Spending Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Manchin, Capito Steer Federal Funds For State Projects In Budget Bill

U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, both members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, each released a list of more than 100 projects that will receive federal funding from the budget bill.

West Virginia’s U.S. senators brought home tens of millions of dollars in funding for projects statewide in a budget bill Congress approved late Friday.

They include $12 million to finish a section of Corridor H from Wardensville to the Virginia state line. As well as $10 million to upgrade the water system in the town of West Union.

They also include funding for a farmers’ market in Martinsburg, to upgrade the historic Capitol Market in Charleston and to build the Capital Sports Center nearby.

Fire stations, communications systems, locks and dams, community colleges and universities, military bases, streets and sidewalks, courthouse security and police cruisers will benefit from what used to be called earmarks, now congressionally directed spending.

Manchin’s and Capito’s seats on the Appropriations Committee give West Virginia unusually powerful sway on where and how federal funds are spent.

See Manchin’s list of earmarked projects here.

See Capito’s list here.

W.Va. Budget Surplus Spending Destinations Defined

In a Wednesday media briefing, Gov. Jim Justice and Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy defined, and added to, earlier released details on how the state will spend some of its more than $1.8 billion budget surplus.

Hardy said a little over $1.1 billion is designated as surplus section spending. He said that covers 32 different 2023 budget items passed by the legislature and signed by the governor.

He said $40 million goes to the School Building Authority to cover the inflationary rise of school building costs, and $125 million toward the construction of a new consolidated state laboratory.

“Our state laboratories are deficient,” Hardy said. “Our state police, our health department and our agricultural secretary have all stated that our laboratories are ancient and obsolete.”

Hardy made note that another $282 million is set aside for deferred maintenance for state colleges, universities and correctional facilities.

“This is taking the benefit of the surplus and applying it to deferred maintenance, that’s gone on sometimes 20 or 30 years that it’s been neglected,” he said.

Hardy said $400 million goes to the personal income tax reserve fund, to pay income tax refunds as they come due. Other items include a one-time $50 million payment to the West Virginia University Cancer Institute and $29 million to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg.

“The surplus section has become the way that we take the benefit of holding down our expenses, holding down our base budget, waiting till the fiscal year is over and then allocating dollars toward unmet needs,” Hardy said.

Find a more detailed listing of Fiscal Year 2023 surplus section spending here.

Auditors Seek Answers on State Supreme Court Spending

Legislative auditors have expressed concern on how the West Virginia Supreme Court accumulated around $29 million in its excess revenue funds in fiscal year 2012.

Justin Robinson with the legislative auditor’s office says the court had $1.4 million in its rainy-day fund in fiscal year 2007. He says the court accumulated $29 million in its rainy-day fund by fiscal year 2012.

News outlets reported Sunday that a memo indicated the court had spent that rainy-day fund to around $333,000 at the start of fiscal year 2016.

An ongoing legislative audit shows the court is on pace to accumulate around $19 million in its own rainy-day fund by the current fiscal year as West Virginians prepare to vote on whether the Legislature should have more control over the court’s funds.

W.Va. Dept. of Commerce Requests More State Dollars

The West Virginia Department of Commerce gave the House and Senate Finance committees a presentation Monday morning to explore the state’s competitiveness in attracting businesses.

The Commerce department also asked for a significant increase in its funding. However, that request collided with the reality of the state’s dire budget situation.

The Joint Standing Committee on Finance met in the House Chamber for the Department of Commerce’s informational meeting. The presentation was part of Governor Jim Justice’s Save Our State plan to bring more business and jobs to West Virginia.

The presentation explored ways the state could improve its competitive standing by enhancing infrastructure, building up a stronger workforce, and identifying good site building locations. Presenters also said that so-called Right-to-Work legislation has been a positive factor in attracting some businesses to the state.

But the state’s Right-to-Work legislation has not been fully implemented in West Virginia yet. It’s been challenged in a court case, and deemed unconstitutional by a Kanawha County Judge. The case will likely be decided by the West Virginia Supreme Court.

The Department of Commerce Cabinet Secretary Woody Thrasher says that even though the state is facing a budget shortfall this year, it’s not the time to cut the Commerce Department.

“West Virginia is dead last, and the reason we’re dead last, is a variety of reasons, but relative to the Department of Commerce, it’s because we do not have the tools in our toolbox to attract business specifically, really good sites,” Thrasher said, “I think we’re doing a really good job on workforce training. I think we’ve got a great quality of life, but we are way behind everybody else when it comes to having sites ready.”

Thrasher told lawmakers the Department of Commerce would need at least $35 million in increased funding for improving the state’s business climate, attracting more industry, and for site readiness.

House Finance Vice-Chair Eric Householder, of Berkeley County, says he felt inspired by the presentation, but he says increasing the Department’s budget could be tough.

“Right now, it’s going to be extremely difficult,” Householder said, “Currently we fund Commerce roughly around $10 million a year. It’s a tough budget year, as we all know, and it’s going to be extremely difficult, but we’re gonna do what we can. You gotta keep in mind, we’re trying to get the best return on investment for taxpayers.”

Democratic Delegate Larry Rowe, of Kanawha County, is a member of the House Finance Committee. He says he feels the request from the Commerce Department is a reasonable goal to achieve.

“We’re spending $10 million, and little of that is going to programming, most is going to personnel and expenses, so what I’d like to see us do is define very clearly what that extra money would be for and where it’s going to be spent,” Rowe said.

During the presentation, Cabinet Secretary Thrasher mentioned that by the end of the summer, he and his team hope to rebrand the state by having the Department of Tourism join the Department of Commerce. He also noted how getting the state’s Community Colleges involved more heavily in training the workforce will also be key in getting more industry in the state.

W.Va. Education Officials Dispute Spending Totals

A report released Monday by NPR tracks the amount of money spent on each student across the country by county. But representatives of the West Virginia Department of Education say the data reported doesn’t add up in West Virginia.

NPR and the national publication Education Week attribute their spending numbers to the U.S. Census Bureau. Their map says in West Virginia, McDowell County spent the most at $14,000 per student in 2013. Jefferson County, according to the map, spent the least per pupil at around $8,000.

But Amy Willard, Executive Director of School Finance for the West Virginia Department of Education, says the numbers don’t match state spending records.

“The numbers that are reflected in this story do not agree to the data that we have,” she explained, “It says in the story that the data is adjusted for regional cost differences, and it appears there have been additional adjustments made, and we cannot speak as to what those adjustments are.”

Willard says the state Department of Education’s data shows Jefferson County spending over $11,000 per student in 2013, with Hardy County spending the least amount per pupil at $9,700.

County Boards of Education Per Pupil Expenditures for the 2012-2013 Year:

In both cases however, NPR’s data and the state Department of Education show McDowell County spending the most on its students. Willard says this in part has to do with the county receiving a considerable amount of federal funding to spend on education.

“Presumably due to the economic conditions in that county, they are receiving a higher amount of federal funding, which is driving up their overall per pupil expenditures. That appears to be the main reason for the higher expenditures in that county.”

According to the state Department of Education, Doddridge County is the only other county to spend over $14,000 on an individual student per year.