Blog – Page 163

Scott Cadle Sworn in to House of Delegates

Swearing-In Ceremony

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December 7, 2018

Scott Cadle was sworn in to the West Virginia House of Delegates Friday morning.

Justice Evan Jenkins swore Cadle in and Emily Adkins, an 11^th grader from Lincoln County High School held the Bible. Adkins and her class were taking a tour of the Capitol and were in the House during the ceremony.

Cadle, of Letart, is a Republican member representing the 13^th district, which covers parts of Jackson, Mason and Putnam counties. He previously served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2012-2016. He is in the trucking business.

Patrick Martin, Carl “Robbie” Martin, sworn in to House of Delegates

Swearing-In Ceremony

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December 6, 2018

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Patrick Martin and brother Carl “Robbie” Martin” were sworn in to the West Virginia House of Delegates Thursday afternoon. Judge Kurt Hall, circuit judge from the 26^th district covering Upshur and Lewis counties, swore both of them in.

Patrick Martin, of Weston, is a republican member representing the 46^th district, which covers Lewis County and part of Upshur County. He first was elected in 2016 to the House of Delegates.

Carl “Robbie” Martin, of Buckhannon, is a republican member representing the 45^th district, which covers part of Upshur County. He previously has served on the Upshur County Board of Education. He received his bachelor’s in business management from West Virginia Wesleyan.

Two Sworn into West Virginia House of Delegates

Swearing-In Ceremony

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December 3, 2018

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Two delegates were sworn in Monday morning in the West Virginia House of Delegates Chamber.

Randy Swartzmiller, of Chester, was officially sworn in at 10 a.m. Swartzmiller is a democratic member representing District 1, which covers Hancock County and part of Brooke County.

Swartzmiller first was elected in 2000 and served until 2014. During his tenure, he served as assistant majority whip from 2005-2013 and as speaker pro tempore. He also chaired the Homeland Security Committee, which was created shortly after September 11.

Swartzmiller worked for the Department of Agriculture from 2015-2017.

Swartzmiller earned his bachelor’s degree from West Liberty State College and his master’s from Mountain State University.

“I’m certainly honored to be back. I look forward to working with everyone to move West Virginia forward,” Swartzmiller said.

Larry Kump, of Falling Waters, also was sworn in Monday morning. Kump is a republican member representing District 59, which covers part of Berkeley and Morgan counties.

His swearing-in was ceremonial because the West Virginia Secretary of State had not yet certified all votes from that district.

Kump first was elected in 2010 and served until 2014 in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

“There are still things that need to be done,” Kump said. “It’s both a sacrifice and a privilege to serve. I’m pleased and proud to do it.”

Kump earned his bachelor’s degree from Frostburg State University and an associate’s degree from Hagerstown Community College.

He also has served as the executive director of the Indiana State Employees Association and as the regional president of the Assembly of Governmental Employees.

Joint Committee on Flooding updated on RISE

Interim Report

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November 27, 2018

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The Joint Committee on Flooding met Tuesday and heard an update on the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management—Federal Grant Management and an update on the RISE program.

Earlier this month, members of the Post Audits Subcommittee heard a report from the Performance Evaluation and Research Division on the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM). FEMA placed DHSEM on manual reimbursement effective Jan. 13, 2016.

FEMA notified the department in a November 2015 letter about the state’s placement on manual reimbursement. The report said the action was a result of several years of the department’s inability to comply with grant requirements and failing to remedy issues– specifically, issues regarding sub-recipient monitoring.

Manual reimbursements may add as much as 90 days of additional time for any reimbursement request exceeding $100,000.

Only West Virginia and Puerto Rico are subject to this manual reimbursement process, according to the report.

In Tuesday’s meeting, committee members heard from Jimmy Gianato, a Homeland Security consultant. Gianato mentioned issues with sub-recipient monitoring, which he said has been a problem since 2010.

“The biggest challenge is not having enough staff to do sub-recipient monitoring and do disaster recovery,” Gianato told the committee.

The manual reimbursement penalty affects the Hazard Mitigation Grants program, Public Assistance grants, the Community Assistance program, Cooperating Technical Partners, the Emergency Management Performance grants and includes all open grants, including the 2016 flood grants, according to the PERD report. Gianato said FEMA lifted the manual reimbursement requirement during the 2016 floods but only for that event.

Michael Todorovich, director of the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, also addressed the committee Tuesday. Todorovich said the department is working on policies to improve oversight of the grants.

“I truly believe you will see some significant positive results,” Todorovich said.

Committee members asked about steps the department is taking to prevent manual reimbursements in the future.

Todorovich said the department has a full monitoring staff that is part of internal review.

Committee members also asked if the department is working to improve poor sub-recipient monitoring. Todorovich said there had been problems with returning phone calls expeditiously but the department is working on a system where every phone call that comes in is logged, assigned to someone and noted when it’s completed.

Todorovich said he is working on a spreadsheet to give to committee members on grants, detailing the amount of money available, the amount of money spent, and the remaining amount of money.

Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, adjutant general, said his biggest priorities are communication, management, hiring more people, and following up. He said staffing challenges have been part of the problem.

“We want to build as much capability internally for the state that we can afford to make sure that we have that capability going forward,” Hoyer said.

“I want to build a capable staff in the state of West Virginia so when FEMA has a disaster somewhere else, they want to call on us going forward,” Hoyer said.

Committee members also heard updates on the RISE program. The Legislative Auditor previously conducted an audit of the RISE program, detailing issues with construction companies that did work for the program.

Justin Robinson, director of the Post Audit Division, and Adam Fridley, legislative audit manager, said they anticipate releasing a report in December.

Fridley said since the time of the last report, the West Virginia Development Office has executed new contracts. He said all active cases in the system are currently under contract.

Hoyer said there are 410 cases outstanding – 171 that require total reconstruction, 153 that require some form of rehabilitation, and 86 mobile home replacement units. So far, 39 homes have been completed.

Hoyer said there are contracts in place to manage these 410 cases. However, of those 410, he said there may be other issues including environmental assessments before going into the queue to the actual contractors.

Legislators asked Hoyer about the timeframe to complete these outstanding cases.

“We’re on a good path but I still believe … we have 24 months of work to do with the goal of expediting as quickly as we can,” Hoyer said, noting weather is a factor determining how quickly work is done.

Legislators also asked Hoyer if West Virginia is still listed as a “slow spender” under the U.S. department of Housing and Urban Development. West Virginia is now listed as “on pace.” “Slow spender” means spending less than 10 percent of the monthly pace required to fully use the grant by the target closeout date, which is Dec. 30, 2023. “On pace” means spending greater than 10 percent of the monthly pace.

Joint Committee on Government and Finance Hears October Revenue Numbers

Interim Report

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November 11, 2018

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Legislators heard an update of General Revenue figures during Sunday’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance Subcommittee meeting.

Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow presented October number, where collections were $359.2 million, which was about $2.3 million above estimates. Muchow said this is 1.5 percent above last year’s numbers.

Muchow said year-to-date collections totaled more than $1.478 billion, which was $122 million above estimate. He said October marks a 13.5 percent growth rate the first four months into the 2019 fiscal year.

“This is a strong growth rate,” Muchow said.

Muchow said October’s numbers were attributed to a few factors including consumer sales tax and severance tax. The state was $4.2 million above estimate in consumer sales tax and 14.4 percent ahead of last year.

Personal income tax took a pause. He said personal income tax was $6.5 million below estimate but he said the figures are still strong and were 11.7 percent ahead of last year.

Muchow said severance tax was $5.4 million above estimate and 50.4 percent ahead of last year.

He said oil and gas had higher production numbers, representing a more stable pricing compared to last year. He said numbers are much closer to the national average this year as compared to last year. However, he said there is caution for severance tax because recently, oil prices have taken a dip.

Post Audits Subcommittee Hears Three Reports

Interim Report

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November 11, 2018

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Legislators heard three reports during Sunday’s Post Audits Subcommittee meeting.

The first report was a Performance Evaluation and Research Division Report on the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management – Federal Grant Management.

FEMA placed the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) on manual reimbursement effective Jan. 13, 2016.

FEMA notified the department in a November 2015 letter about the state being placed on manual reimbursement—a penalty for not following federal grant requirements dating back to 2009. Manual reimbursements may add as much as 90 days before the state could get reimbursed for expenditures totaling more than $100,000. The penalty affected multiple grant programs.

West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety Secretary Jeff Sandy said he was not aware of the FEMA letter.

“It’s disappointing to my staff and the governor’s staff that we were unaware of that letter,” Sandy said.

The Department of Homeland Emergency Management was moved under supervision of Major General James Hoyer, the Adjutant General.

The report determined deficiencies in internal control and management resulted in federal financial penalties. Preliminary recommendations include creating policies and procedures and reporting to the Legislature detailing actions taken.

Hoyer said he has created a matrix of outstanding issues, met with the FEMA Region 3 executive who provided additional fulltime support on behalf of FEMA, and is working to implement updated policies and procedures to address issues. Hoyer asked lawmakers to give him until the January Post Audits Subcommittee meeting to give an update.

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Legislators also heard a letter report on the Bureau of Juvenile Services Inventory Management.

Back in February, Sandy requested a series of inventory audits on agencies and divisions under his purview. The Bureau of Juvenile Services is within the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It operates 17 Youth Reporting Centers and 10 Juvenile Centers statewide.

The Legislative Auditor determined Juvenile Services’ inventory management system was not operating in compliance with state code or the Department of Administration’s Surplus Property Operations Manual. The Legislative Auditor further found that the inventory management system does not reliably track the agency’s assets and does not adequately safeguard those assets from misappropriation.

The inventory record in wvOASIS included 1,880 items, which had a total original acquisition cost of about $31 million. The audit found 180 items—including riding mowers, snow blowers, printers, computers, a bandsaw and a welder—did not list serial numbers. There were 15 items that did not have asset tag numbers.

The audit found that 309 items in Juvenile Services’ inventory record did not have the correct physical locations recorded.

The Legislative Auditor recommended developing corrective action plans to ensure that the asset record in wvOASIS is complete and accurate. The Legislative Auditor also recommended Juvenile Services update its current policy on recording inventory.

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Legislators also heard a legislative audit report on the Division of Correction’s 25-year lease of the former West Virginia Penitentiary. Nick Hamilton, senior auditor, said last September, Sandy wrote a memo to the governor’s office, expressing several concerns with the Division of Correction’s lease of the penitentiary to the Moundsville Economic Development Council (MEDC).

The report found that from February 1997 to July 2013, the Division of Corrections paid an undetermined amount electric utility costs that were MEDC’s responsibility. The report further said from July 2013 to April 2018, the division paid about $204,000 for electric utility cost.

The audit further said poorly drafted language in insurance requirements in a 2004 lease agreements and a 2013 Memorandum of Understanding potentially opened the state to increased liability.

The report found MEDC lost its IRS tax-exempt status for failure to file. As a nonprofit, it was eligible for insurance under the state Board of Risk and Insurance Management (BRIM) but the revocation of its tax-exempt status left questions. BRIM requested a legal opinion, which said the statute does not preclude MEDC’s eligibility for coverage due only to its tax exempt status revocation.

The Legislative Auditor recommended the Division of Corrections comply with the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding and only pay for utilities in which it is responsible. The Legislative Auditor additionally recommended the Division of Corrections try to collect the $203,000 it paid for MEDC’s electric utility service.

Additionally, the Legislative Auditor recommended the Division of Corrections to establish a new lease agreement with MEDC and recommended the Legislature to review state code regarding the state Board of Risk and Insurance Management insuring nonprofit entities to determine if the nonprofit is required to be an IRS 501(c)(3) designated entity or a federal tax-exempt entity.

In the report, the Legislative Auditor also expressed concerns with allowing a state agency to enter into a 25-year lease agreement without requiring review of the language, terms and potential long-term effects of the agreement. The Legislative Auditor recommended the Legislature consider drafting legislation requiring any leasing of state property for a period more than 10 years to be reviewed for content to ensure duties and responsibilities are clearly defined.

Suzanne Park, director of MEDC addressed legislators Sunday. She said the organization discovered during the last legislative session that the lease had been terminated effective this year.

She also said she was not aware that the organization’s nonprofit status had been discontinued until the issue later was brought to her attention.

She said she feels it is important that if the state look at the lease, they should remodel it.

Tom Azinger sworn in to House of Delegates 10th District

Swearing-In Ceremony

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November 2, 2018

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Tom Azinger was sworn in Friday in the West Virginia House of Delegates chamber to fill the seat in District 10.

Gov. Jim Justice appointed Azinger earlier this week to fill the seat vacated by Delegate Frank Deem, R-Wood, who passed away earlier last month at age 90. Deem served a total of 48 years in the Legislature and was first elected to the House in 1954.

Azinger, of Vienna, previously served 10 consecutive terms in the House from 1995-2015.

Justice Beth Walker Acquitted in Impeachment Trial

Senate Floor Session

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October 2, 2018

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Following roughly two hours of deliberations on Tuesday afternoon, the Senate voted 32-1 to acquit Justice Beth Walker in her impeachment trial. Senator Stephen Baldwin (D-Greenbrier), was the lone vote to impeach Walker.

After the vote, the Senate recessed for 15 minutes to consider a resolution, before returning to adopt Senate Resolution 205 . The resolution publicly reprimands Walker.

Earlier Tuesday, Mike McKown, the former state budget director who now works in the state auditor’s office, was the final witness to testify in the trial. McKown described to lawmakers how flat the state budget was over the years in question, as the Supreme Court continued to spend freely.

Delegate John Shott then gave his closing statement on behalf of the House Managers. He argued that the Supreme Court was infected with a sense of entitlement and that Walker wasted no time joining the party. He again went over the taxpayer funded lunches, the hired opinion at a cost of $10,000, and the $130,000 office renovation.

Walker’s attorrney Mike Hissam argued that Walker, as a new member of the court, did her best to right the ship and change the culture of entitlement.

The Senate is adjourned until Oct. 15 at 9 a.m.

Impeachment Trial for Justice Beth Walker Begins

Senate Floor Session

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October 1, 2018

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The first of four scheduled impeachment trials, this one concerning Justice Beth Walker, began at 9 a.m. today in the Senate chamber.

The proceedings began with acting Chief Justice Paul T. Farrell giving the senators, who are acting as the jury in the court of impeachment, instructions. He directed them to remain impartial, stay off social media, and refrain from discussing the facts of the case among one another prior to the deliberations portion of the trial.

Farrell quickly denied Walker’s motion to dismiss the impeachment charge against her.

Walker was the first witness to testify. She fielded questions from House Judiciary Chairman John Shott, who is presenting the House’s case on behalf of the House Managers. A portion of Shott’s line of questioning focused on working lunches brought in for justices and staff on days when the court heard cases or met to discuss opinions and other court business.

Walker reiterated multiple times that she regrets participating in the lunches, but does not view them as illegal. Walker also noted that she promptly paid back one-fifth of the expenses related to the lunches for 2017, her first year on the court.

When asked about hiring outside counsel to write an opinion for her, Walker testified that she was working with two law clerks rather than the standard practice four, and that one of those two was on maternity leave. She instructed the court to hire Barbara Allen, who now is the court’s administrative director, to write the opinion for her at a cost of $10,000. Walker testified her staff costs were lower than any of the other justices.

Shott also asked Walker about the $130,000 renovation to her office that came only a few years after former Justice Brent Benjamin had spent $264,000 remodeling the same space. Walker expressed regret for the remodel, saying she should have reassessed the project.

During his opening statements, Walker’s attorney Mike Hissam, argued his client “did not engage in any conduct that would justify the extraordinary remedy of removing her from office against the will of the voters.”

Hissam also argued that Article of Impeachment XIV, the only article Walker is charged with, is confusing. He called it “everything and nothing” and referred to it as “a catch-all mishmash of all sorts of administrative practices, many of which Beth never had anything to do with.”

In discussing impeachment under cross examination from Hissam, Walker said she views impeachable offenses as stealing, lying and corruption. She contends she never engaged in any of that behavior.

Other witnesses for the House Managers included: Justin Robinson, Director of the Post Audits Division for the West Virginia Legislature, Sue Racer-Troy, the CFO for the WV Supreme Court of Appeals, and JB McCuskey, State Auditor of West Virginia.

The House Managers have one additional witness scheduled to testify tomorrow at 9 a.m. Following that testimony, the defense will put on its case.

The Senate and the Impeachment Court have adjourned until tomorrow at 9 a.m.

Hoyer updates lawmakers on flood recovery efforts

Interim Report

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September 18, 2018

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West Virginia National Guard Adjutant General Maj. Gen. James Hoyer updated lawmakers about the progress of flood recovery efforts and the process going forward.

In Tuesday’s Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding, Hoyer told legislators that he feels the program is moving in the right direction.

“I’ve got the sense that individuals impacted by RISE believe that the program is moving in the right direction and have confidence in the program,” Hoyer said. “They may not be happy with the speed that it’s going because of state and federal regulations … but there is a confidence that we are working exponentially to take care of issues the best we can and we are communicating effectively.”

Hoyer said there have been 25 homes –all mobile home units– signed off as completed. He said 424 cases are still tracked through the system. Of those, 166 are total reconstruction, about 160 are rehabilitation and 98 are mobile home units.

He said those 424 individual family cases were within the original construction piece under four contracts, which were recently increased to nine contracts to meet requirements under state law.

“Those four contracts go to nine contracts primarily because of the way we have to structure to meet the requirements under state purchasing law,” Hoyer said. “This is a regional approach which gave us an advantage, we thought, going into the bid process, because someone at the local level may bid.”

Delegate Kayla Kessinger, R-Fayette, asked Hoyer about the timeframe moving forward. Hoyer said there is still work to do.

“I will tell you that we have 18-24 months-worth of work to be close to having the bulk of this closed out,” Hoyer said. “I would hate to say anything less because if we run into environmental issues on the property, that extends it out. Now, we have the appropriate framework in place. We have the right people working it but we still have a long way to go to take care of families.”