[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