[24:16] ed will come to order first item

[24:18] on the agenda is approval of

[24:20] August11,2026 minutes

[24:26] got to get Mcgeha is recognized

[24:27] you thank you Mr Chair I move

[24:29] to approve the august11 minutes.

[24:33] like again moves to approve the

[24:36] the mes or discussion

[24:41] not all those in favor signify

[24:43] by saying I all this booze no

[24:44] the us appear toha it the ays do

[24:46] have it declare the minutes

[24:47] approved.

[24:53] first item is committee report

[24:53] requests

[24:59] then we move on to monthly

[25:01] quarter quarterly reports

[25:01] received

[25:05] the next order of business

[25:06] before the committee is the

[25:08] regular monthly quarterly

[25:09] reports members will find in

[25:10] their packets the reports from

[25:11] each agency

[25:14] first one is Mr Peter

[25:15] Shirley

[25:26] Thank you Mr President. good

[25:27] afternoon everyone.

[25:30] I am Pete Shirley, deputy

[25:31] revenue secretary and I'm going

[25:33] to go ahead and go through our

[25:34] revenues through the first two

[25:35] months of FY2027.

[25:39] so diving right into things

[25:41] august for the general

[25:44] revenue fun we were34.8 million

[25:48] or 8.4% above estimate and we

[25:52] were52.5 million or13.2% over

[25:54] august of last year. So

[25:56] regardless of which way you're

[25:58] looking at it, whether you're

[25:59] looking at it relative to

[26:00] estimate or you're looking at

[26:02] actual year over year growth

[26:04] both really healthy revenue

[26:05] figures for the state

[26:10] looking there at the various

[26:11] components of general revenue

[26:13] you can see that the largest

[26:15] driver of that both again

[26:16] whether you're whether you're

[26:18] looking relative to estimate or

[26:20] year over year growth is

[26:22] personal income tax so personal

[26:24] income tax was15.3 million

[26:26] dollars over estimate or26.5

[26:28] million over last year and you

[26:30] can see there that especially

[26:31] with that year over year growth

[26:32] that's a really big percentage

[26:34] and I think a natural question

[26:35] is why is that is that that

[26:36] people are making that

[26:39] much more money what's you know

[26:42] what's going on there as I've

[26:43] mentioned a couple of times

[26:44] before I think that looking at

[26:45] withholding earth is a really

[26:46] good way to get a measure of

[26:48] this that's the withholding that

[26:50] comes out of people's paychecks

[26:52] you know for for us that work

[26:53] here at the state it's every two

[26:54] weeks whether it's you know two

[26:56] weeks twice a month, monthly

[26:58] whatever the case may be

[27:02] withholding is up2.4% over the

[27:04] past 12 months. so it is up

[27:05] that's that's growth that's

[27:06] below the rate of inflation

[27:06] which

[27:10] is3.4% but withholding over the

[27:11] past year

[27:13] has grown but not at that rate

[27:15] so that doesn't explain all of

[27:16] this growth that we've seen.

[27:18] there are two other things that

[27:20] I think are important there one

[27:21] is that we've paid out

[27:24] significantly less in refunds in

[27:25] just the month of August alone

[27:28] we paid out about7.5 million

[27:30] dollars less in refunds than we

[27:32] did in August of last year so

[27:34] that's that's a good chunk of

[27:36] that growth and part of the

[27:40] reason for that is the MB1, the

[27:41] car tax rebate I think is as

[27:41] it's more

[27:44] commonly known as for all of

[27:48] 2025 we refunded a little

[27:51] over125 million to taxpayers

[27:53] so that's through all of2025

[27:54] through

[27:57] the most recent data that I had

[28:01] for2026. it was 96.5 million so

[28:04] it was almost30 million dollars

[28:05] less. there's still some more

[28:06] that will come in particularly

[28:07] for people that file an

[28:07] extension but

[28:11] we are on track to pay out

[28:13] less this year than we did last

[28:14] year and that's not just

[28:15] per

[28:19] per claim we've had about50,000

[28:21] fewer claims for the credit

[28:22] relative to last year so I think

[28:24] it's the combination of those

[28:26] things withholding is up yes but

[28:28] we also have less that's being

[28:30] paid out in refunds and a good

[28:32] chunk of that is is because of

[28:34] the the car tax rebate so

[28:36] that's personal income tax sales

[28:39] tax4 million overestimate7.7

[28:42] million over August of last

[28:42] year. the thing that I really

[28:44] like to see there on sales tax.

[28:45] I just mentioned it for the PT

[28:46] is that

[28:50] that growth rate4.3% is above

[28:51] the rate of inflation so it's

[28:52] good to see sales tax growth

[28:54] above the rate of inflation that

[28:56] means that you know real

[29:00] spending has has increased in

[29:01] severance a bounce back month

[29:02] for severance we'll look at the

[29:03] year to date for severance here

[29:04] on the next slide but good to

[29:06] see a bounce back month on

[29:10] severance um10.3 million above

[29:12] estimate and16.3 million

[29:15] above the prior august and those

[29:16] three combin

[29:20] ed for29.6 of that34.8 over

[29:22] overestimate and everything else

[29:24] was the was the remaining5.2 so

[29:26] really those those three items

[29:28] PT sales and severance were the

[29:31] were the drivers of our august

[29:32] revenues looking year to date

[29:37] very similar story um46.1

[29:40] million over for the first two

[29:42] months overestimate that's5.8%

[29:46] or53.2 million 6.8% over

[29:50] for the year as as with august

[29:51] and again there's only two

[29:52] months in this fiscal year to

[29:54] date data so you would expect

[29:55] that you know

[29:58] august is going to be very

[29:59] important there PT was the

[30:02] number one driver but again

[30:03] the same caveats that I just

[30:04] mentioned that withholding

[30:05] growth over the past 12 months

[30:08] has been slower than the rate

[30:10] of inflation and that some chunk

[30:12] of this is applied to refunds

[30:14] both of those caveats still

[30:18] apply sales again same thing15

[30:19] million relative estimate for

[30:22] the year21.4 million over the

[30:24] prior fiscal year to date that

[30:25] that growth rate is actually

[30:25] even higher at 6

[30:28] 8 % so that that's an

[30:30] encouraging sign for

[30:32] additional consumption and

[30:34] severance the one thing to note

[30:35] there is that we had a

[30:37] particularly bad July followed

[30:40] by a pretty good august and so

[30:43] we are under for the estimate

[30:45] for the year by about a little

[30:47] over2 million dollars but we

[30:48] have experienced growth from

[30:52] FY2026 to FY2027 year to date

[30:54] and so you know essentially what

[30:55] that means is that the estimate

[30:56] was anticipating

[30:58] growth but it was anticipating a

[31:00] little bit more growth than than

[31:02] what we actually saw and I think

[31:04] that some relatively no low

[31:06] natural gas prices again

[31:07] something we'll we'll dive into

[31:08] a little bit here more in a

[31:09] second are something that I

[31:09] think has a

[31:13] has driven that other than that

[31:14] just looking down at the the

[31:16] other items the biggest one

[31:17] there that stands out is

[31:20] interest income which is3.7

[31:22] million above relative to the

[31:24] estimate for the year and that's

[31:26] again it it's good that that

[31:28] the state's investments continue

[31:30] to bring us a return above what

[31:32] we are anticipating short

[31:33] term interest rates remain

[31:36] remain elevated but we have seen

[31:37] a little bit of softening over

[31:40] the past year or so in the

[31:41] balances that are being invested

[31:41] which

[31:43] means that agencies that have

[31:44] cash on hand that is being

[31:46] invested particularly with the

[31:48] BTti that cash is is being

[31:51] spent down for a variety of

[31:51] purposes

[31:56] looking at our general

[31:57] revenue fund collection trends

[31:58] one thing that I think is

[32:01] important to note if if you

[32:02] all you all have the slides so

[32:04] you can sort of look at it with

[32:06] me if you look at that red line

[32:07] which is the personal income tax

[32:08] so these are the major

[32:09] components of the general

[32:11] revenue fund if you look at that

[32:12] red line you can sort of see two

[32:14] points where it sort of inflexs

[32:16] upwards. One is in sort of

[32:19] that2022 to early2023 period so

[32:21] that was right before the

[32:22] initial21.24 personal income

[32:25] tax rate reductions occurred so

[32:26] you can sort of all of that was

[32:28] under the same rate environment

[32:29] so it's sort of easy to see

[32:31] what's going on there and you

[32:32] can see that that tends to trend

[32:34] up right about the same time

[32:35] that the severance tax starts to

[32:36] trend upwards and you can see a

[32:38] little bit of that again in the

[32:40] most recent data where PT starts

[32:42] to inflect back up again at the

[32:44] same time that severance starts

[32:46] to inflect back up. I'm not

[32:47] trying to make a causal argument

[32:49] here perse but one of the things

[32:52] that I want to emphasize that

[32:53] I think is important and I don't

[32:53] think

[32:55] it's talked about as much as it

[32:56] should is that

[32:58] the energy and the severance

[33:00] industry also matters for our

[33:02] personal income tax collections

[33:04] and the reason for that is that

[33:06] when gas prices are higher

[33:08] when there's larger production

[33:10] and that you know that gas is

[33:11] extracted from the ground

[33:13] those companies pay royalties to

[33:14] the royalty owners the people

[33:16] who own the miner rights and

[33:17] when those people earn that

[33:18] income from those royalties they

[33:20] owe personal income taxes on it.

[33:22] so when you have a period of

[33:24] good gas production or we we've

[33:26] increased gas production every

[33:27] year for the past15 years so

[33:29] it's sort of been a good gas

[33:30] production environment for the

[33:32] past decade and a half but also

[33:33] when you've had

[33:34] periods of higher prices

[33:37] that shows up both in the

[33:38] severance tax data but then that

[33:40] also has an effect on personal

[33:44] income tax data as people pay

[33:45] income taxes on those royalties

[33:46] so just something that I want to

[33:48] point out also to an extent we

[33:51] see this with real realize

[33:52] capital gains so when we have

[33:54] particularly good times in the

[33:57] market you know this matters

[33:58] whether or not people are

[34:00] realizing those gains or not

[34:01] because they only pay income

[34:02] taxes once they actually realize

[34:03] those capital gains

[34:08] but when we see periods of of

[34:10] very good investment returns and

[34:12] people tend to realize those

[34:13] gains that will also have an

[34:14] effect on our personal income

[34:16] tax collection so just two other

[34:18] things to keep in mind that I

[34:20] think are partially to explain

[34:22] why our Pt collections are up so

[34:24] much especially so far early in

[34:26] this fiscal year sort of despite

[34:28] the fact that withholding has

[34:30] grown but grown at a much slower

[34:32] rate than you see that that

[34:33] overall growth

[34:36] speaking of severance tax

[34:38] collections the next slide you

[34:39] can see a couple of recent dips

[34:39] there

[34:43] that's driven again primarily by

[34:44] natural gas. naturaltural gas

[34:46] prices are down July of last

[34:48] year they were2 dollars 64 cents

[34:49] per MCf

[34:52] July2026 they were closer to2

[34:53] dollars about gas prices

[34:56] about20% down year over year at

[34:58] least looking at the the July

[35:00] figures so the trend that we saw

[35:01] downward here at the beginning

[35:03] of the this fiscal year is is

[35:06] mostly driven by natural gas you

[35:07] can see that the coal there has

[35:07] remained

[35:10] relatively stable over about the

[35:11] past year or so.

[35:14] switching to the state

[35:18] roadund state road fund is27.2

[35:22] million over for August or 9.5%

[35:23] compared year over year

[35:28] that's37.1 million or13.4% on

[35:29] that37.1

[35:32] the the largest component of

[35:34] that that I think is really

[35:35] important to point out is the

[35:37] back of the budget funding for

[35:40] roads so in August there was you

[35:41] can see there that august

[35:42] official estimate for

[35:44] miscellaneous was125 million

[35:46] dollars that is that125 million

[35:48] dollars appropriation from the

[35:50] back of the budget lastst year

[35:52] it was100 million dollars so

[35:54] that difference of25 million

[35:56] dollars is in that39.6 million

[35:59] and so a good chunk of that

[35:59] year over year difference

[36:04] is additional transfers of money

[36:05] from the general revenue fund to

[36:08] the to the state roadund looking

[36:09] at the other components

[36:10] registration fees were almost

[36:12] exactly on estimate for the

[36:14] month. Saes tax was slightly

[36:17] down motor fuel tax slightly up

[36:18] again that's something that I've

[36:21] been cautious about if if you

[36:22] recall over these past couple of

[36:24] months especially with slightly

[36:26] higher gas prices but that has

[36:28] been these past two months have

[36:29] been have been relatively good

[36:30] for the motor fuel tax

[36:33] and federaler reimbursement has

[36:36] been above estimate for the

[36:37] month again something that we've

[36:38] been keeping an eye on

[36:40] becauseeder reimbursements came

[36:42] in well below estimate for

[36:44] FY2026 so that is as they

[36:45] continue to work through that

[36:46] backlog from some of the

[36:47] flooding that they had hadn't

[36:48] been dealing with with those

[36:50] issues so it's good to see them

[36:51] getting back

[36:53] getting back on track

[36:55] year to date

[36:58] relatively similar story not a

[37:00] whole lot to add there47.8

[37:02] million over for the month

[37:03] or47.8 million over for the

[37:04] fiscal year to date again that's

[37:08] just July and August or10.9%52

[37:09] million over

[37:11] for the

[37:14] year over year11.9% again I

[37:15] think the biggest thing to point

[37:16] out there is that

[37:18] 25 million of that is the

[37:22] additional appropriation from

[37:24] the general revenue fund but

[37:26] registration fees and sales

[37:28] continue to outperform the

[37:30] estimate motor fuel does as well

[37:31] which is good and

[37:34] so does theeder reimbursement

[37:36] again for the same reasons the

[37:38] fiscal year to date story there

[37:39] in the

[37:41] just the the august story I

[37:41] think or

[37:44] relatively similar and that is

[37:46] the state road fund and Mr

[37:47] President I'm happy to take

[37:48] any questions that you all have

[37:52] thank you Mr Shirley is a

[37:53] questions our delegate howe

[37:58] thank you Mr Chairman thanks for

[37:59] being here, Pete. a couple of

[38:00] questions when we take the

[38:02] severance tax out which I

[38:03] believe is how we calculate if

[38:04] we're going to reduce the income

[38:05] tax

[38:07] how are we comparing to

[38:08] inflation

[38:09] how's that looking are we

[38:13] outperforming inflation we blow

[38:14] inflation where are we at on

[38:16] that? So I have not done that

[38:18] through these two months so far

[38:19] this year but I can tell you

[38:20] sort of when we did the

[38:22] calculation at the end of

[38:25] uhY2026 we were below the rate

[38:25] of inflation

[38:29] for FY2026 when you remove

[38:31] severance tax so we had revenue

[38:33] growth without severance tax but

[38:34] it was revenue growth below the

[38:36] rate of inflation so we got

[38:38] farther away from the trigger

[38:39] than we were

[38:42] prior year. I believe we missed

[38:45] the trigger by306 million

[38:45] dollars

[38:50] last July and we missed it by

[38:51] 391 this July.

[38:54] is that a trend you expect to

[38:55] continue?

[38:58] For the most part yes

[39:02] also noticed that back about

[39:04] the beginning of25 corporate

[39:05] nets starts to drop

[39:08] or our corporations becoming

[39:10] less profitable or we losing

[39:11] them are we not replacing them?

[39:12] what's what's the cause of that?

[39:16] I think the largest the largest

[39:17] thing that you see there so some

[39:18] of this comes in before the

[39:20] effects of the big beautifulau

[39:22] bill but part of that the lion's

[39:24] share of that I think I think we

[39:26] had estimated about100 million

[39:28] on the corporate side was going

[39:29] to be the effects of the big

[39:30] beautifulau bill and we've seen

[39:32] something slightly larger than

[39:34] that over the past period of

[39:35] time. so

[39:38] two things there one that's the

[39:40] largest driver but I also think

[39:41] that

[39:43] similar to what I just said on

[39:46] the PT being tied to the energy

[39:47] industry. a lot of our most

[39:50] profitable companies that have

[39:52] sales in west Virginia also our

[39:55] energy companies and so when

[39:56] when energy prices are

[39:56] relatively high they have higher

[39:58] profits we see that come in and

[40:00] then as energy prices start to

[40:01] come down that sort of comes

[40:01] back out a little bit as well

[40:04] that's not really showing in the

[40:05] graph here as I see it

[40:08] you don't think so

[40:11] because it because I see the

[40:15] personal income tax is on the

[40:18] rise sales tax is on the rise

[40:19] but this is going down here. I'm

[40:19] looking at this chart

[40:22] I'm suck I'm looking at about

[40:26] July of2025 it starts to come

[40:28] down for the green line which is

[40:29] the corporate net right that's

[40:30] what I was looking at yeah and

[40:32] so that again I think the lion's

[40:34] share of that is the effects of

[40:35] conformity from the big

[40:36] beautifulau bill because if you

[40:38] recall a lot of those provisions

[40:40] were actually made retroactive

[40:42] to the beginning of2025. So when

[40:44] we canf when we conformed even

[40:46] though we conformed early in

[40:48] well that have been January of

[40:49] this year. a lot of those

[40:49] provisions were actually made

[40:50] retroactive to

[40:53] the beginning of2025 and a lot

[40:54] of those corporations were

[40:56] anticipating that we would

[40:58] ultimately conform because I

[41:00] think the public posture from

[41:01] folks in the administration was

[41:02] that that was the intent and so

[41:04] they began to act as though we

[41:05] that we were going to conform

[41:06] even if we hadn't formally

[41:07] passed the bill yet.

[41:09] and another question on

[41:10] severance tax where you know

[41:14] natural gas is now what's

[41:16] 6070% of our severance or

[41:19] something along those lines.2/3

[41:20] to70% yeah that's right. But but

[41:22] looking at your chart here and

[41:25] like gas is much more volatile

[41:28] than cole or the others so

[41:29] what's that gonna to do for our

[41:30] projections going forward where

[41:32] we're gonna have be further off

[41:34] on our projections because gas

[41:35] is so volatable now a large

[41:36] chunk of our

[41:39] it it certainly makes our lives

[41:41] more difficult yes yes yes the

[41:43] the more volatile your severance

[41:46] industry is the more the more

[41:46] volatile any industry that you

[41:48] have in your projections is the

[41:49] harder it is to make good

[41:51] projections right? I mean we

[41:52] could we could talk about all

[41:53] sorts of geopolitical things

[41:54] that are going on that have

[41:56] wreaked havoc on any estimates

[41:57] that we could have put together

[41:58] for what was going to happen

[41:59] with the energy market and

[42:04] yeah so I think I think there

[42:06] it's sort of a philosophical

[42:10] question of my my personal

[42:11] preference and my personal

[42:13] recommendation is to sort of err

[42:14] on the side of where our

[42:16] historical trends have been

[42:18] maybe rely a little bit less on

[42:19] trying to project into the

[42:20] future and say ok what is sort

[42:22] of our what is our base that we

[42:24] can really rely on year over

[42:27] year and do you treat you know a

[42:28] good severance year essentially

[42:31] as a as a bo as a windfall

[42:31] rather than something you're

[42:32] trying to

[42:34] anticipate and you're trying to

[42:35] explicitly budget for

[42:37] do you do you expect to see more

[42:39] conservative estimates so when

[42:40] we do have good times where

[42:41] we'll tend to have surpluses

[42:43] because of that I don't I don't

[42:44] think

[42:45] I'm not sure

[42:48] because obviously this is the

[42:49] this would now be the third

[42:53] round of budget estimates that I

[42:54] would have been part of helping

[42:56] put together I think that's been

[42:58] the approach for at least all of

[43:00] the ones that I've been a part

[43:02] of is that you know maybe we

[43:04] thought that severance would be

[43:06] a little bit higher but do you

[43:07] want to take that risk? do you

[43:07] want to risk

[43:10] you know conflict in the Middle

[43:12] East that type of thing. what do

[43:13] you do you want to project that

[43:13] or would you rather say

[43:16] this is where we have been

[43:18] historically. this is something

[43:20] that you know I personally as

[43:22] the deputy revenue secretary who

[43:23] was the person who usually gets

[43:23] up and explains these estimates

[43:24] to you

[43:26] is that the number that I think

[43:27] I can get up here and stand here

[43:27] and look you in the eye and

[43:28] defend.

[43:30] and something maybe that's more

[43:32] rosy do I get a little more

[43:34] nervous if I'm saying you know I

[43:35] think we can get there or would

[43:36] I rather say I really think

[43:38] we'll have at least this and

[43:39] maybe we get some more and

[43:40] that's a surplus and that'd be

[43:41] great we'd love to see that but

[43:43] do we want to count on that

[43:45] and I have one final question

[43:46] back on to the road funding act

[43:48] with the downward trend in the

[43:50] federal reimbursement is that a

[43:52] timing issue is that the roads

[43:53] to prosperity completely running

[43:53] out what's

[43:56] so we are not involved as much

[43:57] of that so a lot of the

[43:58] information I'm going to give

[44:00] you is now sort of secondhand

[44:02] from from DOt so if you really

[44:03] want it from the source I'd

[44:04] recommend talking to them but

[44:07] from my understanding with a lot

[44:08] of the flooding that occurred

[44:10] last year. they essentially took

[44:12] people that were typically doing

[44:13] their normal federal

[44:15] reimbursement process and sort

[44:16] of shifted them to working more

[44:18] with FEMA on disaster response

[44:20] and trying to get money through

[44:22] disaster recovery efforts and

[44:23] then as they've sort of

[44:25] finished up that project they've

[44:26] moved back onto their normal

[44:28] federaler reimbursement and so

[44:30] you've seen the federaler

[44:31] reimbursement start to swing up

[44:32] over the past few months as they

[44:33] sort of have gotten through that

[44:35] backlog and they're back to sort

[44:36] of their more normal activities.

[44:38] So I think you did see a dip. it

[44:40] was that that was absolutely the

[44:42] the case. but what was relayed

[44:44] to me is that they anticipated

[44:45] that to be sort of transitory as

[44:45] they worked through that process

[44:47] thank you thank you Mr Chairman

[44:50] delicateri

[44:52] thank you Mr President

[44:57] the the trenton on the PT are

[45:00] are we still seeing some backlog

[45:02] on withholding from the from the

[45:04] corporations or or businesses

[45:07] that are still withholding at a

[45:09] higher rate and trying to play

[45:09] catch up

[45:11] on their withholding

[45:14] because did we see in you're

[45:16] trending I think I heard you

[45:19] mention that your refund on pRT

[45:22] was up a little bit still we

[45:23] still got a couple more months

[45:26] to go on extensions. I I think

[45:28] that there has been some of that

[45:29] yes. I think that

[45:31] when we initially put together

[45:34] the estimates for I can't

[45:34] remember what bill number it was

[45:36] now but it was the it was the5%

[45:38] across the board tax cut when we

[45:39] had put those estimates together

[45:42] we both had an effect for FY2026

[45:44] and in effect for FY2027 and the

[45:46] idea behind FY26 when it was

[45:48] originally conceived was that

[45:50] the bill would be passed very

[45:51] quickly almosts that it you know

[45:52] it perhaps could have even been

[45:54] done prospectively rather than

[45:56] retroactively and people could

[45:57] have had time to update their

[45:58] withholdings that obviously

[45:59] didn't happen it

[46:01] passed later in session and so

[46:02] yes, I think there were people

[46:03] for whom

[46:05] they didn't properly withhold

[46:06] for those first couple of months

[46:08] of the year and I think there

[46:10] will be employers for whom you

[46:12] know especially small mom and

[46:13] pop organizations they're

[46:14] probably not gonna go to their

[46:16] accountant and try to have their

[46:18] handful of employees update

[46:18] their withholdings they'll

[46:20] probably just wait until January

[46:22] 1 of next year and do that so

[46:24] those those types of people will

[46:26] be withholding too much from now

[46:29] until December31 and what will

[46:30] happen is all of those people

[46:31] will then come in

[46:34] early next year they'll catch up

[46:35] when they do their refund and

[46:36] they'll say, oh I took out too

[46:38] much now I get a larger refund

[46:40] and then the other thing on the

[46:42] big beautiful bill I think there

[46:44] was a special consideration for

[46:46] depreciation and a continuation

[46:49] of section179 on bonus

[46:52] depreciation do you do are we

[46:54] able to see within the corporate

[46:55] returns

[46:58] those dollars as far as those

[47:00] the increases in that that is an

[47:02] excellent question. I don't know

[47:04] the answer to it but I will I

[47:05] will look into that and get back

[47:05] to you. I would

[47:08] I would imagine that there is

[47:09] somewhere where they

[47:12] specifically are claiming that I

[47:13] don't know exactly what the form

[47:14] where where that would show up

[47:16] on the form but I would imagine

[47:17] there's a place where they claim

[47:18] it and so we should be able to

[47:20] get some kind of aggregate

[47:22] that's been a big help to a lot

[47:23] of businesses that are heavy

[47:23] industry

[47:26] to be able to do to take that

[47:27] bonus depreciation in one year

[47:32] and the section179 and I assume

[47:33] that the the corporate

[47:35] returns that we're seeing are

[47:36] traditional type businesses with

[47:37] heavy equipment

[47:41] and a lot of iron like in in

[47:42] businesses that I'm familiar

[47:44] with and that was very helpful

[47:47] as far as reduction in in

[47:49] corporate tax owed to the state

[47:51] so yeah if you can get a trend

[47:53] on that I'd appreciate it's it's

[47:54] an excellent point. I have not

[47:55] looked into it but

[47:57] we we should and I will thank

[47:57] you thank you Mr President

[48:02] delegate hornbuckle

[48:05] thank you Mr President and

[48:06] thank you Mr Secretary for

[48:09] presenting today if you would

[48:11] remind me again what all is

[48:12] included in sales and use tax

[48:22] sales of goods and services that

[48:24] aren't subject to an exemption

[48:25] of which there are

[48:28] in code I think at this point

[48:30] maybe 80 different exemptions.

[48:32] most most things the big ones

[48:34] that aren't groceries aren't

[48:36] exempt prepared foods are

[48:37] included you know most things

[48:39] that you would go and buy in a

[48:40] store are subject to the sales

[48:43] and use tax yes sir and and I

[48:46] thought so and your take on

[48:47] how that's risen our our

[48:49] revenue from that

[48:54] category so the increase there

[48:55] is so looking I'll just do the

[48:58] fiscal year to date it's15 above

[49:00] estimate and21.4

[49:01] above

[49:05] the first two months of of

[49:08] last fiscal year and so that

[49:10] last one is a 6.8% growth and so

[49:12] two primary things that I look

[49:14] at there first is it growing or

[49:18] not so our people spending more

[49:19] money in the west Virginian

[49:20] economy are they buying more

[49:22] things than they were last year

[49:24] and they are so that's check one

[49:25] that's that's good and then the

[49:26] second thing that I look at is

[49:28] whether or not that rate is

[49:30] above or below the rate of

[49:31] inflation and the reason for

[49:34] that is that if it's if it's

[49:35] essentially at the rate of

[49:36] inflation they're not really

[49:38] buying more stuff they're buying

[49:40] the same amount of stuff at a

[49:41] slightly higher price

[49:42] if it's below the rate of

[49:44] inflation, yes they're spending

[49:46] more money but they're actually

[49:48] getting less for what they're

[49:49] buying and if it's above the

[49:51] rate of inflation as it is here

[49:53] that's sort of the the best case

[49:54] scenario of the three because

[49:56] that means that not only has our

[49:58] spending kept up with the rate

[50:00] of inflation we're actually

[50:01] spending more than that so

[50:05] prices are up3% but we're buying

[50:05] 6.8% more stuff

[50:09] so there's real growth in the

[50:10] amount of spending that we're

[50:11] doing we're actually buying more

[50:14] things than we were last year I

[50:15] was then I would agree with

[50:16] that I was sort of confused on

[50:19] that because we have lost

[50:21] some population and so I was

[50:22] trying to figure out how that

[50:23] number has grown with less

[50:24] people in the state while our

[50:27] our population year over year

[50:29] was actually almost essentially

[50:33] flat so for a a state of1.77

[50:35] million people I believe our

[50:36] population lost from2024

[50:39] to2025 was approximately1200

[50:40] people

[50:43] yeah and I wasn't saying it was

[50:44] like major I was just stating

[50:46] the fact that it has decreased

[50:48] but yet this number has risen so

[50:50] I'm just trying to get a I

[50:51] think you might have alluded to

[50:52] it as well consumer spending

[50:56] habits or if it was just that

[50:57] think it's primarily consumer

[50:58] spending habits yeah ok

[51:04] the next one is on the next

[51:06] page you've might have

[51:08] already spoken to this but the

[51:13] corporate net being down33.5%

[51:16] wass that due to the to the big

[51:18] bill or is there something else

[51:20] what's your take on that? think

[51:22] the the largest piece of that is

[51:24] the the effects of the the big

[51:26] beautiful bill we also had

[51:28] one or two just large refunds

[51:30] that came out that we weren't

[51:31] anticipating but I think in

[51:32] in the grand scheme of things

[51:34] our estimates

[51:36] are where we

[51:40] the actual revenues are where we

[51:42] expected them to be and where we

[51:44] expected them to be was down

[51:46] primarily as a result of

[51:48] conformity with the big

[51:50] beautiful beltir and what was

[51:51] those those one or two large

[51:54] refunds you were alluding to I

[51:55] can't talk about specific

[51:56] taxpayer information just that

[51:58] there were a couple of large

[51:59] refunds that

[52:02] happened in the normal course of

[52:03] business from time to time

[52:06] so do you see that as a trend

[52:08] continuing? no I think they were

[52:10] one time you know with the the

[52:12] loss of the the corporate net is

[52:13] that just going to be sort of

[52:15] permanent fixture is that

[52:16] number going to rise? Will it

[52:18] decrease? There was there was

[52:19] one element of the big

[52:20] beautifulau bill that was

[52:22] temporary there was a temporary

[52:24] exclusion for new manufacturing

[52:26] facilities and I believe our

[52:27] estimate for that was somewhere

[52:28] in the neighborhood of2

[52:32] $5 million and I believe the

[52:34] overall estimate for corporate

[52:35] net was about100 so

[52:40] that25 I would imagine

[52:41] eventually sort of comes back

[52:42] once that temporary exclusion

[52:44] goes away and so I would say

[52:46] about75% of that estimate

[52:47] is

[52:48] assuming no other

[52:50] law changes permanent

[52:52] thank you

[52:56] under barrett

[53:00] thank you Mr President. Pete,

[53:01] appreciate the presentation as

[53:02] always I want to follow up on

[53:04] some questions related to the

[53:06] the rate of growth for consumer

[53:09] sales tax compared to the rate

[53:11] of inflation can you talk about

[53:13] that rate of growth pre and post

[53:13] tax cut

[53:17] that's a good question

[53:21] I believe

[53:24] pretax cut I'm try I'm trying to

[53:26] recall now because I don't

[53:27] actually have the data in front

[53:27] of me and I don't want to

[53:30] and I both don't want to dodge

[53:31] your question but I also don't

[53:31] want to say something that's

[53:33] inaccurate but I believe towards

[53:33] the end of

[53:38] fiscal26 so you know34 months

[53:39] ago

[53:42] our growth rate in consumer

[53:44] sales was slightly below the

[53:45] rate of inflation and now it's

[53:46] slightly higher so I I believe

[53:48] in the past couple of months

[53:50] that growth rate at least on

[53:52] that measure has has ticked up a

[53:54] little bit and I'm talking and I

[53:55] should have said this more

[53:56] specifically to the large tax

[53:58] cut in the beginning of24,

[54:01] the21.25cent tax. I I wanna

[54:04] understand that the part of the

[54:06] the intention of a tax cut,

[54:07] you know what we anticipate to

[54:08] happen when you cut personal

[54:09] income tax is that there will be

[54:09] more consum

[54:12] er spending, higher collection

[54:13] on consumer sales tax and I want

[54:15] to understand that that's if

[54:18] that took place or not think you

[54:21] see some increase in taxes. I

[54:23] don't think I mean if you flip

[54:24] to this what slide is it for

[54:26] here and you look at that orange

[54:29] line that is the sales tax line

[54:29] I mean if you if you

[54:31] if you if you took away that red

[54:32] line

[54:32] and

[54:36] asked somebody where did the PT

[54:37] cut happen

[54:40] and

[54:43] and I think part of that is that

[54:44] and I think this is a bit of a

[54:45] misnomer when

[54:48] when you have these these tax

[54:50] cuts like this. I think the idea

[54:52] is that that you put additional

[54:53] dollars into the economy and

[54:54] that the person who is spending

[54:56] that dollar spends that dollar

[54:57] more efficiently than the

[54:58] government does and that there's

[55:00] a return on that investment in

[55:02] the private sector I don't think

[55:04] you see as much of that in in

[55:05] tax collections I don't think

[55:06] there's a return on investment

[55:10] to the general revenue fund as a

[55:11] result of that because if I hand

[55:13] you a dollar back and you go and

[55:14] spend it on something that

[55:15] generates consumer sales tax

[55:16] I've given you a dollar but

[55:18] the general revenue fund has

[55:19] gotten 6 cents back

[55:20] all right

[55:22] thank you thank you Mr

[55:22] President.

[55:24] ri

[55:27] yeah a couple follow up

[55:27] questions

[55:32] last time we met we talked about

[55:34] the severance tax case that was

[55:35] before

[55:36] at the end of the fiscal year

[55:41] did we make those refunds in

[55:41] this fiscal year

[55:44] we made all of the refunds that

[55:47] we were able to in fiscal

[55:47] year2026.

[55:50] we made a concerted effort to

[55:52] get as many of those out the

[55:54] door as possible. We did not get

[55:55] all of them out the door

[55:57] however, because some of those

[55:58] cases where they were throughout

[56:00] the process whether they were

[56:04] withotta the ICA or or up

[56:05] with the Supreme court some of

[56:06] those had other issues

[56:09] intertwined that were not just

[56:10] relevant to theecuador case you

[56:14] couldn't sort of unwind those

[56:14] complexities where that may have

[56:16] just been one amongst a number

[56:17] of issues relevant to that case

[56:20] so there are some other cases

[56:23] out there that could eventually

[56:26] be impacted by that ruling where

[56:27] sort of the other issues haven't

[56:29] been resolved to the point where

[56:31] that case can be resolved in

[56:32] what it manner whatever manner

[56:34] it's going to be resolved in yet

[56:36] but all the ones that we were

[56:37] able to take care of where that

[56:39] was the issue. those were all

[56:41] paid out in FY2026. do you have

[56:43] a number of anticipation on what

[56:44] your reduction would be in

[56:46] severance tax for the cases that

[56:47] are still pending. I believe we

[56:47] tried to

[56:50] put a number on that we had a

[56:51] number and I believe it was

[56:54] about15 million dollars of what

[56:55] we were able to immediately pay

[56:57] out. I don't think we were able

[56:58] to come up with a number on

[57:01] these remaining cases because we

[57:04] weren't able to say well you

[57:05] know if there's3 issues here and

[57:07] we know what this one is how

[57:08] would these other two resolve

[57:10] and if they resolve one way it

[57:11] might end up being less if it

[57:12] resolves another way it may end

[57:13] up being more and I think we

[57:15] were unable to put an estimate

[57:17] on those remaining cases because

[57:17] of the fact that there were

[57:20] other things that could affect

[57:22] that amount that we don't know

[57:24] how they'll wind up yet. Do you

[57:26] anticipate being able to pay

[57:27] those out during this fiscal

[57:30] year or do you have any clue

[57:32] don't I'm not you know, I don't

[57:34] sort of work with those cases

[57:35] day to day. I don't know exactly

[57:36] where they are. I don't know how

[57:38] many of them are you know close

[57:39] to a resolution I believe I

[57:41] believe you know just as a as a

[57:42] example I believe thisecuador

[57:43] case had

[57:46] severance tax payments that went

[57:48] back as far as2016 that we

[57:49] ultimately issued a refund on so

[57:49] these things can take

[57:53] quite a long time all right

[57:56] then the last question I I

[57:58] noticed in trending on your

[58:00] estimates and the revenues from

[58:01] over your estimates

[58:02] on a liquor

[58:04] cigarettes

[58:05] and lottery

[58:09] can you can you read anything

[58:09] into that

[58:12] or a historical information

[58:14] based on those three items where

[58:16] we are going with our

[58:16] discretionary dollars

[58:20] Um, so

[58:24] on tobacco I've actually been

[58:29] quite frankly I've been

[58:30] surprised that we've beaten the

[58:32] estimate we've we've failed to

[58:34] meet the estimate. I feel like

[58:35] I've either come up here when

[58:36] we've put together our press

[58:37] releases I feel like I was

[58:38] beating a dead horse of just

[58:40] saying in tobacco missed the

[58:42] estimate again and missed the

[58:44] estimate again I'm frankly not

[58:46] entirely sure what's going on

[58:47] with our tobacco products taxes

[58:48] there they continue

[58:51] they continue to overall trend

[58:53] downward but we've had frankly

[58:54] we've had a couple of good

[58:56] months there. I'm not really I'm

[58:58] not ready to call that sort of a

[58:59] a shift in the trend yet but

[59:04] I am I am frankly a little

[59:06] happy to see that we at least so

[59:07] far knock on wood that we've

[59:10] not overestimated the tobacco

[59:14] products tax again on on the

[59:16] liquor taxes we have seen a

[59:18] little bit of slowdown in

[59:21] overall consumption rates but

[59:23] this is also partially that you

[59:25] know the liquor is is a is a

[59:28] percent wholesale tax and so as

[59:29] prices go up even if you have

[59:30] slightly down consumption and

[59:31] you know it's a balance between

[59:32] consumption slightly down but

[59:34] prices are slightly up so how

[59:38] does that net out and then on

[59:40] lottery on lottery lottery

[59:42] has continued lottery has had

[59:44] some struggles with the

[59:45] traditional lottery most of

[59:48] lotteries increases recently

[59:49] the the the real area of

[59:50] growth that they've seen has

[59:52] been in the the iaming category

[59:54] and and the sports wa wagering

[59:56] those are the sort of you know

[59:57] the the new sort of

[1:00:02] fresh I think more exciting

[1:00:03] especially for the for the

[1:00:04] younger demographics. those are

[1:00:06] the places where we have seen

[1:00:07] actual increases in revenue. I

[1:00:08] think most of the other

[1:00:10] categories have been relatively

[1:00:12] flat or even in some cases

[1:00:14] slightly declining so it appears

[1:00:15] that our people were staying

[1:00:16] home

[1:00:18] smoking cigarettes drinking

[1:00:19] their liquor and playing

[1:00:19] eyeammes

[1:00:22] that that would be a a

[1:00:25] a conclusion that you could make

[1:00:25] right thank you

[1:00:32] Any further questions forharon

[1:00:33] not

[1:00:36] thank you deputy secret Shirley

[1:00:37] for present report

[1:00:41] next on the agenda is

[1:00:42] doctorctor Hannahha Hazard

[1:00:44] Jenkins executive chair and

[1:00:46] director of Wvu Cancer

[1:00:47] Institute

[1:00:50] Mr President, thank you very

[1:00:51] much for the opportunity to be

[1:00:54] here today if you're ok with

[1:00:54] that I'll pull up our

[1:00:56] presentation as we walk through

[1:00:58] the slides that have already

[1:00:59] been provided for you

[1:01:02] prior to today

[1:01:10] so I I just as a level set our

[1:01:11] purpose is really to change the

[1:01:13] way cancer is experienced and

[1:01:14] happens in the state of west

[1:01:15] Virginia and the goal would be

[1:01:16] to reduce the mortality

[1:01:18] reduce the incidence which is

[1:01:20] actually the ultimate goal while

[1:01:22] improving access to clinical

[1:01:24] care clinical trials and

[1:01:26] ideally that then generates a

[1:01:28] reduction in some of the

[1:01:30] healthcare disparities and in

[1:01:31] particular the cancer

[1:01:32] disparities that we see in West

[1:01:33] Virginia

[1:01:36] these are the statistics for

[1:01:38] the state incidents on the one

[1:01:40] side and mortality on the other

[1:01:41] this is by county

[1:01:43] there's some interesting trends

[1:01:44] there that you might notice. for

[1:01:46] example the northern panhandle

[1:01:47] has a little bit of a higher

[1:01:48] incident rate but they actually

[1:01:50] have a better mortality rate and

[1:01:52] on the eastern panhandle we have

[1:01:53] a lower incident rate but a

[1:01:53] higher mortality rate

[1:01:56] so these are the types of

[1:01:58] questions that we then use to

[1:02:00] generate hypotheses and then

[1:02:01] further clinical and

[1:02:01] translational research.

[1:02:05] er ha p s what is most startling

[1:02:06] and really important to look at

[1:02:08] as this2025 report that showed

[1:02:10] that while the national trend

[1:02:12] for mortality is dropping it is

[1:02:13] a very disproportionate drop

[1:02:16] in twenty0 20

[1:02:20] the or sorry in2000 the delta

[1:02:22] between urban versus rural

[1:02:24] per100,000 was about 6.6

[1:02:27] per1und0,000 and in2020 that is

[1:02:30] now25.5 per1und0,000. so while

[1:02:32] we're all dropping we are very

[1:02:33] disproportionately dropping

[1:02:36] and this begs questions like

[1:02:37] what are some of those barriers

[1:02:39] to care and in west Virginia you

[1:02:40] know our rural geography is

[1:02:42] really quite a challenge we're

[1:02:44] the most ruggedly rural state in

[1:02:45] the continental United States.

[1:02:46] a lot of our healthcare

[1:02:48] literacy can also be

[1:02:49] contributory in our

[1:02:49] socioeconomic disadvantage

[1:02:52] and the financial toxicity

[1:02:54] that's associated with the

[1:02:56] cancer diagnosis. all of those

[1:02:57] come together for delayed

[1:03:00] screening, delayed diagnosis

[1:03:02] and then ultimately sort of feed

[1:03:03] into

[1:03:05] I do think financial toxicity is

[1:03:07] an important point to bring up.

[1:03:10] so about40% of all personal

[1:03:12] bankruptcies are associated with

[1:03:14] a medical deb and then about

[1:03:16] a cancer diagnosis is associated

[1:03:20] with a2.65 times increase rate

[1:03:21] of personal bankruptcy

[1:03:24] and those that declare

[1:03:26] bankruptcy have a79% greater

[1:03:28] mortality that is not an

[1:03:29] insignificant number.

[1:03:31] so to sort of delineate all of

[1:03:32] this

[1:03:35] we asked professor Deskins at

[1:03:36] the Chambers College to look at

[1:03:38] the impact of cancer in West

[1:03:40] Virginia in totality so agnostic

[1:03:41] of health system but looking at

[1:03:42] the entire state

[1:03:44] and really it's a public

[1:03:46] healthcare crisis it's a barrier

[1:03:48] to our economic prosperity and

[1:03:49] it has some really negative

[1:03:51] economic consequences so I'm

[1:03:52] just going to show you a couple

[1:03:54] numbers and it's based on the

[1:03:55] lives lost due to cancer

[1:03:56] between2018 and2022.

[1:04:01] so in this economic impact

[1:04:04] report if you look at the direct

[1:04:06] wage and salary loss as well as

[1:04:08] foregone socialalcurity income

[1:04:09] and you add those together it's

[1:04:10] over4 billion dollars.

[1:04:14] if you then look at the medical

[1:04:16] expenses associated with cancer

[1:04:18] we'reat another2.12.2 billion

[1:04:19] dollars

[1:04:21] and this in this case lung

[1:04:22] cancer is the most expensive has

[1:04:24] the greatest piece of the pie

[1:04:26] and when you add all of that up

[1:04:28] it looks like West Virginia

[1:04:29] is foregoing about3 billion

[1:04:30] dollars in total spending

[1:04:31] cumulatively over this decade

[1:04:34] com e of West Virginia would be

[1:04:36] about5 billion dollars higher

[1:04:37] our state and local governments

[1:04:39] are losing about200 million

[1:04:40] dollars in additional tax

[1:04:42] revenue and we're losing

[1:04:44] about5,000 jobs it's important

[1:04:46] to note that the loss of jobs or

[1:04:48] loss of jobs. This does not take

[1:04:50] into account that when

[1:04:50] someone's diagnosed with cancer

[1:04:52] gets treatment, they may not

[1:04:54] return to the same level of

[1:04:57] their capability at work as

[1:04:59] compared to when prior to

[1:05:01] their diagnosis chemobrain is a

[1:05:01] real

[1:05:03] a very tangible thing

[1:05:06] so when you have a problem you

[1:05:07] have to have a solution. I

[1:05:08] learned that from my father

[1:05:10] and so one of those isnciI

[1:05:11] designation and we are one of

[1:05:13] only 6 states east of the

[1:05:14] Mississippi that does not have

[1:05:16] an NCI designated cancer center

[1:05:18] and it matters for a variety of

[1:05:19] reasons. It matters when it

[1:05:21] comes to research because the

[1:05:22] stronger the research is then

[1:05:24] the more that we can do earlier

[1:05:26] trials and translate that

[1:05:27] research into our patients which

[1:05:29] then have with better access

[1:05:31] earlier screening, better

[1:05:32] outcomes and for the state of

[1:05:33] west Virginia it really means it

[1:05:33] helps us retain

[1:05:36] our talent. it allows us to

[1:05:38] attract in new talent brings in

[1:05:40] innovative companies and

[1:05:42] partnerships and where

[1:05:43] partnerships that they're more

[1:05:44] interested in partnering with

[1:05:45] NCI designated cancer centers.

[1:05:50] so we also asked Trip Unbox to

[1:05:52] create a impact report for us

[1:05:54] specifically to the Wv Cancer

[1:05:56] institute as we mature from2025

[1:06:00] to202035 as we move towards NCI

[1:06:02] designation and the data is

[1:06:04] based on about13,000 new cancer

[1:06:07] diagnoses a year our mortality

[1:06:08] rate, which is much higher than

[1:06:10] the national average and

[1:06:12] about20% of the patients and or

[1:06:13] people in west Virginia leave

[1:06:13] the state

[1:06:15] and the impact of gaining

[1:06:18] designation is about2.4 billion

[1:06:20] dollars annually in societal

[1:06:22] value family cost savings

[1:06:22] of18081 million

[1:06:26] and then about almost250 million

[1:06:28] in retained instate money

[1:06:29] spent.

[1:06:32] The NzI designation or that

[1:06:34] grant is really a research

[1:06:36] infrastructure grant so to focus

[1:06:37] specifically on what this will

[1:06:38] do for our research. it's about

[1:06:40] a sixfold increase over the

[1:06:42] course of 10 years. NiaI

[1:06:44] designation unlocks money from

[1:06:46] the federal government there are

[1:06:48] grants you cannot apply to

[1:06:50] unless you're an NCI designated

[1:06:51] cancer center. inndustries are

[1:06:52] more interested in partnering

[1:06:54] with an NCI designated cancer

[1:06:55] center and certainly

[1:06:57] philanthropic sources are much

[1:06:59] more interested from an NCI

[1:06:59] designated cancer center

[1:07:02] increase in jobs

[1:07:04] interestingly for every increase

[1:07:06] in biopharma job there's about

[1:07:09] a3.5 increase in other

[1:07:09] additional jobs

[1:07:14] so if you look at the statewide

[1:07:16] impact as we project towards

[1:07:18] maturity our economic impact our

[1:07:20] projected growth for the for the

[1:07:22] economy is about36%. Our job

[1:07:25] supported is an increase of29%

[1:07:28] and our tax revenue up about27%.

[1:07:30] and then as I said our societal

[1:07:32] value is a2.4 billion dollars

[1:07:37] Wv medicine has invested heavily

[1:07:38] and continues to invest heavily

[1:07:40] in the cancer program and in

[1:07:42] bricks and mortar. so these are

[1:07:45] some current estimates in

[1:07:47] the investment you can see

[1:07:49] here for example wheeling will

[1:07:52] build a new comprehensive

[1:07:54] cancer center there Princeton

[1:07:56] is going to get a wing that

[1:07:58] will bring radiation oncology to

[1:08:00] that campus. other sites like

[1:08:02] Jackson General, Jefferson

[1:08:03] Memorial, Boone, all of those

[1:08:03] are getting

[1:08:06] cancer centers with infusion

[1:08:08] services as well as medical

[1:08:10] oncology services and so this

[1:08:12] represents a substantial

[1:08:14] increase in the economic impact

[1:08:16] to our state. in a variety of

[1:08:17] different ways

[1:08:19] so I truly believe this is a

[1:08:20] transformational opportunity for

[1:08:23] West Virginia both with economic

[1:08:24] impact but let's not forget what

[1:08:26] it means as far as health equity

[1:08:28] and what that translates to

[1:08:30] the people that live here in our

[1:08:32] state and certainly

[1:08:33] developing a workforce over

[1:08:33] time.

[1:08:36] so I'd like to transition and

[1:08:38] just sort of give you an idea of

[1:08:39] some of the things we've

[1:08:39] accomplished over the last

[1:08:40] couple of years. Certainly we

[1:08:43] have hired inappropriate people

[1:08:44] that help can help us navigate

[1:08:46] this mattinfrey behind me is our

[1:08:48] associate director for

[1:08:48] administration he came from

[1:08:49] Nebraska

[1:08:51] he is well versed in the grant

[1:08:52] and the things that we need to

[1:08:54] do establishing an internal

[1:08:56] advisory board so within our

[1:08:57] own institution that's headed by

[1:08:59] Sally Hotter who is the head of

[1:09:02] CTSI building out our clinical

[1:09:03] research program so I'll show

[1:09:05] you a data in the next slide

[1:09:06] about that but really having a

[1:09:09] tremendous increase over200%

[1:09:10] between2023 and2025.

[1:09:13] and then being able to establish

[1:09:14] our research programs again I'll

[1:09:16] articulate that better and then

[1:09:18] lastly really needing to

[1:09:22] invest in the future of our

[1:09:23] state and then the cancer

[1:09:23] programs and biomedical

[1:09:24] research.

[1:09:28] our clinical interventional

[1:09:29] trials so this is what the NCI

[1:09:30] cares about is interventional

[1:09:32] trials and you'll look our

[1:09:33] lowest point was right around

[1:09:36] COID20202021. if you look at the

[1:09:39] increase in from23 to25. that's

[1:09:40] about a200% increase

[1:09:42] but I'd like to call your

[1:09:44] attention to is the last bar

[1:09:46] at210 it's just year to date so

[1:09:48] that's end of august. so if you

[1:09:50] annualize that out it's315

[1:09:51] people put on trial

[1:09:56] which is another5960%

[1:09:58] increase as it is and then if

[1:10:00] you add that in138% increase

[1:10:02] over the year. We care about

[1:10:03] that because it is well

[1:10:04] documented that people on

[1:10:06] clinical trial have a better

[1:10:07] overall cancer outcome than

[1:10:08] those that are not on clinical

[1:10:09] trial.

[1:10:12] Our research programs are3 so

[1:10:14] cancer biology which is the

[1:10:16] basicci component of it

[1:10:17] experimental therapeutics is how

[1:10:19] you translate that basic science

[1:10:20] knowledge to the patients and

[1:10:22] then how do our communities both

[1:10:24] benefit from those

[1:10:26] investments and then those

[1:10:27] findings but then also telling

[1:10:29] us where we need to investigate

[1:10:31] and Lucas which is outside is a

[1:10:32] classic example of listening to

[1:10:34] our communities with their high

[1:10:36] cancer lung cancer incidents and

[1:10:37] late

[1:10:40] late diagnosis Each of these

[1:10:41] three programs needs a certain

[1:10:42] amount of funding and from a

[1:10:43] certain number of researchers

[1:10:47] so what does the support grant

[1:10:50] fund and and take part in how

[1:10:52] do we and what have we done so

[1:10:54] really on the research it's

[1:10:55] beginning to integrate and

[1:10:57] create this these three

[1:10:58] research programs it will

[1:11:00] require considerable amount of

[1:11:03] recruitment of others coming to

[1:11:04] the cancer institute outside of

[1:11:06] the state in addition to the

[1:11:07] retention of the talent that we

[1:11:08] have

[1:11:10] our clinical research team a

[1:11:12] lot of this growth is because we

[1:11:14] reorganized it we invested in it

[1:11:15] and the people that help us run

[1:11:17] it to allow us to have this kind

[1:11:19] of growth we also investing

[1:11:20] in our investigator initiated

[1:11:22] trials so there are trials that

[1:11:24] come from a national perspective

[1:11:25] but there are also trials that

[1:11:26] come from the people that work

[1:11:28] in the cancer institute that

[1:11:29] have ideas and investing in that

[1:11:33] We also shared resources so this

[1:11:34] is a common area where people

[1:11:37] can go to use equipment one of

[1:11:38] the most important things in

[1:11:40] that is what we call biTrac

[1:11:41] which is we're going to study

[1:11:43] the tumors of westvirginians

[1:11:44] instead of buying cancer cells

[1:11:45] from Norway

[1:11:48] I believe in studying our own

[1:11:50] patient population, not that of

[1:11:52] another country and then we

[1:11:54] also have a resource a shared

[1:11:55] resource that looks at health

[1:11:57] communication. so how do we

[1:11:58] learn better to communicate

[1:12:00] which was poor English, which is

[1:12:02] a funny point and then how do

[1:12:04] we translate that back to our

[1:12:05] population I can't treat

[1:12:06] somebody for breast cancer if

[1:12:07] they don't show up at the door

[1:12:08] and they don't show up at the

[1:12:09] door if they don't trust me and

[1:12:10] so how do we talk to our

[1:12:11] population

[1:12:13] investment in the next

[1:12:16] generation so not only our

[1:12:18] PhD students but our clinical

[1:12:20] scientists and our clinicians

[1:12:21] moving forward

[1:12:23] a good bit of investment in our

[1:12:24] community engagement we have

[1:12:28] over700 community partners and

[1:12:29] that's really important to be

[1:12:31] able to invest and mature those

[1:12:32] over time and then really

[1:12:34] building out our infrastructure

[1:12:35] so that way we're able to

[1:12:36] continue to build on the

[1:12:37] successes we've had

[1:12:40] on the horizon, most

[1:12:42] immediately really is our ad

[1:12:44] hoc scientific review so we are

[1:12:46] bringing in leaders in the field

[1:12:48] both Do Jensen and Dr Evers come

[1:12:50] from NCI designated

[1:12:52] Comprehensive cancercerenters.

[1:12:53] Both of them joined their cancer

[1:12:54] centers when they were emerging

[1:12:56] cancer centers like ours and not

[1:12:58] only took them to designation

[1:13:00] but then also to comprehensive

[1:13:03] designation Elektra Pasquette

[1:13:05] is the deputy director at OSU

[1:13:06] She is nationally

[1:13:07] internationally known for her

[1:13:07] community outreach and

[1:13:08] engagement work and then

[1:13:10] Paullo Vertino who is a basic

[1:13:13] scientist has been really a a

[1:13:16] accredited with

[1:13:18] helpingRochester get NCI

[1:13:18] designation which and they're

[1:13:19] one of the most recent NCI

[1:13:20] designated

[1:13:23] in the near future we also need

[1:13:24] to bring in some of those basic

[1:13:26] scientists to help us this group

[1:13:28] ad hoc scientificroup will also

[1:13:30] help us understand sort of where

[1:13:31] our best investments are.

[1:13:34] incor is a community oncology

[1:13:35] research grant that will go in

[1:13:36] on Thursday. This is about a

[1:13:38] million dollars a year funding

[1:13:39] if we get the grant to help

[1:13:42] support the clinical trials not

[1:13:44] just in Morgantown but outside

[1:13:45] of Morgantown because we are a

[1:13:48] state of1.77. Not everybody can

[1:13:50] travel to Morgantownn so we have

[1:13:52] to think about how we can

[1:13:53] deliver that kind of quality of

[1:13:54] care outside of Morgantown.

[1:13:58] so in summary where you live

[1:13:59] should never determine your

[1:14:00] cancer outcome and that's

[1:14:01] what we're trying to accomplish

[1:14:02] today. So I'm happy to take

[1:14:04] questions thank you very much

[1:14:05] for your attention and time.

[1:14:07] thank you doctor

[1:14:08] delegateri

[1:14:09] thank you Mr President

[1:14:14] About3 or four years ago we

[1:14:15] appropriated about30 million

[1:14:15] dollars

[1:14:19] to the cancer institute and my

[1:14:20] understanding if I recall maybe

[1:14:21] the speaker can remember

[1:14:24] I thought it was towards this

[1:14:26] national cancer facility or so

[1:14:28] we're not there yet is that what

[1:14:30] you're telling this is a no we

[1:14:33] are not there it takes if you

[1:14:36] talk to some of like Kansas

[1:14:40] it took anywhere from15 to20

[1:14:41] years depending on the

[1:14:41] institution

[1:14:44] so we need NCci funding that

[1:14:46] amounts to at least10 million on

[1:14:48] average every year from21

[1:14:50] different researchers or21

[1:14:52] different grants so if we need

[1:14:54] the10 million we're around that4

[1:14:57] to4.5 million dollar mark so

[1:14:59] it takes it is a marathon. it is

[1:15:01] not an immediate I will tell

[1:15:04] you that NI is incredibly

[1:15:06] interested in us becoming an NCI

[1:15:07] designated cancer center

[1:15:09] Appalachia we're all in

[1:15:10] Appalachia that is a big hole

[1:15:11] for them when they

[1:15:14] look at their portfolio so I

[1:15:18] talk with the director of the

[1:15:18] cancer programs on a pretty

[1:15:20] regular basis and so he they

[1:15:22] are interested in us doing it so

[1:15:23] yes it's is a marathon

[1:15:26] so no we are not there yet

[1:15:28] our goal would be before2035 to

[1:15:29] apply for it

[1:15:32] because it's a grant are you

[1:15:33] looking for additional funding

[1:15:36] from the legislature for the for

[1:15:38] this or you just are you here to

[1:15:39] explain what you've done with

[1:15:40] our money so far. I'm here to

[1:15:41] explain I've done with your

[1:15:44] money so far yes at some point

[1:15:45] there we are looking at other

[1:15:48] sources so this is an endeavor

[1:15:50] that will be you know a

[1:15:51] combination of philanthropic

[1:15:54] support funding from a state

[1:15:55] level stunning from the health

[1:15:56] system so there's a multitude of

[1:15:59] factors that go in if you look

[1:15:59] at designated

[1:16:01] and emerging centers that's

[1:16:02] pretty well documented. yes sir.

[1:16:03] right thank you thank you Mr

[1:16:04] President.

[1:16:04] delegate howell

[1:16:09] and thank you for being here Do

[1:16:10] Jenkins. a couple of

[1:16:12] questions I have the report

[1:16:14] indicates that21% of cancer

[1:16:16] services which are provided out

[1:16:17] of state nationally that's

[1:16:20] like7% so we're like three times

[1:16:22] it's high if think if you think

[1:16:23] about some of the border states

[1:16:26] it's easy to go somewhere in

[1:16:27] Ohio when you're on the western

[1:16:29] border and when you're in sort

[1:16:31] of very rural south eastern west

[1:16:33] Virginia it's it's easier

[1:16:35] from a travel perspective yes so

[1:16:35] that you

[1:16:38] may be there with that I look

[1:16:39] out the window home into

[1:16:41] Maryland so I was gonna

[1:16:42] wondering how much of that was

[1:16:44] what cancer treatments and

[1:16:46] procedures are we are most

[1:16:48] commonly leaving the state for

[1:16:50] we have tell yeah there are some

[1:16:52] I would tell you pediatric bone

[1:16:54] marrow transplant always leaves

[1:16:56] the state. we do not have that

[1:16:57] program here in the state

[1:17:00] we have a good proportion I

[1:17:02] mean there are not many programs

[1:17:04] that we don't participate on the

[1:17:06] adult side we do our own

[1:17:08] transplant our own car therapy

[1:17:10] we have highack we have a

[1:17:12] varietyamma knife so some of it

[1:17:13] I think is more convenience

[1:17:13] and travel

[1:17:17] and you

[1:17:20] you kind of touched on this a

[1:17:21] little bit with the listing I

[1:17:22] have a Potomac Valley Hospital

[1:17:23] in my district in Mineral County

[1:17:24] and I know they're they're

[1:17:26] working on that. So how much of

[1:17:27] this is going to be pushed out

[1:17:28] into the counties how much of

[1:17:30] this is going to be more in town

[1:17:31] central cent that it's an

[1:17:32] excellent question so you know

[1:17:34] I'm a clinician so I think of it

[1:17:36] all as being intertwined I

[1:17:38] think we have a network of

[1:17:39] cancer centers that is sort of

[1:17:40] unparalleled for other NCI

[1:17:43] designated cancer centers us

[1:17:45] not being one of them so we will

[1:17:45] the current

[1:17:50] inco grant has an intentional

[1:17:52] increase in trial participation

[1:17:53] at some of the larger regional

[1:17:55] hubs. We also as a health system

[1:17:56] are committed to that and have

[1:17:57] invested in that

[1:18:00] we atriical Access hospitals

[1:18:01] we have to be a little bit

[1:18:02] careful about how much of a

[1:18:04] burden of paperwork and such

[1:18:06] we can put at that level the

[1:18:08] goal I would have is that for

[1:18:10] example patients at Potomac

[1:18:12] Valley might be able to either

[1:18:14] come here or to Martinsburg or

[1:18:15] some version of that for some

[1:18:16] trials so they don't have to

[1:18:18] move and shift as much as

[1:18:18] possible. Garrett's certainly a

[1:18:19] possibility in the future

[1:18:23] I just I am very cognizant that

[1:18:24] everybody can't get to

[1:18:26] Morgantown and you just

[1:18:29] mentioned Garrett hospitalspital

[1:18:30] because that's in Maryland I

[1:18:32] know it's your hospital so it's

[1:18:33] some of the state funding if we

[1:18:34] push in here going to go there

[1:18:38] no this all stays within our

[1:18:39] state

[1:18:40] all right thank you you're very

[1:18:41] welcome

[1:18:42] any further questions

[1:18:46] Mr Speaker thank you Mr

[1:18:48] President Drctoredingas, thank

[1:18:49] you very much for being here and

[1:18:50] and friends for the benefit of

[1:18:52] the committee. I asked Doctor

[1:18:54] Hezer Jenkins to give this

[1:18:55] presentation today for this

[1:18:56] reason we make a lot of

[1:18:58] investments on things that are

[1:19:00] important to a lot of us. We

[1:19:02] support research. those are,

[1:19:04] those are great things to

[1:19:06] support but this is one that I'm

[1:19:08] proud that we supported because

[1:19:09] it is a long time trajectory,

[1:19:11] the time horizon on this process

[1:19:13] is long but it's also a

[1:19:16] real quality of life issue for

[1:19:18] West Virginians and that's

[1:19:18] something I don't want us to

[1:19:21] blow past it's easy to have this

[1:19:22] conversation in terms of

[1:19:24] economic development and job

[1:19:26] impacts and the growth of

[1:19:27] research dollars and what that

[1:19:28] means to our local communities

[1:19:30] and local economies but I'm I'm

[1:19:33] most interested in not letting

[1:19:34] Do. Hezer Jenkins leave this

[1:19:36] podium till we talk just a

[1:19:37] minute about the impact of this

[1:19:39] designation on patients and what

[1:19:40] it would mean for West

[1:19:42] Virginians to have access to an

[1:19:43] NCI des designated facility here

[1:19:43] within our

[1:19:45] borders.

[1:19:48] so it is pretty well documented

[1:19:50] that people taking care of at

[1:19:52] NCI designated centers have a

[1:19:53] better oneyear survival rate

[1:19:55] than those not taking care of at

[1:19:56] an NCI designated cancer center

[1:20:00] if you are in rural West

[1:20:02] Virginia you aren't necessarily

[1:20:03] going to go on the internet and

[1:20:04] look for an NTI designated

[1:20:05] cancer centerer for your cancer

[1:20:07] care. so I'm also very cognizant

[1:20:10] of that what NCI designation

[1:20:12] does from a quality of care

[1:20:14] outcomes does is it attracts in

[1:20:16] and then also retains the talent

[1:20:17] that we have so one of the first

[1:20:19] questions I get from anybody

[1:20:21] interviewing medical oncology

[1:20:22] radiation oncology surgical

[1:20:24] oncologists is where are you on

[1:20:26] the Ncici designation journey

[1:20:27] and are you going to be NCI

[1:20:27] designated

[1:20:28] over the next so many years

[1:20:32] there is a level of training and

[1:20:34] quality of training that we will

[1:20:36] attract to the state that

[1:20:38] elevates the quality of care

[1:20:39] that we have it continues to

[1:20:41] allow us to push the envelope

[1:20:42] and where we are going with our

[1:20:44] cancer care in the state and so

[1:20:46] while it may not be somebody

[1:20:48] googling an NCI designated

[1:20:51] cancer center what it does is it

[1:20:54] sort of all all tides rise

[1:20:55] in that perspective

[1:20:57] so it improves quality of life

[1:20:58] it improves outcomes

[1:21:00] yeah it's a very important

[1:21:01] point.

[1:21:04] it's as a clinician it's easy to

[1:21:05] talk about the clinical

[1:21:06] component and how important this

[1:21:10] is so thank you for that

[1:21:12] question. It's not at all a

[1:21:13] secret that I support

[1:21:14] investments in our economic

[1:21:16] development apparatus everyone

[1:21:17] in the room everyone listening

[1:21:18] knows that I've talked about it

[1:21:19] for years I'll keep talking

[1:21:21] about it but this is an

[1:21:24] investment that we made that is

[1:21:25] not just about the economy it's

[1:21:26] about quality of life for our

[1:21:28] people. This is this is about

[1:21:30] doing something good for West

[1:21:31] Virginians and I'm proud that we

[1:21:32] did it

[1:21:36] Felther questions

[1:21:39] Delicate Mcgeeha

[1:21:48] you're wrong but thank you for

[1:21:49] being here

[1:21:57] that something to the effect of

[1:22:00] I can't get anybody through

[1:22:02] the door. If I don't know how to

[1:22:04] talk to him because they might

[1:22:05] not trust me

[1:22:07] from your perspective in general

[1:22:10] why would the people of the

[1:22:11] state not trust you?

[1:22:15] well I think in general

[1:22:17] people of this state have

[1:22:20] oftentimes greater burdens on

[1:22:22] their mind than preventative

[1:22:23] medicine and healthcare

[1:22:26] screenings so you know it is

[1:22:30] when you are tackling child care

[1:22:32] and keeping the lights on in

[1:22:34] your home and making sure

[1:22:35] there's food on the table I'm a

[1:22:36] breast surgeon so if somebody

[1:22:38] feels a lump they usually will

[1:22:41] prioritize their families

[1:22:41] over themselves in most

[1:22:43] instances

[1:22:46] the part of the regionalization

[1:22:48] of the cancer institute is very

[1:22:50] specifically designed to reduce

[1:22:52] some of those physical barriers

[1:22:54] so if you live in you know roan

[1:22:57] County if you've got a cancer

[1:22:58] center in ome general as opposed

[1:23:00] to having to drive to Charleston

[1:23:02] or to Parkersburg, you might

[1:23:03] show up a little bit earlier

[1:23:06] I don't know that there's a

[1:23:10] distrust. I think it is more of

[1:23:13] a comfort level of walking

[1:23:14] through the door. I think when

[1:23:16] you walk through the door with a

[1:23:17] breast lump

[1:23:20] you kind of play a scenario

[1:23:21] that's pretty significant and

[1:23:22] the ripple effect throughout

[1:23:24] your entire family and community

[1:23:25] is really quite profound

[1:23:29] and so the more comfortable we

[1:23:31] can make it for somebody to walk

[1:23:33] through the door with that and

[1:23:35] the more reasonable those

[1:23:36] socioeconomic and geographic

[1:23:38] challenges can be I think the

[1:23:40] better the what I was referring

[1:23:43] to is called chats which is

[1:23:46] you know talking about science

[1:23:48] translating it into our

[1:23:49] communities it's run by a

[1:23:50] researcher her name's Danell

[1:23:51] Boatman who's a health

[1:23:51] communications expert

[1:23:56] and for example, how a lung

[1:23:57] cancer screening so we got to

[1:23:58] sort of a steady state the

[1:24:00] national average is not super

[1:24:01] high we are lower and eligible

[1:24:01] people

[1:24:06] to screen so she just surveyed

[1:24:08] our communities and as sort of

[1:24:10] what do you what would you

[1:24:12] listen to more so if you look at

[1:24:13] traditional lung cancer

[1:24:15] screening, it is very much

[1:24:18] threatba so standing on piles of

[1:24:20] cigarette butts or burning lungs

[1:24:22] that are matches. those are very

[1:24:23] threatbased and that's pretty

[1:24:25] dull like they just don't listen

[1:24:27] to that but what they did say is

[1:24:28] that when you start talking

[1:24:31] about themes like hope and time

[1:24:31] and families and those kinds of

[1:24:32] things

[1:24:34] that was much more interesting

[1:24:37] to them and so Danell actually

[1:24:39] changed our lung cancer

[1:24:42] screening advertisements and put

[1:24:43] it up on Facebook with a new

[1:24:44] theme associated with it and the

[1:24:46] selfreferrals for lung cancer

[1:24:50] screening went up by243% over

[1:24:52] the course of a two week period

[1:24:53] where it was put on Facebook. so

[1:24:55] it's an example of how we should

[1:24:56] listen to our communities to

[1:24:59] understand how they want to be

[1:25:00] interacted with that we can then

[1:25:01] turn around and help

[1:25:05] reduce some of those mortalities

[1:25:05] and incidents if possible.

[1:25:09] Did I answer your question or

[1:25:09] not really?

[1:25:14] to see how you react.

[1:25:16] any further questions

[1:25:20] If not thank you thank you very

[1:25:21] much for me

[1:25:23] s ir any feller business to come

[1:25:23] before the committee?

[1:25:28] if not I look to Speakerhanshaw

[1:25:29] for a motion to President I move

[1:25:30] the committee meeting adjourn.

[1:25:32] All those in favorick5 by saying

[1:25:34] a all those poses know the eyes

[1:25:35] spirit habit the eyes do have it

[1:25:36] I declare meeting adjourned

Joint Committee on Government and Finance in Session

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