West Virginia retirees and their representatives urged lawmakers to consider a one-time supplement to provide financial relief for the state’s older population during a meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Pensions and Retirement Tuesday morning.

AARP West Virginia State President Jane Marks told the committee that many retirees are struggling to pay for rising household and utility costs due to inflation, a situation made worse as they continue to recover from the health and financial impacts of the pandemic.

Marks and other speakers encouraged lawmakers to utilize the state’s estimated $400 million surplus (after nearly $800 million in already-approved surplus earmarks are subtracted) to provide a one-time supplement for certain state retirees living on fixed incomes.

Marks believes a cost of living adjustment for retirees would make more sense in the future given the state’s older population generally drives economic growth by spending a higher percentage of their income on the goods and services they need.

AARP reports the state’s 50-plus population accounted for 41 percent of West Virginia’s population, yet contributed 44 percent — or $37 billion — of the state’s total Gross Domestic Product, supporting 426,000 jobs and generating $22 billion in wages and salaries.

There are currently 250,000 AARP members in West Virginia.

Danny Gray, a retired teacher representing the West Virginia Association of Retired School Employees, told lawmakers prices are going up on everything, and he, and others like him, need help keeping up with necessities.

Gray explained that when he retired 20 years ago he didn’t take any medication. He now takes six prescriptions daily. He says his situation is not unique across West Virginia.

“In all of those years since I retired, I’ve never gotten a cost-of-living adjustment or any kind of increase, so the household budget becomes more strained with each passing year,”  Gray said.

Lawmakers heard about efforts to improve the state’s rail-trail networks during the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Subcommittee Sunday evening at the Capitol.

Rail-trails refer to public, shared use paths built on a railway’s path, usually after the railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed.

Assistant Commissioner of Highways Rita Pauley gave lawmakers an overview of the network, informing them that there are close to 70 rail-trails across the state. She also discussed possible expansion of the system, noting that it all depends on trails that would be safe to develop along with the railroad company’s willingness to allow the state to use their property.

Senate Bill 588, introduced in January’s Regular Session, was discussed. The legislation dealt with rail line liability and also proposed updating the West Virginia Rail Trails Program with a “rail with trail” system that would develop public trails next to active rail lines.

Representatives from railroad companies CSX and Norfolk Southern were opposed to the bill,telling the subcommittee that public access so close to active trains was inviting possible injury or death.

Despite broad support in both the Senate and House, the bill failed to pass prior to the end of the 2022 session.

A general session was held to hear about WV School Safety. On May 26, the Department of Homeland Security began looking at best practices. West Virginia Schools are required to have a crisis response plan, which must be submitted annually. DHS presented that school safety is everyone’s responsibility and the agency is looking to expand safety. The agency is currently in discussions for a reporting app where students, teachers, parents, and members of the public could submit reports if they hear about a potential shooting or other threat. The hope is the app could be used to report security issues such as an open door or a gate into campus being opened.

The Department of Education has been working with the Department of Homeland Security to connect county boards for safety plans. It is important to be proactive and have a threat assessment plan in place. Other programs in schools are designed to help identify vulnerable students. The One Caring Adult Program connects students with one school employee to provide them with an outlet for discussion because not all students have home lives where they can talk to parents. This helps identify students who might need additional resources or services.

The School Building Authority presented safety precautions taken in the design of the building. In 2017, the School Safety Act was adopted. All new schools constructed with SBA funds must have certain safety features. Concrete barriers must be in front of the entrance to stop cars from crashing into the building. Door and window numbering on the outside is required. Administrative traps are in new buildings to prevent visitors from entering the school. A-Phone cameras must be installed for visitors to identify themselves and be buzzed into the school. Safety glass and security glazing on windows are required. Panic exiting doors are required, which are doors that you cannot enter, but can exit. Currently, 326 of the 674 schools in the state have panic exit schools.

Lawmakers listened to testimony regarding the obstacles to fostering children in West Virginia during a meeting of the Joint Committee on Children and Families Monday afternoon at the Capitol.

With more than 6,600 children in foster care, West Virginia has one of the highest rates of kids in the system in the country. Finding qualified and willing foster care parents continues to be a challenge in the state.

The goal of lawmakers in the meeting was to learn more about the obstacles and find ways the state can encourage and increase the number of foster families to help support a system in crisis.

Lawmakers raised concerns about paper vouchers foster parents receive from the state to buy necessities such as diapers, clothes and car seats.

Jeff Pack, social services commissioner for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, said those vouchers used to be accepted at Walmart, but now they are only accepted at JCPenney and Gabe’s. That leaves a lot of the state out of receiving those benefits.

Pack said DHHR is rolling out an app-based voucher system through Apple Pay and Google Pay with hopes of helping foster families purchase the items they need at a variety of retailers available to them.

Christy Beaver, foster parent and Foster Support Coordinator for the SafeHaven Campaign, said inconsistencies in policies and a lack of communication are two issues that have bothered her for years. Beaver has been a foster care parent in Fayette County for 16 years.

“When you have poor communication, it’s hard to take care of the child; it’s hard to know what’s going on,” Beaver said. “It’s hard to know the proper steps to take when it comes to moving the kids back to their biological parents.”

Beaver also spoke of the need for child care, especially for part-time workers. She also mentioned the need for better training, respite care and money to take care of the children.

Lawmakers ended the meeting by emphasizing that there are several issues they need to address regarding foster care policy, communication and logistics during the next legislative session.

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development met on June 14, 2022 and heard a presentation on Meat Processing Facilities in the state.

West Virginia has 25 commercial processing plants with 17 of them being slaughter-only plants. Twenty-three custom-exempt plants provide slaughtering and processing services, but the meat isn’t available for sale. West Virginia is one of 27 states that have its only meat inspection licensing. Therefore, plants have the option of being inspected by the state or federal government. Some states only have the federal option. If meat is going to be sold across state lines, it must be federally inspected. Commercial plants are inspected daily, and every animal is inspected while it is alive and during the slaughter process to ensure it is safe for human consumption. Processing plants are also inspected for sanitation.

The federal government handles import and export as well as egg and catfish inspection. WV’s state licensure only includes red meat and poultry.

The limitations of the meat processing industry include the size of the plants. The plants are small and primarily for local or regional processing. The size of the plants doesn’t have the compacity to handle mechanic operations and because of this, the industry is labor-intensive. Staffing is another limitation, as it is difficult to find skilled employees. Advertising for the industry needs to be more frequent and target younger generations to teach them about meat processing.

WVU and 17 high schools have meat processing labs, which are inspected by the state. Several of the high school instructors have expressed their want to use the labs more often.

State Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy told the Joint Finance Committee on Monday that the state is projected to end the year on June 30 with an estimated $1.2 billion ahead of revenue estimates.

Hardy informed the committee that the state is already $73 million ahead of estimates for the month of June alone. West Virginia came into the month having collected $1.1 billion more in revenue than originally anticipated through the first 11 months of the fiscal year. Hardy noted that June is an impactful collection month with estimated taxes due on June 15.

The Legislature has already earmarked close to $800 million in surplus funding in the 2023 budget, which will leave roughly $400 million for other needs. The Legislature will need to allocate those remaining funds, a task that is likely to take place in a special session later this summer.

Speaking next, Deputy Revenue Secretary Muchow explained a substantial rise in severance taxes due to raising prices of coal and natural gas. Muchow informed the committee that May 2022 collections were at $754 million.

Answering how energy markets might be impacted by a coming recession, Muchow predicted energy to stay stronger than other sectors of the economy and only feel the effect later if there is less demand.

The Select Committee on Infrastructure met on June 13, 2022.

The Committee heard an update on broadband in West Virginia. A billion-dollar broadband investment from the Governor. Four programs for deploying assets. The targeted addresses will be reached with various funding programs. LEAD Program is the network line extension to get broadband to more addresses. GigReady provides technical assistance to various entities, such as cities and county commissions, to ensure areas are covered by fiber. Technical and Operational Financial Resilience Broadband Development impact is helping with the speed of market, speed of service, and feasibility. Wireless Internet Networks is the last state-created project. The Federal Government is going to start the Affordable Connectivity Program, which will help provide a monthly credit for broadband.

The Committee also heard an update on funding and projects involving water development in the state. AEP provided an update. Fiber projects have expanded into southern West Virginia. They are facing supply chain issues.

The Joint Committee on the Judiciary met on June 13, 2022 and heard three presentations.

The first presentation was on a draft interim bill regarding the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. The act is Chapter 46a Article 7 Section 111. The act is intended to protect consumers from fraudulent schemes and other harmful practices. The AG has filed cases against several industries on the behalf of WV citizens including the tobacco industry, opioid industry and hearing aide dealers. The proposed language would restrict the statute of limitations to 10 years from violation of the Act. The proposed change would not be retroactive and could not be applied to cases which have already been filed. The point of having the AG bring a case against an industry is that there is strength in numbers and that is an important part of consumer protection.

The committee also heard presentations from the summer law clerks working for the House of Delegates. One presentation was on WV’s Freedom of Information Act. FOIA applies to public records only. Private records cannot be FOIA-ed. Fees may be collected if compiling the records takes more than one hour. If an individual is denied access to public records, action can be taken through the circuit court where the public record is denied. Penalties can be applied to a custodian who fails to fulfill the FOIA request. Attorney fees and court costs can be revered if an individual must take action after being denied access to public record.

The last presentation was on the WV Ethics Act. All public servants are subject to the Ethics Act. It is the code of conduct for public servants and prohibits individuals from knowingly and intentionally using their role to benefit in an unethically way. Employees cannot seek or be employed by a vendor the employee has public control over. The Ethics Commission was created in 1999 to enforce the Ethics Act and give formal advisory opinions to guide individuals. Members of the commission serve five-year terms and can only serve two consecutive terms.  The commission has nine members. The Probable Cause Review Board was created, and it is an autonomous board, which is not controlled by the Ethics Commission. Increasing the frequency of mandatory ethics training is a national trend. Many other states require training annually, every other year, or every three years. Another trend is including social media training as it has change the way public servants interact with the public.

Jennifer Ferrell, Director of Community Advancement for the state Economic Development Office, spoke to the Joint Committee on Flooding during interim meetings at the Capitol Sunday afternoon.

She informed the committee that West Virginia hopes to finish construction on 20 remaining homes through the RISE West Virginia program by early this fall. This comes nearly six years after nearly 400 homes were destroyed by devastating flooding. So far, 367 homes and 46 bridge projects have been completed according to Ferrell, with eight bridge projects remaining.

West Virginia was awarded $149 million in Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Relief by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The state made its request to start using the money on Jan. 29, 2018, with approval granted on Feb. 20, 2018.

Ferrell informed the committee that the state has spent $90.7 million of the funds made available through HUD.

In a wider sense, committee chairman, Senator Chandler Swope (R-Mercer, 06) urged committee members to support calling on the Legislature to add flood mitigation to the list of subject matter it develops legislation for, now that federal funds are available for potential projects.

West Virginia received the second payment in May of $1.35 billion in direct state funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The funds can be used for coronavirus-related expenses, as well as for specific infrastructure projects, such as broadband, stormwater and watershed infrastructure projects, including flood mitigation.

Bob Martin, director of the State Resiliency Office, also spoke to the committee on Sunday. He, along with Swope and state and local emergency management officials, took part in a two-day flood symposium last month.

The goal of the symposium was to review and update West Virginia’s flood protection plan, an 11-page document first completed in 2004. Martin told the committee the review should be completed by the end of the year.