, the ability to do the labs in-house so that we can get the toxicology piece much faster, being able to do more targeted exams, are starting with the X-ray machine that they have purchased,” Young said. “Implementing those are some of the short-term fixes. Long-term fixes are going to be facility-based, and staffing based so that we can get more folks in to help with that issue.”

She said the state needs 12 medical examiners and currently has three. These shortages are in part because only about 17 pathologists graduate with a forensic pathologist degree each year in the U.S., according to Young.

Firefighters Receive One-Time Legislative Funding, EMS Gets Zero

Many counties cannot raise enough money to properly fund their Emergency Medical Services, even though the state has a $1.8 billion dollar budget surplus. Most ambulance agencies are either non-profit or private entities that receive little, or no funding from state, county and local governments.

West Virginia Code establishes that counties have a duty to fund EMS — if and to what extent they can afford to. In areas where tax revenues are diminishing due to the decline in the coal industry, local governments struggle to provide adequate funding to EMS.

The West Virginia EMS Coalition notes that at least 15 EMS organizations have ceased operations since 2022 and anticipates more closures without additional funding for EMS. Trish Watson, director of Services at Lincoln EMS, said some counties go 24 hours without an ambulance available and those wait times can lead to significantly reduced patient outcomes.

“Every county is short at this point,” Watson said. “That can very easily mean death. If you have an auto accident and you’re thrown out of your car, and the closest ambulance is an hour away obviously we know how that’s gonna turn out.”

Watson says there is a golden hour, that vital time period that a patient needs to receive care to survive a medical trauma.

“If you’re having a heart attack you can’t wait an hour for an ambulance to get there from another county — or maybe there’s not even one in the next county. Maybe those guys are all out too because we are all short staff,” she said.

In some areas of West Virginia ambulance wait times can be long due to staffing shortages, equipment shortages, longer routes, and winding mountainous roads. *Credit: West Virginia EMS Coalition*

Many rural areas in the state already had higher wait times. ow, many of those same areas are facing labor shortages due to lack of funding. Longer routes through rural areas of the state result in higher operating cost for EMS organizations. A statement put out by the West Virginia EMS Coalition said that ambulance agencies are only reimbursed by insurance when transporting a patient. They are not reimbursed for transportation to the patient’s residence, or from the hospital.

Last year, Gov. Jim Justice approved a one-time 10-million-dollar EMS Salary Enhancement Fund. However, the West Virginia EMS Coalition said that they are not able to give raises with that money because it’s not enough money to sustain a raise in wages. They said once the money is used, they could be forced to decrease wages again.

In the Special Legislative Session that began Sunday, Justice’s call proposed 44 bills. One of those bills, House Bill 122, would allot $12 million of the surplus for one-time payment to support fire response. The bill offered no funding for EMS.

“I will bring all parties to the table very soon, including the counties and the Legislature, so that we can all work together to find a responsible funding stream for our First Responders without raising taxes,” Justice said in a press release. “We all know that our first responders are our heroes, so I’m very proud to propose this funding.”

Watson said that while funding shortages affect patients’ health outcomes from emergency situations, they also affect the well-being of first responders.

“It is not just about the readiness, it’s about the staffing. You know, our crews are tired. They are short-staffed, we are short-staffed, so they are overworked, and underpaid. They are working excess hours because there is no one,” she said.