[8:14] Good morning. The committee will

[8:14] come to order

[8:18] clerk has taken a silent roll

[8:20] call. we do have a quorum there

[8:22] being a quorum established. I

[8:23] recognize the cochair for motion

[8:28] the previous meeting the

[8:30] question is on the approval of

[8:31] the minutes from the previous

[8:32] meeting all those in favor say

[8:32] aye

[8:33] oppose no

[8:36] in the opinion of chair the ays

[8:37] haven't and declare the motion

[8:38] adopted

[8:40] we're going to move the agenda

[8:42] slightly we have Senator Bart

[8:43] Hester joining us from

[8:48] Arkansas and for the sake of his

[8:49] schedule and time we're gonna

[8:50] have him go ahead and and

[8:51] present first this morning

[8:54] he is the president prote from

[8:57] the Arkankansas state senate and

[8:58] I'll let him introduce himself

[9:00] but we we're honored to have him

[9:02] here today because he's one

[9:05] of the chief architects of the

[9:06] economic turnaround in Arkansas

[9:07] that led to them getting a top

[9:08] ive ranking

[9:11] for economic outlook from AEC

[9:13] among others. so Senator Hester,

[9:13] can you hear me OK?

[9:14] I can

[9:16] good morning

[9:20] thanks for being with us please

[9:21] go ahead and introduce yourself

[9:24] and we look forward to your

[9:26] presentation. I I will just say

[9:27] we're very interested to hear

[9:28] what your work on the tax side

[9:31] of things but also if you could

[9:34] please cover the the regulatory

[9:35] reform side of things as well

[9:36] we're also very interested in

[9:37] that and so thank you for being

[9:38] with us.

[9:40] I know thank you for having me.

[9:42] I was just a little bit afraid

[9:43] y'all were having me on to poke

[9:43] at Arkansasoo.

[9:44] but we will

[9:48] talk to you guys really what I

[9:49] wanted to talk today I could get

[9:50] into a lot of the details and

[9:52] stuff but but I wanted to talk

[9:54] to you about

[9:54] a mindset

[9:55] so you know

[9:56] what

[10:00] west virginia and Arkansas

[10:03] have a lot in common. in fact

[10:04] you know just a you know a year

[10:06] or two ago I was traveling

[10:08] and I watched an ad trying to

[10:09] recruit people to West Virginia.

[10:11] and it was almost the exact

[10:12] same ad that Arkansas is using.

[10:15] it's saying hey if you like

[10:16] beautiful views, if you like to

[10:19] hike or bike or kayak or canoe,

[10:20] you know, West Virginia's for

[10:21] you it was like the same

[10:24] pictures almost same thing that

[10:25] Arkansas's doing and I think

[10:26] it's because you recognize what

[10:27] we recognize

[10:31] is that more so than ever

[10:32] people are choosing where they

[10:34] want to live and they can move

[10:36] and we're seeing them move from

[10:38] the coast in and how do we

[10:40] recruit those people to want to

[10:42] come to our communities the

[10:43] entrepreneurs the people that

[10:44] are starting businesses, the

[10:45] people that are retiring or

[10:46] people that have resources they

[10:48] can live anywhere in the world

[10:50] why pick our locations I think

[10:52] West Virginia and Arkansas have

[10:54] a very similar case to make

[10:55] it was very encouraging

[10:57] but it's you know

[11:00] I'd say I'm just gonna roughly

[11:02] say10 years ago Arkansas changed

[11:03] our mindset

[11:06] that we no longer want to be

[11:08] arguing about are we50th or48th

[11:09] and we moved to45th and we high

[11:10] five and aren't we doing

[11:11] something great

[11:13] we said we want to move

[11:14] from5ieth to1st.

[11:17] and how are we going to do that

[11:19] and that really got sped up you

[11:20] know four years ago we elected a

[11:22] new governor in Sarah Huckabee

[11:24] Sanders and you know her mindset

[11:26] determination has been really

[11:28] great in leading us these ways

[11:31] but how do we change an entire

[11:31] mindset knowing

[11:34] that we're recruiting people

[11:38] that have a choice to go

[11:38] anywhere they want to go in the

[11:40] world or anywhere in in in the

[11:42] United States. why would they

[11:44] pick Arkansas? how do we get

[11:46] them to pick Arkansas to even be

[11:48] on the list to consider for big

[11:50] companies looking for you know

[11:52] we're going to locate some

[11:54] manufacturer or start a new one

[11:56] and forever I was reading

[11:57] headlines and it was like these

[11:58] four states are in the running

[11:59] or these 6 states are in the

[12:00] running and you know why is

[12:03] Arkansas never on that and how

[12:05] can we how can we change that

[12:05] perspective

[12:08] and I think there's two things

[12:10] that matter a lot that we've

[12:12] really focused on over the last

[12:13] few years

[12:15] to a national perspective of

[12:15] your state

[12:19] what is the general person think

[12:20] you know from California or New

[12:24] York or Michigan when they think

[12:25] about your state. well I can

[12:26] assure you if you were a

[12:27] business owner in one of those

[12:29] areas looking to relocate you

[12:30] would think there's no way I'm

[12:32] interested in going to Arkansas.

[12:33] No way I'm interested in going

[12:34] to West Virginia. Maybe I'm you

[12:35] know, I'm just

[12:38] and so how do we change that

[12:40] mindset and a lot of that's

[12:41] headlines that people see

[12:44] and people don't change their

[12:46] mindset over six months or a

[12:48] year or2 years it has to be a

[12:52] prolonged consistent good

[12:52] headlines about your region

[12:56] and we've been changing and

[12:57] working on those. I mean just

[12:58] like some of the stuff y'all

[13:00] push on you know we titled

[13:01] ourselves mountain iking Capital

[13:02] of the world. I don't think

[13:03] anyone chooses that. We just

[13:06] said that that's who we are.

[13:07] and we've been we've been

[13:08] promoting that nationally and we

[13:10] have you know some real

[13:11] philanthropists you know the

[13:12] Walmart was founded in our area

[13:14] and the heirs of Walmart have

[13:15] put a huge amount of money in

[13:17] mountain bikes and and then

[13:18] and then the advertising for

[13:20] that across the country so

[13:20] that's been very very helpful

[13:21] for us

[13:25] but we work on the national

[13:27] view, these national headlines

[13:27] that you can consistently get

[13:30] and then just really your

[13:32] policies. even if you get it

[13:34] where somebody says I will

[13:36] consider Arkansas, how are our

[13:38] policies something that make

[13:40] them really consider Arkansas.

[13:42] you know we're no longer like

[13:44] not on the list anymore. maybe

[13:45] we would consider Arkansas I've

[13:46] been reading some good things

[13:47] about them over the past24 8

[13:48] years. but now we've got to

[13:51] implement the policies that

[13:51] actually will make them land

[13:53] here in Arkansas

[13:54] so we

[13:58] this is something very similar

[14:00] for West Virginia's Arkansas

[14:03] Texas surplus last year

[14:07] was5 times what your budget is.

[14:07] their surplus was

[14:12] in4 times what Arkansas's budget

[14:14] is. Like how do we compete with

[14:15] that? Like we can't go buy the

[14:16] jobs that they buy. We can put

[14:18] all these resources they're

[14:20] really put a huge strain on our

[14:22] state they don't even know that

[14:23] it happened in Texas.

[14:27] so how how do we compete with

[14:27] that

[14:30] and we've learned in Arkansas

[14:32] that if you cut the pie up too

[14:34] many times and this person

[14:36] gets500,000, this person gets2

[14:38] million, this person gets 8

[14:39] million like you end up not

[14:39] moving the needle

[14:43] So, so what we did in Arkansas

[14:45] was we said there are no more

[14:46] pet projects

[14:48] so we've been about 6 years on

[14:49] that meaning

[14:51] the lieutenant governor

[14:53] gets nothing that they want

[14:57] The president of the senate gets

[14:58] nothing that I want. The

[14:59] majority leader gets nothing

[15:00] that they want

[15:02] and you know what when the

[15:03] lowest ranking member

[15:05] cs that no one else is getting

[15:05] what they want

[15:06] they're actually

[15:09] can deal with not getting what

[15:10] they want as well.

[15:12] So when nobody gets the thing

[15:13] that they want

[15:15] we keep all the money

[15:17] in a bigger pot

[15:19] and we use that bigger pot

[15:21] to make big change

[15:26] and it's hard because all the

[15:27] things that I want my just I've

[15:28] been the senate president for

[15:30] four years now and to tell

[15:31] people back home I can't do

[15:32] that. I can't do that we've got

[15:34] a bigger focus and when you can

[15:36] communicate back home all35

[15:40] senators, all135 elected

[15:41] legislators in Arkansas can

[15:42] communicate we're on a bigger

[15:46] focus and that focus is we're

[15:48] keeping we're keeping all our

[15:49] money in a big pot and it's in

[15:50] savings

[15:52] OK and we're we're using that

[15:54] savings to say we're going to

[15:55] cut taxes

[15:57] and if we mess up everybody's

[15:58] probably familiar with the you

[16:00] know thekansas example from you

[16:02] know 8 or10 years ago where they

[16:04] cut too many taxes and they had

[16:05] to back up. I mean that's a

[16:05] total disaster.

[16:08] so we want to keep enough money

[16:09] in savings where we can

[16:14] consistently cut taxes, personal

[16:16] income taxes, corporate taxes so

[16:17] over the last you know10 years

[16:19] we've done it seven times.

[16:20] we'll do it again the first

[16:23] quarter of the upcoming27 will

[16:24] continue to cut but when we have

[16:27] a a huge number in savings so

[16:28] you know that's close to3

[16:29] billion dollars now

[16:30] we can cut

[16:33] the income tax and the

[16:34] personal you know the personal

[16:35] and corporate tax rate

[16:37] and that's just another good

[16:39] headline. So if I'm a business

[16:42] owner and I look up Arkansas

[16:44] it's just going to say cut, cut,

[16:46] cut, cut cut cut on on their

[16:47] taxes

[16:50] and which goes back to my

[16:51] first point consistent good

[16:52] headlines

[16:54] and with a huge amount of

[16:55] savings

[16:56] we can do really two things

[17:01] we can we can we can cut

[17:02] not too aggressively at any

[17:04] given time but we know that if

[17:05] we did too much there's money

[17:06] and savings to fill those holes.

[17:10] and really the way that you have

[17:11] these savings

[17:14] I drew you up a really

[17:16] fantastic drawing this morning

[17:17] with anXY axis

[17:20] let me see here how do I get on

[17:21] the screen

[17:24] right

[17:28] so this is just really simple.

[17:29] like and these are made up

[17:31] numbers, right? but we look at

[17:32] our state's budget

[17:33] and then what our revenues are

[17:36] and we're probably just like

[17:38] West Virginia it's impossible to

[17:39] cut something

[17:42] can't do it if if if we're being

[17:44] given money to something to cut

[17:46] it is a very difficult thing to

[17:48] do. So what we've said is if we

[17:50] can't cut the beast, how do we

[17:52] starve the beast or feed it a

[17:53] little bit less?

[17:55] so if we if we know that our

[17:56] revenue we expect it to go

[17:57] up3.5%

[18:01] we're only gonna but do a budget

[18:01] increase of2%.

[18:03] and that leaves a delta of1.5%

[18:08] and we're gonna do consistently

[18:10] every year, every year, every

[18:11] year. So we may not be able to

[18:12] cut government, but we can

[18:16] shrink it by percentage and we

[18:17] do it by a couple of percentage

[18:19] every year and and over time now

[18:20] Arkansas from a very small state

[18:23] has you know, like I say about3

[18:25] billion we had another $600

[18:28] million surplus last year but we

[18:29] have to keep spending in check

[18:32] and again how do you do that?

[18:34] You do that by telling the

[18:36] senate president this guy you

[18:37] get nothing. what I do get

[18:41] is great policy for the whole

[18:44] state of Arkansas. We recruit

[18:45] people in with that and and

[18:47] that's the win. we had to take a

[18:48] buyin from the whole legislature

[18:50] basically and now we do fight

[18:52] over it every session you

[18:54] know we really need this we

[18:55] really need that how are we

[18:56] going to fund that? what are we

[18:58] going to do and we continue to

[19:01] fall back to no members get

[19:02] anything. we're keeping the

[19:04] bucket a really full over here

[19:06] because we're going to do things

[19:07] that are great policy wins

[19:08] for the

[19:11] entire state of Arkansas or at

[19:13] least it had to be for a huge

[19:15] region of Arkansas not just a

[19:16] particular district

[19:20] you know we make choices I'm

[19:21] sure y'all get pitched this all

[19:23] the time and it's great. I'm

[19:24] just using this as one example

[19:26] because they're there are 1000

[19:28] worthy things to do with your

[19:29] tax dollars

[19:30] but we get told a lot let's

[19:32] let's give money the to the

[19:34] movie industry, right it's it's

[19:36] returned100 to1 if you give a

[19:37] million dollars

[19:39] What doesn't take me very long

[19:40] to realize I can give all of our

[19:42] money and it's nothing compared

[19:43] to what Georgia or Texas does.

[19:46] and they they just can dwarf us

[19:47] with the amount of credits that

[19:48] they do

[19:50] so we can put a lot of money

[19:51] into something that doesn't

[19:52] really move the needle

[19:55] or we can continue to keep our

[19:56] eye and stay focused on these

[19:58] corporate and income tax rates.

[20:03] and and I will tell you like the

[20:04] the the personal income tax

[20:06] has kind of been the sentence's

[20:08] thing. the house has always

[20:10] said we require that the

[20:12] corporate rates follow. if it

[20:13] was up to me I would just I

[20:14] would make sure personal

[20:16] income tax gets cut all the way

[20:18] back down to close to zero as we

[20:19] can

[20:20] and then and then go take on the

[20:24] corporate rates but it's been

[20:25] wise that the house has demanded

[20:27] that we follow if we cut in

[20:28] personal income tax we cut

[20:29] corporate, we track them all the

[20:33] time and if if one goes down the

[20:34] other goes down and that's been

[20:35] great. it's been a great

[20:36] messaging for our chambers of

[20:38] commerces continued good

[20:40] headlines to to to talk about

[20:41] what's going on

[20:46] in Arkansas. So I can talk more

[20:47] in detail if you have questions

[20:47] about the policies but what our

[20:50] what I really wanted to talk

[20:53] about was this overall mindset

[20:55] of what can we do to have

[20:57] consistent great headlines for

[20:59] Arkansas the selflessness of our

[21:00] members

[21:04] to get the vision of what we're

[21:06] trying to do and and see the

[21:08] results right our population's

[21:10] grown3.5% since the last census.

[21:13] things are going good. and

[21:14] we've got we've got the same

[21:16] thing as West Virginia

[21:18] there's some really rural tough

[21:20] spots. there's some more urban

[21:22] you know depending on what

[21:23] someone's looking for in life

[21:27] opportunities but we're we

[21:28] haven't done anything in

[21:29] Arkansas that West Virginia

[21:29] can't do and do really well.

[21:32] I'm happy to

[21:34] answer any questions or I can

[21:35] keep talking.

[21:38] that's great thank you Senator

[21:40] President Hester. I'll just

[21:41] follow up with the first

[21:42] question. that was a great

[21:44] presentation and I I I enjoyed

[21:46] what you what you said about

[21:48] about the mindset necessary to

[21:49] to create change

[21:52] you talked to a good bit about

[21:53] the tax reform

[21:56] were you also working on

[21:59] regulatory reform in parallel so

[22:00] cutting the red tape, cutting

[22:02] the permitting processes and can

[22:03] you talk a little bit about that

[22:04] please?

[22:06] that's great.

[22:08] We say there's nothing we do

[22:10] that's too small, right? people

[22:11] sometimes we come in and we want

[22:14] to do far too much at one given

[22:16] time and that's why I said these

[22:18] are consistent over time

[22:21] look we're we're looking at

[22:22] anything that can make Arkansas

[22:24] better. We are constantly

[22:26] putting pressure on our on our

[22:30] regulators. Look these you

[22:31] know we we like to call them

[22:32] bureaucrats and regulators that

[22:33] are haring they're doing the job

[22:36] with the rules that we as the

[22:36] legislature gave them

[22:38] right we have to change what

[22:40] those rules are and it's and

[22:42] it's scary and and every single

[22:44] regulation is for the safety of

[22:45] the people

[22:46] right

[22:49] and we get that but we believe

[22:51] that most Arkansans and we as we

[22:52] see across the country, most

[22:53] people would choose a little bit

[22:55] more liberty than they would

[22:56] protection from the government

[22:57] in most situations

[23:01] so even something down as you

[23:02] know we look at what's the

[23:04] biggest challenge is the biggest

[23:07] challenge electricians OK, if

[23:08] if we're having a hard time

[23:10] hiring electricians and heating

[23:11] air people and recruiting that

[23:12] industry. How do I make it a

[23:14] little bit easier to to do

[23:16] that in Arkansas we used to say

[23:19] a master electrician could only

[23:19] train on a 1 to 1 basis

[23:22] you know we've moved that to5

[23:24] to1 basis and of course what is

[23:26] Texas unlimited to one right

[23:28] like and and I don't see

[23:30] people burning down buildings in

[23:32] Texas. right but we're every

[23:34] single thing that we do in

[23:36] Arkansas we're trying to

[23:38] figure out how do we have less

[23:40] government interference. I

[23:42] want, I want the entrepreneurs,

[23:44] the business owners, the bosses

[23:46] to spend more of their time

[23:48] thinking about how do I

[23:49] create a next line? How do I

[23:49] have a more successful business

[23:52] I want them worried about that,

[23:54] not worried about I'm having to

[23:55] deal with the government today.

[23:57] I've got a regulator coming. I

[23:58] can't get this guy's license. no

[24:00] one's calling me back. My taxes

[24:02] are rough. How do I avoid those

[24:04] taxes? We do not want them

[24:06] spending any time or far less

[24:08] time they have to deal with us

[24:09] because there has to be

[24:09] regulation but like

[24:14] I want them spending less of

[24:15] their day dealing with

[24:17] something. whether that is a

[24:18] license, whether that's waiting

[24:19] on a callback, whether that's

[24:20] standing in line at the Dmv

[24:24] how do we remove any of those

[24:24] burdens and and and look

[24:28] we've had just huge groups of

[24:30] members that we get great ideas.

[24:31] same thing as you guys do in

[24:32] west Virginia and everyone's

[24:34] going to take

[24:37] one of those out of a you know

[24:38] we've got a plan of 20

[24:39] regulations that we're going to

[24:40] remove this year

[24:43] and we don't try to do too much.

[24:44] I guess maybe I've said a lot of

[24:45] words to say

[24:48] if you try to do too much we end

[24:49] up finding ourselves not

[24:50] successful but we just take a

[24:52] small piece of this regulation

[24:54] and we cut it and the next year

[24:55] cut it and the next year cut it

[24:57] and we continue to move the ball

[24:58] and you look up over 68 or10

[25:00] years and find yourself in in

[25:03] a much better place and again

[25:04] look it matters who your

[25:06] governor is who's overseeing

[25:08] those when when when the

[25:09] governor is totally lockstep

[25:10] pushing back on all those areas

[25:12] as well you know we tell our our

[25:14] regulators

[25:14] we want to be complaintd

[25:16] ri ve n we don't want to be

[25:18] going up in people's businesses

[25:20] and things looking under rocks

[25:21] trying to find a way to be

[25:22] difficult it's it's complaintdri

[25:28] thank you for that response

[25:29] senator. Are there questions for

[25:30] Senator Hester?

[25:36] delegate from the

[25:38] 16 th

[25:41] iethixtieth sorry

[25:45] thank you Mr chairman and

[25:46] thank you for joining us this

[25:48] morning from Arkansas.

[25:51] question this trajectory when

[25:52] you guys made this decision to

[25:53] make these

[25:57] calculated cuts versus your

[25:58] budget how long have you been on

[25:59] this pathway or guide path

[26:03] 10 years

[26:06] and and again it's it's

[26:08] consistent and I can tell you

[26:10] you know we went from the

[26:11] biggest most difficult thing we

[26:14] did was going from7% personal

[26:15] income tax to 6.9.

[26:17] because we hadn't cut taxes in

[26:19] forever and it was a huge deal

[26:20] when we did it but then the

[26:23] floodgates just opened and we I

[26:23] think maybe point

[26:28] you know 03 has been the be re0s

[26:30] has been the biggest cut we've

[26:32] ever done. We just continue to

[26:34] do it but for 10 years sometimes

[26:36] twice a year if revenues are

[26:38] really good we'll we you know

[26:39] we'll go into a special session

[26:39] we'll cut another 110

[26:42] and so that's been it it's a

[26:43] consistent for10 years.

[26:46] OK. right thank you Mr Chairman

[26:51] Thank you delegate are there

[26:52] further questions for Senator

[26:52] Hester?

[26:55] delegate from the

[26:58] 13th

[27:02] thank you Mr Chairman. thank you

[27:03] sir for being here

[27:05] If West Virginia was to only

[27:07] adopt three of Arkansas's

[27:07] roadmap policy

[27:11] what would you recommend be the

[27:12] three that we adapt to

[27:16] and what would be the three that

[27:17] you would stay away from

[27:22] Well I'll go right back to this

[27:24] I think the most important thing

[27:25] is everybody has to be on the

[27:26] same page and one is

[27:29] doing away with pet projects

[27:33] and that's really hard and the

[27:35] first time you do it is really

[27:36] hard and then it gets easier and

[27:40] easier and we tell people you

[27:42] better come make a huge regional

[27:44] case for something but doing

[27:47] in the mindset is so hard

[27:48] because we need this thing in my

[27:50] district or my area. but what

[27:52] your district or area really

[27:54] needs is overall tax reform so

[27:55] they can recruit jobs to your

[27:56] area. right that's what they

[27:59] really need. it's a longer term

[28:00] so number one doing away with

[28:03] pet projects from the top to the

[28:04] bottom and again everybody can

[28:06] be ok with not getting their

[28:07] thing as long as the

[28:09] the sentence

[28:13] this guy in Arkansas. So

[28:14] that's number one that's

[28:16] important.2 consistent

[28:18] cuts

[28:22] because it's consistent great

[28:24] headlines for the for state and

[28:26] for national. consistent don't

[28:28] do too much at one time you end

[28:29] up getting yourself in trouble

[28:30] maybe but this is just the

[28:32] Arkansas model. so that's I'd

[28:33] say that's two things

[28:37] things I would stay away from

[28:39] or all these other worthy

[28:41] tax things that people

[28:42] bring to you

[28:46] right we and we again we we've

[28:47] done a few something called

[28:48] the throwback rule but that

[28:49] really mattered because we have

[28:50] a lot of defense spending in our

[28:53] area we did that a few years

[28:54] ago but it was very specific

[28:56] because it was really great for

[28:58] an entire region of Arkansas

[28:59] that was struggling. so we made

[29:02] one choice there to adjust our

[29:03] throwb throwback rule.

[29:06] but but stay away from nibbling

[29:10] on the edges of you know this

[29:11] policy or that policy when it

[29:13] comes to tax cuts. stay with the

[29:15] bigger things that create better

[29:16] headlines that change people's

[29:18] mindset business owners about

[29:20] coming to West Virginia and that

[29:22] would be consistent personal

[29:26] income tax consistent

[29:28] corporate tax and look the

[29:29] concern is look we're not

[29:30] Florida we don't have all these

[29:32] people coming here and staying

[29:33] on the beach. We're not Texas,

[29:33] we don't

[29:35] have oil revenue so what do we

[29:37] do we we publicize exactly what

[29:39] you do. Hey come here ride your

[29:40] bike, kayak, look at the

[29:42] beautiful views, come spend the

[29:44] weekend in West Virginia or

[29:45] Arkansas and see how great this

[29:46] is

[29:46] right

[29:49] tourist dollars are real

[29:50] dollars. It matters. it starts

[29:52] businesses

[29:56] so Arkansas you know we may not

[29:57] have what some other states have

[29:58] to get their income tax down to

[29:59] almost zero or zero

[30:01] but we do have a lot going for

[30:01] us that they don't

[30:06] Thank youir. thank you Mr

[30:07] Chairman.

[30:09] thank you delegateur questions

[30:10] for the senator

[30:12] senator from the18th or delegate

[30:13] from the18th sorry

[30:17] thank you Mr Chairman. Have you

[30:20] noticed that your personal

[30:22] income tax reduction rates have

[30:24] helped improve your workforce

[30:26] participation in any way or even

[30:27] the corporate because that's one

[30:29] of the big issues we have in

[30:30] west Virginia are workforce

[30:31] participation is is pretty poor

[30:36] man that is a fantastic question

[30:37] and

[30:39] but I I will give you an

[30:41] example. we have a county called

[30:41] Mississippi County

[30:44] OK they were one of the

[30:48] biggest users of government

[30:50] you know reliance right so if

[30:52] that's medicaid, if that's Sap

[30:53] benefits

[30:56] where we we spent a lot of money

[31:00] 10 years ago on recruiting a

[31:01] steel mill to that area and I

[31:02] will tell you I voted against it

[31:04] because just general principles

[31:06] of mine, I don't think the

[31:07] government should be getting

[31:08] involved in buying business. I

[31:10] want to create an environment

[31:12] where they want to come here.

[31:14] Well guess what that's not the

[31:16] rules the United States plays

[31:17] by right and if we keep

[31:18] continuing to call ourselves

[31:20] purist, we just watch those jobs

[31:22] go other places but I voted

[31:23] against it 10 years ago. I'd

[31:24] vote against it now because of

[31:25] this

[31:28] we have watched through that

[31:30] steel mill that entire community

[31:33] go from the largest user of Snap

[31:35] in the state of Arkansas to

[31:37] almost the lowest user of Snap.

[31:40] so that's the only county in

[31:41] Arkansas that's becoming less

[31:41] dependent on the government

[31:44] so they were like the most

[31:45] dependent but guess what when

[31:48] you can walk out of school, high

[31:49] school and get a job

[31:52] making75,000 dollars a year all

[31:54] of a sudden it's not worth it to

[31:56] take your20 or30 $1000 worth of

[31:57] years for government benefits

[31:58] for housing and food and

[32:00] unemployment. So when you've got

[32:01] a good enough job

[32:04] we see it working in Arkansas

[32:06] when it's a good enough job,

[32:08] people will choose to get back

[32:10] into the workforce and go work a

[32:11] hard day and then guess what?

[32:12] they don't they don't need the

[32:15] government providing for them so

[32:16] now we have less of a burden in

[32:18] that area. they their life

[32:20] satisfaction is is better. The

[32:21] community's changing drastically

[32:24] but I'll go back to that when

[32:26] you have an environment that

[32:28] recruits businesses into town

[32:30] people will choose to go to work

[32:40] the junior senator from the

[32:41] fifth senior senator from the

[32:41] fifth

[32:48] good morning Mr. President I

[32:50] appreciate you being here and

[32:52] and you're speaking on a topic

[32:53] that I'm really

[32:54] interested in

[32:57] here in west Virginia and we're

[32:58] talking about the workforce and

[32:59] and you said some things that

[33:02] that really perked my interest

[33:05] here and I agree with you that

[33:06] if you if you have the

[33:10] opportunities to provide the

[33:11] workforce they will take it

[33:15] the problem in westvirginia we

[33:16] are a heavy Medicaid

[33:22] you know snap state. and

[33:24] there are no jobs that can

[33:26] replace right now that can

[33:27] replace the

[33:30] the pay that they get from the

[33:32] government assistance. In fact

[33:34] if we in one of the things I'm

[33:36] gonna work at and I'm gonna see

[33:37] if you all are doing the same

[33:37] thing

[33:38] is

[33:40] you know for so long they've

[33:42] been incentivized to not work

[33:44] you get a job and then they they

[33:45] take all your benefit

[33:49] behoovebun to go you know what

[33:52] I'm gonna go out and work a job

[33:55] which now a meal like that is

[33:57] great but if you're going out

[33:58] here like the small businesses

[34:00] here are having trouble filling

[34:01] their workforce with

[34:06] those jobs don't replace a

[34:07] government income

[34:12] So have you all looked and I'm

[34:14] looking at maybe incentivizing

[34:17] people to go to work with not

[34:19] taking all the benefits away

[34:22] but doing it prorated at at a

[34:24] way that they can still work

[34:28] and and really benefit from

[34:30] going to work to kind of help

[34:32] the the small businesses in

[34:33] our state what's your

[34:38] Well what we call that in

[34:40] Arkansas and you might too it's

[34:42] the cliff right like a I've got

[34:43] so much benefits and the moment

[34:45] I make too much I lose

[34:47] everything and at that point it

[34:49] I'm better off being at home. so

[34:50] how do we have a stepdown

[34:51] process

[34:54] rather than just a huge cliff

[34:55] from people and you know a lot

[34:56] of this is iseder reg

[35:00] federally regulated right but

[35:01] the things that we can control

[35:02] in Arkansas we have started to

[35:06] create ways for people to step

[35:08] down off these benefits and look

[35:09] for a long time I believe that

[35:10] they just don't want to work

[35:11] they're unwilling to work and

[35:11] and I've just seen it different

[35:14] when when you find a way to put

[35:16] something inad most people will

[35:18] choose we've just been seeing

[35:20] it we'll choose to go to work

[35:22] when there's a good enough job

[35:24] like you said where where the

[35:25] benefits just don't change if if

[35:26] all of a sudden I'm I'm working

[35:28] and bettering myself I'm going

[35:30] to school at night and the

[35:32] moment I'm I get a pay raise or

[35:34] promotion at work now I'll lose

[35:36] all the benefits for my children

[35:37] to go be able to go to daycare.

[35:38] Well now I can't afford to work

[35:40] anymore. So I don't take the

[35:41] promotion. I don't take the

[35:41] uppermobility in my life

[35:45] but we we we we see it we've

[35:48] consistently worked on areas and

[35:50] ways that we can do a stepdown

[35:51] process rather than a cliff.

[35:53] thank you very much appreciate

[35:54] it.

[35:57] are there further questions for

[35:57] the senator

[36:00] delegate from the

[36:03] eightyfourth

[36:07] thank you and thank you for

[36:10] being here. The one question I

[36:12] have is if you're consistently

[36:13] cutting consistently down

[36:18] do your schools and do your

[36:19] roadways and your waterways

[36:24] costs consistently go up and all

[36:27] these sections how do you

[36:28] accommodate

[36:28] those

[36:30] Yeah

[36:33] I'm going to guess we're

[36:35] different in in westvirginia

[36:36] then then than here in

[36:39] Arkansas and how we do that our

[36:40] schools are primarily funded by

[36:42] property taxes that are done

[36:44] solely at the county level. so

[36:46] the state's removed from that

[36:48] process. Now they tax them on a

[36:50] county level and then every

[36:52] student in Arkansas gets a gets

[36:56] a consistent amount and then

[36:57] each county if they choose to

[36:58] tax themselves more they can

[36:59] give more to their school

[37:00] districts so by cutting our

[37:04] income taxes it doesn't

[37:06] affect our schools well

[37:08] really at all because they're

[37:10] funded basically by property

[37:12] taxes in Arkansas. so that is a

[37:14] benefit for us. I can cut

[37:15] corporate rates, I can cut

[37:17] personal income taxes and it and

[37:20] it should not be a negative

[37:22] reflection on our schools. What

[37:23] we hope that it does and what

[37:24] we've been seeing it does is

[37:26] more people move to town.

[37:27] there's more houses, more houses

[37:28] being built which increases

[37:30] property taxes meaning more

[37:31] money going to our local school

[37:32] district

[37:32] t s

[37:35] the roads is a big deal.

[37:36] we do fund a lot of that from

[37:38] from the state level we just

[37:40] prioritized that like we look at

[37:41] what what is the what is the

[37:42] role of government right to keep

[37:44] people safe to provide you know

[37:46] the utilities and I believe you

[37:48] know the highway systems

[37:50] utilities so we prioritize

[37:54] that in fact when we have a

[37:56] surplusXcent of that surplus

[37:57] every year the first thing that

[37:59] happens to it is send it to

[37:59] our highway system

[38:04] and our road system. So it

[38:05] is a priority for us

[38:05] but again

[38:10] all these things are worthy.

[38:11] we just know that it will take

[38:12] time. we've got to create an

[38:13] entire culture change

[38:15] then we can go back and start

[38:16] fixing some of those you know I

[38:17] did an AI search this morning

[38:19] Why would I move to West

[38:19] Virginia

[38:22] and then I did one why would I

[38:24] move to Arkansas? and I did

[38:26] that because I met somebody a

[38:27] few weeks ago

[38:29] and they moved to Arkansas said

[38:31] why and they said I just I got

[38:32] into AI and I said I want all

[38:33] these things in life where

[38:34] should I move and it said

[38:35] Arkansas. I was like really?

[38:37] He's like yeah. he goes so I ran

[38:38] the search a few different times

[38:39] and it kept saying I should go

[38:40] visit Arkansas.

[38:42] but when I a out it this morning

[38:43] and said why should I move to

[38:45] Arkansas? It said you have

[38:47] serious systematic

[38:47] infrastructure concerns

[38:50] that is true.

[38:53] we take care of it we're working

[38:56] on it. we're not there yet.

[38:58] we're we're trying to heal

[38:59] ourselves on taxs basis get

[39:00] people coming here and we'll

[39:02] continue to start putting money

[39:03] into the infrastructure to fix

[39:03] it

[39:09] Any further questions

[39:16] ing an and senator President

[39:18] Hester, thank you so much for

[39:19] being here with us this morning

[39:20] truly appreciate your testimony

[39:22] and your perspective, your

[39:24] wisdom next time you're in

[39:25] west Virginia please let me

[39:26] know. we'll make sure we show

[39:27] you around and show you all the

[39:28] good things here

[39:31] thank you. I'll do it. thank you

[39:31] so much have a great day

[39:33] you too

[39:37] right moving on next on our next

[39:39] on our item on our agenda is a

[39:42] presentation from Christine

[39:43] Davies who is the deputy

[39:44] secretary for economic

[39:46] development and workforce

[39:47] participation deputy secret

[39:48] Secretary Davies

[39:51] thank you for being here. Can

[39:51] you raise your right hand

[39:52] please?

[39:54] Do you swear to tell the truth

[39:56] the whole truth, nothing but the

[39:57] truth under penalty of false

[39:58] swearing so help you go.

[39:59] Thank you please proceed

[40:33] Well thank you so much chairman

[40:34] and good morning to all of you

[40:36] thank you for the invitation to

[40:38] be here to address quite a

[40:40] number of key topics that I know

[40:42] are very important to all of you

[40:43] and certainly to our state

[40:45] in terms of the first topic you

[40:46] asked me to address site

[40:48] selection and infrastructure

[40:51] availability really evaluating

[40:52] how the states localized site

[40:54] readiness grants and our

[40:56] broader50 by fi0 framework help

[40:58] prepare locations to attract

[41:00] megaros. Um, I really want to

[41:03] start by just calling out that

[41:04] economic development is

[41:06] successful to really what I

[41:08] consider a core triad approach

[41:10] of effort and that of course

[41:12] includes site readiness,

[41:13] business fundamentals and

[41:15] incentives and workforce

[41:15] development.

[41:18] site readiness investment by

[41:20] states is absolutely critical

[41:22] for us to attract economic

[41:24] development projects whether

[41:26] they're megaros or otherwise. no

[41:27] site

[41:30] equals no project no matter

[41:32] what the incentives the tax

[41:34] structures etc. might be and

[41:36] speed to build is frequently

[41:38] ranked as the number one issue

[41:40] for project selection above the

[41:41] other elements of the triad.

[41:45] West Virginia is aggressively

[41:46] catching up to our neighbors on

[41:48] site readiness investments,

[41:50] neighborighbos who have poured

[41:52] hundreds of millions of dollars

[41:53] into this effort over the last

[41:53] several years.

[41:56] but since its kickoff in

[41:58] November of2023 the yes west

[42:00] Virginia siteready grants

[42:02] program has invested5 million

[42:04] dollars to evaluate over100

[42:06] sites nominated by local

[42:07] economic development

[42:08] organizations across the state

[42:11] or Lidos for industrial

[42:11] development statewide.

[42:16] 7500 $0 micro grants were

[42:18] awarded to38 of those sites that

[42:20] met the qualifications that were

[42:22] that were set out to fund due

[42:25] diligence and site work to

[42:28] advance those sites readiness

[42:29] and we are finalizing

[42:30] assessments of which of the

[42:32] remaining nominated sites as

[42:34] well as newly introduced sites

[42:36] that our team receives on

[42:38] literally a daily basis maybe be

[42:39] good investments for future site

[42:40] readiness funding.

[42:43] Our current inventory of sites

[42:46] ranges from5 to5,000 acres and

[42:48] we're working to grow that list

[42:50] of qualified inventory really

[42:53] around three tiers of readiness

[42:55] in order to better inform our

[42:56] sense of funding needed to make

[42:58] as much of West Virginia

[43:00] investment readyad as possible.

[43:02] So for example, a tier one site

[43:04] might be considered as close to

[43:06] turnkey ready as possible a tier

[43:08] two site has some site readiness

[43:10] elements in place like

[43:10] infrastructure but still

[43:13] needs advancement to be ready

[43:16] for turnkey investment ier

[43:18] three might require significant

[43:20] work to be ready for investment

[43:22] but it's still worthy of

[43:24] consideration. And this

[43:25] preliminary work to improve site

[43:26] readiness is critical. It

[43:28] improves things like completing

[43:30] environmental site assessments,

[43:32] geotechnical investigations

[43:34] utility studies and other due

[43:36] diligence that provides

[43:38] visibility into a site's risk

[43:40] profile. These are issues that

[43:41] could impact

[43:43] development and they become

[43:44] known variables that can be

[43:47] planned for rather than unknown

[43:49] risks that could frustrate an

[43:50] investor if it's discovered

[43:52] during their time sensitive due

[43:54] diligence. So essentially we're

[43:56] improving our readiness for

[43:57] investment, which makes the

[43:58] choice of West Virginia that

[44:01] much easier for companies and

[44:01] investors to make

[44:04] sites with completed due

[44:05] diligence through a site

[44:07] readiness program, have that

[44:08] competitive advantage over those

[44:11] lacking investigative work and

[44:12] increasingly I have to tell you

[44:15] that site consultants um, which

[44:17] probably constitute about50% of

[44:20] the project inquiries that we

[44:23] get insist that RFI request

[44:26] for information responses

[44:28] include only sites with some

[44:29] level of completed due

[44:30] diligence. it's not enough to

[44:31] send them a picture of a

[44:31] beautiful plot of land

[44:34] and ask them to imagine the art

[44:36] of the possible. We have to show

[44:38] that we've committed to to

[44:40] developing those sites

[44:41] towards being ready for for

[44:41] investors on day one.

[44:46] Now megaprojects which I know

[44:47] are of particular importance to

[44:49] this group typically require a

[44:51] minimum of1,000 acres of

[44:52] contiguous acres of developable

[44:56] land and while West Virginia we

[44:57] are blessed with beautiful

[44:58] mountains and the bounty that

[45:00] those mountains have provided to

[45:02] us our severe slopes and our

[45:04] flat land often occurring

[45:06] along rivers which of course

[45:08] introduces flood plain risk is

[45:10] our greatest challenge in terms

[45:11] of finding large sites across

[45:12] the state

[45:14] for industrial development

[45:15] including megaros.

[45:18] and so my suggestion to you is

[45:20] that we continue to keep working

[45:22] to fund site readiness for

[45:24] industrial projects of all sizes

[45:26] whether they be those 1000 acre

[45:27] parcels that we're able to find

[45:27] or less

[45:30] recognizing that as a state a

[45:34] messiah if you will of slightly

[45:35] smaller projects can produce

[45:38] similar value to landing one

[45:40] really huge but often elusive

[45:41] fish for any of you that

[45:43] struggle with fishing as I do

[45:45] and I wanted to point out the

[45:47] danger unfortunately of putting

[45:49] too many eggs in the megaroject

[45:52] basket. a recent study out of

[45:53] the Mackinac Center of Public

[45:56] Policy in Michigan found that

[45:57] only 9%

[46:00] of the promised jobs from

[46:02] megaros that were announced in

[46:04] that state between2000 and2020

[46:05] were actually realized

[46:10] megaros are wonderful headlines

[46:11] and they can have wonderful

[46:12] impact on our communities but

[46:15] they'res also often difficult

[46:17] projects to see come to fruition

[46:19] versus smaller projects in the50

[46:20] to250 job range.

[46:24] in terms of the fi0 by50 energy

[46:26] policy. this is really a

[46:28] distinctive advantage in the

[46:30] pursuit of industrial project

[46:32] investment access to affordable

[46:35] ample electricity is top of mind

[46:36] for every industrial investor,

[46:38] especially those whose

[46:40] businesses of course require

[46:40] massive amounts of electricity

[46:44] we consistently hear from site

[46:46] consultants as well as companies

[46:48] that West Virginia is in a class

[46:50] of your own in terms of our

[46:52] 5050 initiative and our

[46:54] commitment to developing that

[46:55] electricity. I would tell you

[46:57] that Texas and their Texasnergy

[46:59] fund to spur new base load

[47:01] generation is probably the only

[47:03] comparable state policy targeted

[47:04] for across the board

[47:06] electricity growth but of course

[47:08] Texas is very different given

[47:09] their regulatory position when

[47:10] it comes to energy.

[47:16] in terms of topic two the idea

[47:19] of deemed approved shot clocks.

[47:21] structuring rapid review

[47:23] mandates and automatic approval

[47:25] mechanisms including

[47:26] completeness certification

[47:28] windows to ensure predictability

[47:29] for businesses.

[47:32] I would offer I think this is a

[47:34] really strong idea when the

[47:36] issue truly slowing projects

[47:38] down as bureaucracy but I would

[47:40] also offer that mandatory shot

[47:42] clocks can also be dangerous

[47:45] when a slower process is the

[47:46] result of complexity from new

[47:48] technologies systems that a

[47:50] state is working to understand

[47:52] with greater certainty or the

[47:54] delays are caused by a company

[47:56] or investors occasional

[47:58] slower process that contributes

[47:59] to the delay.

[48:01] I certainly agree that we all

[48:03] have to act with speed but I'm

[48:05] personally not in favor of

[48:07] deeming anything approved when a

[48:07] time period runs out.

[48:10] ho t clocks can encourage bad

[48:12] behavior as well. I've heard of

[48:14] some states where these measures

[48:16] have been tested and what you

[48:18] end up seeing is risk averse

[48:20] agency staff simply denying

[48:22] permits right before the clock

[48:24] runs out forcing developers to

[48:26] restart the process and actually

[48:28] making the approval timelines

[48:30] longer than what was hoped for

[48:32] with the shot clock process. So

[48:34] how could a state make a shot

[48:36] clock process work and improve

[48:37] time to project

[48:40] First, I would offer to you that

[48:41] a shot clock should only tick

[48:44] when the state agency has a

[48:45] complete application in hand,

[48:47] which often doesn't happen on

[48:50] day one. The moment an agency

[48:52] identifies a missing technical

[48:54] study, a safety gap and

[48:56] environmental impact statement

[48:58] the clock officially pauses and

[49:00] then it doesn't restart until

[49:01] the developer provides the

[49:04] required data. So this type of

[49:05] an approach would ensure that

[49:07] agencies are never rushed on

[49:07] incomplete information.

[49:12] Second, a targeted a range of

[49:14] targeted shot clock or approval

[49:16] durations should be agreed to

[49:18] and then assigned early in the

[49:19] process based on the project's

[49:22] technical complexity. so you can

[49:24] imagine a tier one project might

[49:26] have a six0day period of review

[49:29] tier two180 days tier3365, etc.

[49:32] agencies I think should also

[49:36] retain a regulatory or statutory

[49:38] excuse me escape escape hatch if

[49:40] a project delay is due to issues

[49:42] like unexpected geological

[49:44] features novel technology

[49:47] challenges or significant public

[49:48] health questions, we would want

[49:50] the agency head to formally

[49:52] issue a public extension order

[49:54] adding say 60 to 90 days to the

[49:56] review period. but and I think

[49:58] this is key and this is key for

[49:59] all of our efforts when it comes

[50:00] to project approvals

[50:02] The agency needs to be

[50:04] transparent about why more time

[50:06] is needed, preventing

[50:08] applications from sitting on a

[50:09] desk due to understaffing or

[50:12] administrative neglect and I

[50:13] don't know enough about whether

[50:14] legally that means we should be

[50:16] public about these approvals or

[50:18] based on nondisclosure

[50:18] agreements. it could be more of

[50:20] an internal dashboard let's say

[50:23] on showing the status of project

[50:25] approvals but something to

[50:27] that effect may be helpful to

[50:28] us in terms of addressing this

[50:29] issue effectively.

[50:32] in terms of the third issue that

[50:34] was raised operational certainty

[50:38] and regulatory reform. Listen,

[50:40] we all know that companies are

[50:41] certainly turned off by delays

[50:44] and opaqueness. So the question

[50:45] I think we have to grapple with

[50:47] is really how to make sure this

[50:49] is not happening for

[50:50] understandable due diligence

[50:52] reasons or due to a developer or

[50:54] company's delay with providing

[50:55] information.

[50:57] first of all to share with you

[50:59] the number one permitting issue

[51:00] that we in the division of

[51:02] Economicvelopment here the most

[51:04] about tend to be from the

[51:06] federaler side. the US Army

[51:08] Corps of Engineers is particular

[51:10] not to pick on them but they

[51:12] often are cited as having some

[51:14] of the most extensive

[51:16] permitting delays uh, whether

[51:17] it's things for bat muscle

[51:20] habitat issues etc. I'm not

[51:21] an expert on federaler

[51:23] permitting but I have no doubt

[51:24] that West Virginia's federaler

[51:25] delegation would be

[51:28] open to any ideas to improve

[51:30] this and has likely moved the

[51:32] needle on federal permitting

[51:32] over the years and could

[51:33] continue to do so

[51:36] from my experience over this

[51:38] last year our West Virginia

[51:39] Department of Environmental

[51:42] Protection is regularly seen by

[51:44] companies as being a proactive

[51:45] partner with an enabling

[51:47] mentality towards industrial

[51:48] development in West Virginia

[51:50] while ensuring that clear

[51:52] guardrails are maintained and

[51:54] respected by these projects and

[51:55] just as a really sterling

[51:58] example. it only took120 days to

[52:00] award neworp's major source air

[52:03] permit compared to the near year

[52:03] that it usually takes for

[52:04] such activities

[52:08] Other key rule improvements that

[52:10] have been cited to us as being

[52:11] signals of strong business

[52:14] enablement of West Virginia and

[52:15] continue to demonstrate why

[52:16] we're such an attractive place

[52:18] to do business, include things

[52:20] like your privatization of

[52:21] workers' compensation, the

[52:22] elimination of the business

[52:25] franchise tax and of course

[52:25] right to work legislation

[52:28] and in addition to red tape

[52:30] reduction, the signals that West

[52:32] Virginia continues to send

[52:33] through prudent fiscal

[52:35] management, um, are also really

[52:37] highly valued by prospective

[52:39] investors paying down longterm

[52:41] liabilities like pension debt

[52:43] and unfunded employee benefits

[52:44] and maintaining budget

[52:45] surpluses are really widely

[52:45] applauded.

[52:49] so in terms of improvement ideas

[52:52] in this area. the forthcoming

[52:54] onestop permitting portal I

[52:55] think it's going to be a huge

[52:56] step forward for the state for

[52:59] business transparency and for

[53:01] the execution of the review

[53:02] process needed to move a project

[53:04] forward but maybe a process

[53:06] where agencies review

[53:09] applications in parallel rather

[53:12] than sequentially and can then

[53:13] report their approval status

[53:14] through a digital dashboard

[53:16] whether that be internal or

[53:17] public could help

[53:19] with both moving approvals

[53:20] forward more more quickly as

[53:22] well as helping all of us

[53:23] identify where those approval

[53:25] bottlenecks are really happening

[53:27] and that approval process, that

[53:29] dashboard could also take into

[53:30] effect approvals that have to

[53:32] happen at the local level which

[53:34] are of course the state has

[53:35] the opportunity to influence

[53:35] but not control

[53:39] there may also be ideas to

[53:40] consider although I didn't put

[53:42] them on the slide, um, about how

[53:44] changes to how legal

[53:46] challenges to major permits are

[53:48] handled by the courts, uh, could

[53:51] be an effort to improve

[53:52] processes where that type of

[53:54] challenge slows a permitting

[53:56] review down, uh, or even

[53:57] something that I think other

[53:59] states have employed where cash

[54:00] bonds are required from third

[54:02] parties seeking temporary

[54:05] injunctions that then can be

[54:06] used to cover project delay

[54:07] costs

[54:09] if that challenge is found to be

[54:10] without merit. Those are all the

[54:11] types of things that we might be

[54:11] able to consider.

[54:15] and finally

[54:19] the topic of that you

[54:20] asked me to discuss workforce

[54:22] participation alignment looking

[54:24] at how we structure state level

[54:25] educational and workforce

[54:28] pipelines to ensure that when a

[54:29] business expands in West

[54:30] Virginia there's a supply of

[54:32] skilled labor to meet those

[54:34] specialized needs particularly

[54:36] for data centers advanced

[54:38] manufacturing facilities and

[54:40] energy producers. Um, this issue

[54:42] is absolutely critical and I

[54:44] think in my mind it's probably

[54:45] the one I've spent even I

[54:45] definitely spread

[54:48] my time around that triad that I

[54:50] introduced earlier but but

[54:52] workforce is absolutely critical

[54:53] to in terms of west

[54:54] Virginia's economic health and

[54:56] attractiveness as a state to

[54:58] invest in. This is why Governor

[55:00] Morrissey has insisted that we

[55:01] do more as a state to integrate

[55:02] workforce and economic

[55:04] development coordination over

[55:05] the year the last year and a

[55:05] half

[55:08] and I'm pleased to tell you that

[55:11] K1w2 higher ed and workforce

[55:12] west Virginia which often

[55:14] operate you know in stovepipes

[55:16] have really been engaged in

[55:18] frequent discussions for the

[55:19] last several months on what we

[55:20] can do to ensure that our

[55:22] workforce pipelines which start

[55:24] in K12 and go all the way

[55:26] through of course to adult

[55:28] employment are strong, not just

[55:29] for West Virginia's employers

[55:30] and our perspective employers

[55:32] but certainly for our workers as

[55:33] well

[55:34] and while there's a lot of work

[55:36] going on in this regard, I

[55:38] wanted to call out four programs

[55:40] that I think are really helping

[55:42] us define how to ensure strong

[55:43] workforce pipelines for our

[55:44] employers.

[55:46] The West Virginia Investgrant

[55:48] that offers last dollar in

[55:51] financial aid covering up to100%

[55:53] of tuition for highdeman

[55:55] certificate and associate

[55:57] programs is really critical. so

[56:00] is the west Virginiavance grant

[56:01] which is administered by

[56:02] doctorctor Sarah Tucker in the

[56:05] Ctc system. This is a program

[56:06] that can create customized

[56:08] workforce training for companies

[56:10] that invest in West Virginia in

[56:12] partnership with the closest

[56:13] community or technical college

[56:14] to their

[56:15] location.

[56:18] and then there's our connecting

[56:20] talent to opportunity challenge.

[56:21] I'm really proud that West

[56:23] Virginia was chosen by the US

[56:24] Department of Education earlier

[56:27] this year as one of only10

[56:30] states to receive funding for an

[56:32] online talent marketplace where

[56:33] we are going to develop

[56:36] essentially a one stop platform

[56:37] that will include an online

[56:39] credential registry which will

[56:41] enable us to map courses

[56:43] statewide that are that are

[56:45] tied to high demand industries

[56:45] and occupations

[56:48] and make that visible to every

[56:49] West Virginia learner worker and

[56:49] employer

[56:52] a learning and employment record

[56:55] that will help our workers track

[56:56] and share credentials with

[56:59] employers and vice versa, making

[57:00] those employment decisions more

[57:02] reliable as well as efficient

[57:04] and the third piece of the CTO

[57:07] challenge is a skillsbased job

[57:10] description generator that will

[57:11] really, I think this is really

[57:12] important because this will help

[57:15] to decode the experience of our

[57:16] workers or our employees in

[57:18] terms of the skills that they

[57:19] possess and then it will also on

[57:20] the

[57:22] other side translate employer

[57:25] job descriptions into the skills

[57:26] that they really need for

[57:28] success and then help to match

[57:30] supply and demand more

[57:32] effectively and efficiently. Any

[57:33] of you who are involved in

[57:35] business or run a business know

[57:36] that we're often biased when

[57:38] we're looking at resumes at

[57:40] people who've had experience in

[57:42] our industry and show kind of

[57:44] just that clear progression and

[57:45] the reality is when it comes to

[57:46] West Virginia's workforce and

[57:48] the challenges that we have you

[57:49] know we have people that may be

[57:50] pivoting

[57:52] from one industry to another and

[57:54] the reality is they don't have

[57:55] to start from scratch they're

[57:56] able to pivot based on a skills

[57:58] set that they have earned in a

[58:00] certain industry and that

[58:01] they can use to to pivot

[58:03] effectively into the new

[58:05] industry or industries that they

[58:06] may not even know that they are

[58:07] actually qualified to do

[58:10] and then last but not least, I'm

[58:12] really excited about the career

[58:14] continuums being developed by

[58:16] the CTE team within our K-1w2

[58:18] system. These are formalizing

[58:20] frameworks for career

[58:22] development pathways, the start

[58:24] in elementary school with career

[58:27] awareness and exploration. They

[58:28] progress into the middle and

[58:29] high school stage where deeper

[58:32] work experiences can be had and

[58:33] credentials can start being

[58:35] earned. This sets our students

[58:37] and our future workers up for

[58:38] success with their postsecond

[58:40] ary training where they can

[58:42] build on what they've already

[58:43] been exposed to and have been

[58:44] fired up about, what they've

[58:46] earned in their earlier academic

[58:48] careers we're really working now

[58:50] to ensure that there's strong

[58:52] connective tissue for this

[58:54] continuum concept betweenk1w2

[58:56] higher education and the

[58:58] workforce stages so that as many

[59:00] West Virginia high schoolers as

[59:02] possible graduate with a strong

[59:04] sense of career direction. Just

[59:06] three examples of the continuums

[59:07] that have been developed and are

[59:08] available to West Virginia

[59:12] schools aviation utilities

[59:14] and energy and digital science

[59:16] which I might try to persuade

[59:17] Superintendent Blatt we could

[59:19] rename datataconomy but that's

[59:20] something that we'll that we'll

[59:22] work on going forward and these

[59:24] are all really exciting programs

[59:25] and while it didn't make it

[59:27] to the slide, I want to also

[59:28] share with you that we are

[59:30] actively investigating corporate

[59:32] partnerships for these

[59:34] continuums, uh, and for the post

[59:35] high school stages of work which

[59:37] will enable workers and our

[59:37] students who are our emerging

[59:38] workers

[59:41] to obtain work experience and

[59:42] credentials that really

[59:44] strengthen their paths in target

[59:46] industries it's one thing to

[59:48] train somebody for the

[59:50] conceptual, you know, roles that

[59:51] they may have or for an industry

[59:53] track it's another thing to have

[59:54] them trained immediately and

[59:56] directly by someone who most

[59:58] likely will hire them if they

[1:00:00] progress in a positive manner

[1:00:02] uh, because they've already made

[1:00:04] that investment in them starting

[1:00:06] earlier in their work study

[1:00:07] careers. we've had some

[1:00:08] conversations

[1:00:10] with data center and energy

[1:00:12] investors in this regard. some

[1:00:14] of you may be familiar with

[1:00:15] Hopeases Hopeaththways programme

[1:00:16] that's active in several West

[1:00:18] Virginia high schools. we're

[1:00:20] also talking with companies like

[1:00:22] Home Depot Justin you may be

[1:00:24] particularly interested in this

[1:00:25] that they've developed a path to

[1:00:27] propilot program to generate

[1:00:28] more skilled trade workers for

[1:00:30] example. So I hope that we'll

[1:00:32] continue to have more to share

[1:00:33] on this front soon too.

[1:00:36] and then lastly I just wanted to

[1:00:37] share with you that driven

[1:00:38] largely by that connecting

[1:00:40] talent to opportunity challenge

[1:00:42] that I mentioned earlier. We are

[1:00:44] really working to develop

[1:00:46] transparent career tracking and

[1:00:48] mapping capabilities for key

[1:00:49] industrial sectors but like the

[1:00:50] ones the three that you called

[1:00:52] out, modern data centers,

[1:00:54] advanced manufacturing and

[1:00:56] energy. and as per these

[1:00:58] charts we actually think we're

[1:01:00] going to be able to have access

[1:01:01] to the data and we'll be able to

[1:01:03] aggregate it to determine West

[1:01:03] Virginia's labor fore

[1:01:06] cast needs based in part on

[1:01:07] national Bureau of Labor

[1:01:09] statistics data as well as the

[1:01:10] data that we collect from West

[1:01:13] Virginia employers. We can map

[1:01:14] those roles then to credentials

[1:01:15] needed

[1:01:18] and then what we can do is map

[1:01:20] target roles and occupations to

[1:01:22] specific West Virginia training

[1:01:24] programs which helps us both

[1:01:26] identify gaps or maybe where we

[1:01:28] have abundance in terms of

[1:01:29] certain training programs and

[1:01:31] then this of course informs both

[1:01:33] our higher education and CTc

[1:01:35] system for their planning and

[1:01:36] programmatic investment purposes

[1:01:38] so we can ensure that we're

[1:01:40] building strong pipelines that

[1:01:42] will lead to employment not just

[1:01:44] to academic study but it also

[1:01:45] allows us to really crisply

[1:01:49] share career pathways from idea

[1:01:51] to available training program

[1:01:52] with our workers and employers.

[1:01:55] I know I've shared a lot of

[1:01:56] information with you. I hope it

[1:01:58] was helpful and I'd be happy

[1:01:59] to take questions.

[1:02:02] think you deputy Secretary

[1:02:03] Davies

[1:02:05] are there questions

[1:02:11] delegate from the18th

[1:02:13] thank you Mr Chairman. I guess

[1:02:15] I'll get us started off here

[1:02:16] over here OKok

[1:02:18] thank you thank you for the

[1:02:20] presentation. I think there are

[1:02:22] lots of great incentives that we

[1:02:23] will all been working on for

[1:02:23] years and

[1:02:25] it seemed like some of it is

[1:02:27] starting to pay off. I'm in

[1:02:27] Mason County

[1:02:31] so as you know I'm sure we have

[1:02:32] a lot of development going on

[1:02:34] there and we're we're most of us

[1:02:35] are grateful for that I

[1:02:36] certainly am

[1:02:40] one issue that we have run into

[1:02:42] that maybe we didn't anticipate

[1:02:43] was a lack of housing

[1:02:46] for I mean we're gonna have

[1:02:50] you know to havepe employees

[1:02:52] kids graduating high school or

[1:02:53] whatever the job training

[1:02:54] programs you're talking about.

[1:02:56] So that certainly is a big part

[1:02:58] of it but what we're finding is

[1:03:00] and we're a border county and

[1:03:01] obviously we know we have a lot

[1:03:01] of communities along the borders

[1:03:05] and I was just speaking with

[1:03:06] someone who's a higher level

[1:03:10] manager of one of these

[1:03:12] facilities the living50 miles

[1:03:14] away because they couldn't find

[1:03:17] housing close by and in some

[1:03:18] cases they're going

[1:03:21] across the river in my case in

[1:03:24] Ohio to live because we don't

[1:03:25] have the housing available in

[1:03:26] Mason County

[1:03:30] So I don't know what the answer

[1:03:32] to this is. I don't know if this

[1:03:33] is something that is on your

[1:03:37] radar so if if you have

[1:03:38] things available that I'm not

[1:03:40] aware of maybe I need to catch

[1:03:41] up with you or maybe you can let

[1:03:44] us know or if you're not already

[1:03:45] working on it this is something

[1:03:46] we need to consider I think so

[1:03:48] thank you sir let me just

[1:03:49] emphasize it definitely is on

[1:03:50] our radar. thank you so much for

[1:03:52] raising it. I will tell you the

[1:03:54] reason my deputy Todd Hooker who

[1:03:55] many of you know is not here

[1:03:56] today he's actually with the

[1:03:57] advantage Valley Organ

[1:03:57] organization at a hous

[1:04:00] ing kind of brainstorming

[1:04:02] session thinking about what we

[1:04:04] can do just a couple of other

[1:04:05] quick thoughts I will actually

[1:04:06] be spending a day in Washington

[1:04:08] Dc next week learning how much

[1:04:10] federal funding we might be able

[1:04:12] to pull for housing development,

[1:04:14] uh, not just for low income

[1:04:15] but certainly

[1:04:18] y pe s of housing that we would

[1:04:20] want to develop workforce

[1:04:21] housing as I believe it's often

[1:04:23] called across the state and the

[1:04:24] last thing I'll say is that

[1:04:26] there's typically two stages

[1:04:28] that we have to figure out you

[1:04:29] know where we let the markets

[1:04:30] dictate or where we potentially

[1:04:32] help to agitate and that's of

[1:04:34] course the development again of

[1:04:36] sites that need to be ready

[1:04:38] then for the second stage which

[1:04:39] are for developers to step in

[1:04:40] and actually start building the

[1:04:42] units and my understanding from

[1:04:43] the housing community although I

[1:04:44] keep encouraging them to get me

[1:04:46] more data, not just opinions

[1:04:49] um, is that we tend to invest a

[1:04:51] lot more in that second stage of

[1:04:52] really trying to incentivize the

[1:04:54] unit production when the reality

[1:04:56] is if we're missing that first

[1:04:57] step and we don't have sites

[1:04:58] that are ready for housing

[1:04:59] development for develop

[1:05:04] So definitely something we're

[1:05:06] working on I'd love to keep in

[1:05:08] touch with you I know it's huge

[1:05:09] for Mason County but it's huge

[1:05:09] for the

[1:05:16] thank you delegate senior

[1:05:17] senator from the fourth. thank

[1:05:19] you Mr Chairman. On page for

[1:05:20] you're talking about a few

[1:05:22] things that have been positive

[1:05:23] in the conversations you've had

[1:05:24] with employers coming to west

[1:05:26] Virginia when you mentioned

[1:05:27] privatization of workers' comp,

[1:05:28] elimination of the business

[1:05:30] franchise tax and their right to

[1:05:31] work legislation.

[1:05:33] in those discussions

[1:05:36] do you ever also have

[1:05:38] discussions on personal property

[1:05:39] tax here versus if they land

[1:05:39] somewhere else

[1:05:44] infrastructure or the PT the

[1:05:45] personal income tax side of it.

[1:05:48] is there a consistency amongst

[1:05:49] your conversations with regards

[1:05:51] to those or are they mentioned

[1:05:51] at all

[1:05:52] have been

[1:06:02] that if west Virginia if we

[1:06:03] continue to make a case of our

[1:06:04] competitiveness and our

[1:06:06] difference you know, especially

[1:06:07] among our neighbors in those

[1:06:09] areas they will be noticed by

[1:06:11] business. they will be they

[1:06:12] will add to the plus side of why

[1:06:14] West Virginia is a great place

[1:06:16] to invest to bring employees

[1:06:18] to have those employees build a

[1:06:19] life etc. and have that ripple

[1:06:19] effect.

[1:06:22] when you follow up with

[1:06:23] employers as they've located

[1:06:27] to see what they experience

[1:06:30] has been in West Virginia is

[1:06:32] there a is there a common theme

[1:06:33] amongst what they feel like they

[1:06:34] need that they didn't get

[1:06:38] Question I mean we certainly are

[1:06:41] in touch with employers long

[1:06:42] after you know the announcements

[1:06:44] are made and there's any sort of

[1:06:46] a ribbon cutting. Listen, I mean

[1:06:47] I think they continue to grapple

[1:06:48] with the same challenges that

[1:06:50] any business does trying to

[1:06:52] continue to find that workforce,

[1:06:54] um, is probably top among the

[1:06:59] why we're introducing workforce

[1:07:00] even earlier into the

[1:07:02] conversations with prospects

[1:07:04] for West Virginia so that's an

[1:07:05] area again

[1:07:22] ear 2 year3, etc.

[1:07:28] Thank you senator further

[1:07:29] questions

[1:07:31] delegate from the

[1:07:32] eth

[1:07:38] thank you thank you Mr Chairman.

[1:07:39] thank you madam Secretary.

[1:07:40] appreciate you being here was

[1:07:44] looking at some of the appendix

[1:07:45] materials that you provided here

[1:07:47] admittedly it's tiny so I'm

[1:07:50] hoping re reading this correctly

[1:07:52] but I noticed a couple soft

[1:07:55] sectors in there and I'll

[1:07:56] mention one or two particularly

[1:07:58] and was curious if you could

[1:08:00] comment on it because I'm

[1:08:01] looking at it from a long term

[1:08:02] perspective particularly what

[1:08:04] stood out to me was let's see if

[1:08:06] I can read this here really tiny

[1:08:07] gosh

[1:08:11] plant and system operators and

[1:08:14] similar type trades under energy

[1:08:16] I think it's the first one and I

[1:08:17] think I see a decline of

[1:08:20] 286 % if I'm reading that

[1:08:21] properly

[1:08:24] does that look right it looks

[1:08:26] right I will tell you I mean to

[1:08:27] some degree this is

[1:08:28] demonstrative but that is what

[1:08:30] the data is telling us right now

[1:08:31] for that particular role. I was

[1:08:32] just curious if you had any

[1:08:34] thoughts with regards to that

[1:08:35] because that sounds

[1:08:37] counterintuitive to where we're

[1:08:38] trying to go with especially hey

[1:08:40] we want to go50 to50 and all the

[1:08:42] rest of that we're gonna need

[1:08:44] people to operate those plants

[1:08:45] and and things like that

[1:08:48] try to rely on the data and

[1:08:50] statistics to show us sometimes

[1:08:52] I will say BLS data is a bit

[1:08:54] more backwardlook in terms of

[1:08:55] you know

[1:08:57] what we've seen over the last

[1:08:59] couple of years so we have to

[1:09:00] keep that in mind but it may be

[1:09:02] that that particular role may be

[1:09:03] seeing a bit of a decline but

[1:09:06] there are certainly others roles

[1:09:07] within the energy industry that

[1:09:10] based on you know the profile of

[1:09:12] power plants coming back online

[1:09:14] and data center development etc.

[1:09:16] we'll see certain roles grow

[1:09:18] much more highly than we would

[1:09:19] other roles.

[1:09:21] I think it'll be a bit of a

[1:09:21] mixed basket

[1:09:24] think what I'm taking away from

[1:09:26] that is you know maybe we ought

[1:09:27] to look at that a little further

[1:09:29] or at least personally rather

[1:09:32] than take this as you know a a

[1:09:33] hard and fast number and

[1:09:35] make plans accordingly I think

[1:09:36] that's fair we should always

[1:09:38] question data that we're getting

[1:09:40] before we're making pure

[1:09:41] decisions but I do think it's a

[1:09:43] signal often of where you know

[1:09:45] the the potentially the best

[1:09:46] areas are for us to invest in

[1:09:48] terms of amplifying roles

[1:09:50] that we're trying to move our

[1:09:51] workers into so

[1:09:52] thank you appreciate it thank

[1:09:53] you Mr Chair

[1:09:57] think you'd get the chair

[1:09:57] recognizes the delegate from the

[1:09:58] seventyninth.

[1:10:02] Thank thank you Mr chair

[1:10:05] I'm over here in the corner

[1:10:07] thank you for being here and for

[1:10:10] your testimony the the mega

[1:10:12] projects that you refer to do

[1:10:13] those include data center

[1:10:16] a great question. I don't

[1:10:19] believe it does in terms of the

[1:10:20] research out of Michigan for

[1:10:22] example. because they're so

[1:10:24] new to the development scene.

[1:10:26] mostst of the research that's

[1:10:27] been done has been over megaros

[1:10:28] in the industrial development

[1:10:29] manufacturing space.

[1:10:32] you're talking about the

[1:10:34] Michigan research it sounds like

[1:10:35] would say both the Michigan

[1:10:36] research as well as what we know

[1:10:38] about defining a megaproject

[1:10:39] traditionally has been more in

[1:10:41] the manufacturing space. I

[1:10:42] wouldn't be comfortable

[1:10:43] inferring a lot about

[1:10:48] So in your slide I'm looking at

[1:10:50] the second slide, the first one

[1:10:52] after the cover page and it

[1:10:53] refers to speed to build

[1:10:55] as the number one issue

[1:10:59] is that relevant to data

[1:10:59] centers?

[1:11:10] and part of the speed to build

[1:11:14] for data centers the removal of

[1:11:17] local control in House Bill2014

[1:11:18] my

[1:11:30] so you do you have any

[1:11:32] indication from data center

[1:11:33] developers whether

[1:11:37] the lack of local control is is

[1:11:38] having an impact on their

[1:11:39] sighting decisions

[1:11:46] that west Virginia's

[1:11:50] positive appetite for economic

[1:11:51] development certainly resonates

[1:11:54] with developers of manufacturing

[1:11:55] facilities, data centers and

[1:11:56] across the board which I think

[1:11:57] is a really welcome thing for

[1:11:57] our state

[1:12:01] and then the the first bullet

[1:12:02] point talks about incentives

[1:12:06] are you are you familiar with

[1:12:08] the incentive for data centers

[1:12:09] to

[1:12:11] tax them at their salvage value

[1:12:13] for certain taxes rather than

[1:12:16] the full value that'm not as

[1:12:18] knowledgeable about again the

[1:12:20] data's economy piece is a bit

[1:12:21] out of my purview. I will tell

[1:12:22] you that salvage value taxation

[1:12:24] I know in our5 for10 program

[1:12:25] that's something that we have

[1:12:28] traditionally offered, uh, for

[1:12:30] manufacturers and so I'm sure

[1:12:31] that that would be a

[1:12:35] notable to investors is that

[1:12:35] because

[1:12:39] taxing the data center servers

[1:12:41] that salvage value is a better

[1:12:42] deal for data center developers

[1:12:44] than surrounding states don't

[1:12:58] OK. and then your last bullet

[1:13:02] about the50 by50 plan and the

[1:13:03] grid upgrades

[1:13:07] if west Virginia were to expand

[1:13:07] to50 gigawatts

[1:13:12] that would be roughly3 times the

[1:13:13] generation capacity that we have

[1:13:20] Would that mean that West

[1:13:22] Virginia would be exporting more

[1:13:23] of its electricity

[1:13:25] and therefore need more

[1:13:26] transmission lines to get that

[1:13:28] electricity to where it's needed

[1:13:29] think that's

[1:13:48] it but to some degree it's

[1:13:49] always a

[1:13:51] where that goes

[1:13:54] do you know how much of the16

[1:13:55] gigawatts that we're generating

[1:13:56] now is consumed in state

[1:14:03] Because I I think if West

[1:14:04] Virginia were to consume the fi0

[1:14:05] gigawatts that'd be a

[1:14:09] an extremely remarkable increase

[1:14:12] in consumption of electricity

[1:14:13] within the state exciting things

[1:14:18] these transmission lines that

[1:14:19] are going to be needed to

[1:14:20] transport the electricity from

[1:14:23] the power plants to the end

[1:14:24] users who should pay for those

[1:14:41] the ratepayers

[1:14:44] So they they should be borne by

[1:14:46] the the businesses that caused

[1:14:48] the need for those great

[1:14:49] expansions not on everyday

[1:14:50] ratepayers would say that

[1:15:04] be spurring the need for

[1:15:11] Thank you thank you Mr chair

[1:15:16] thank you chair recognizes the

[1:15:17] delegate from the fortyfirst.

[1:15:20] Hey Mr Chairman. thank you Miss

[1:15:21] Davies for being here and your

[1:15:23] presentation. Well done.

[1:15:24] quick question for you as we're

[1:15:27] talking about shot clocks and

[1:15:28] you know, speed to permitting

[1:15:31] speed tomark, OK? I think all

[1:15:32] of us recognize you know the

[1:15:34] better we get in that area, the

[1:15:36] more attractive we are and the

[1:15:37] the better environment that we

[1:15:40] have in that as we move the ball

[1:15:43] forward on that do we have

[1:15:43] currently the personnel

[1:15:48] that does the reviewing of the

[1:15:50] applications and the digging in

[1:15:53] if you will do we have the the

[1:15:55] adequate amount of personnel and

[1:15:56] budget for those purposes

[1:15:57] currently?

[1:16:03] nalysis of I would say certainly

[1:16:04] from my experience over the last

[1:16:05] year and a half

[1:16:08] lastst year, there are

[1:16:10] periods where it would be nice

[1:16:12] to be able to add capacity I

[1:16:13] would say to our permitting

[1:16:14] review but it's also somewhat

[1:16:16] unpredictable. um, so I would

[1:16:18] say that I think our teams

[1:16:19] across the board in West

[1:16:20] Virginia state government are

[1:16:22] doing a heck of a job. and I

[1:16:23] think the best thing that we

[1:16:24] could do in addition to looking

[1:16:25] at

[1:16:37] the right balls forward

[1:16:40] yes I appreciate that and and

[1:16:42] I'd like to continue this

[1:16:43] conversation as we go into

[1:16:44] session because this is a

[1:16:46] critical issue that we have to

[1:16:47] address and we have to get

[1:16:49] better at and so we all need to

[1:16:50] work comprehensively together to

[1:16:53] figure out what are the

[1:16:54] applications that we can do

[1:16:56] simultaneously as you said what

[1:16:57] are the necessary shot clocks

[1:17:00] what makes sense but I I don't

[1:17:01] want West Virginia government

[1:17:04] to be the hindrance to projects

[1:17:06] getting done and so as we go

[1:17:08] forward if we need to talk about

[1:17:10] added personnel in various

[1:17:11] departments etc. I think that's

[1:17:12] that's something that's gonna

[1:17:13] be very important going forward

[1:17:15] happy to work with you on that

[1:17:15] you Mr Chairman.

[1:17:18] thank you delegate I I'll just

[1:17:19] follow up on that personally

[1:17:21] I know that you don't have an

[1:17:22] idea of quantitatively whether

[1:17:24] we have a shortage or not but

[1:17:25] I've I've heard stories

[1:17:27] anecdotal anecdotally at least

[1:17:28] in the eastern panhandle where I

[1:17:29] represent

[1:17:32] that there's competition in

[1:17:33] the private sector for instance

[1:17:34] for your experts like your

[1:17:36] engineers, your your technical

[1:17:38] experts cause you know the the

[1:17:40] municipalities, the counties

[1:17:42] need them and their technical

[1:17:43] expertise and their degrees and

[1:17:46] qualifications to to analyze and

[1:17:48] improve these complex permits

[1:17:49] but then there's also the

[1:17:51] private sector that is

[1:17:52] drawing them you know at at

[1:17:54] higher salaries and so I've

[1:17:58] certainly seen that where you

[1:17:59] know we've we've lost

[1:18:03] a key permitter working for the

[1:18:06] local government which delayed

[1:18:08] permits and just anecdotally

[1:18:10] have you are you aware of

[1:18:10] instances like that around the

[1:18:12] state is that a pervasive

[1:18:12] problem or have you not heard

[1:18:14] much about that? I haven't heard

[1:18:15] much about as much

[1:18:48] I appreciate that let's keep

[1:18:50] this conversation going because

[1:18:54] if if a shortage of experts or

[1:18:58] or or you know engineers etc. if

[1:19:00] that is the problem you know

[1:19:02] that maybe it's a funding

[1:19:03] problem where we as the

[1:19:06] legislature can can help to

[1:19:08] boost the ranks or perhaps the

[1:19:10] compensation of the permitters

[1:19:12] to shield them from competition

[1:19:14] to some degree from the private

[1:19:15] sector so that we're not losing

[1:19:16] personnel with expertise and

[1:19:16] then that

[1:19:18] ' s causing the projects to be

[1:19:20] delayed so let's let's I

[1:19:22] appreciate that any any feedback

[1:19:23] you've got as we move into

[1:19:24] session on that

[1:19:27] the delegate from the 13th did

[1:19:27] you have a question?

[1:19:31] J recognizes you. Thank you.

[1:19:31] thank you ma'am for being here.

[1:19:36] for every major incentive

[1:19:36] will the state disclose the

[1:19:38] recipient the value the promised

[1:19:41] jobs the wages performance to

[1:19:44] date and any subject clawback

[1:19:46] that would come with it and if

[1:19:47] not why

[1:19:51] delegate believe we disclose

[1:19:52] everything that we are legally

[1:19:53] allowed to. So I need to go back

[1:19:54] and review if there's anything

[1:19:56] that you just mentioned that we

[1:19:57] truly are not allowed to

[1:19:58] disclose that would be an answer

[1:20:01] of no, but absolutely I think we

[1:20:02] should be as transparent as

[1:20:03] possible both with the

[1:20:05] legislature as well as with the

[1:20:08] the the residents of of west

[1:20:09] Virginia about where their tax

[1:20:10] dollars are going and intended

[1:20:12] to spur economic development and

[1:20:13] what the results of those

[1:20:14] investments are.

[1:20:16] thank you one other question is

[1:20:18] how will the administration

[1:20:22] prevent a fast track process

[1:20:23] from favoring politically

[1:20:26] connected or large companies

[1:20:27] over existing small businesses

[1:20:27] or local

[1:20:30] businesses from competing

[1:20:35] that's a trust in the in the

[1:20:40] the goodwill of our economic

[1:20:40] development and our state

[1:20:42] government resources I think

[1:20:44] that there is pressure, you

[1:20:46] know, certainly exerted on both

[1:20:47] sides of the equation that you

[1:20:48] just mentioned sometimes for the

[1:20:50] larger projects, sometimes we

[1:20:52] get a lot of pressure on the

[1:20:53] smaller projects as well which

[1:20:54] we welcome awareness being

[1:20:56] raised of of what is

[1:20:58] important but I do think that

[1:21:00] it's really important that we

[1:21:02] don't treat them as two separate

[1:21:04] entities that we recognize

[1:21:06] there's value especially from

[1:21:07] the smaller projects and we

[1:21:07] can't let the pur

[1:21:10] su it of fast tracking big

[1:21:12] projects overtake really what

[1:21:12] has been the backbone of West

[1:21:13] Virginia's economy.

[1:21:16] thank you thank you very much

[1:21:17] ma'am for answering the

[1:21:18] questions and thank you for

[1:21:19] being here and thank you Mr.

[1:21:19] Chairman.

[1:21:22] thank you delegate. Are there

[1:21:23] further questions?

[1:21:24] senior senator from the fourth

[1:21:28] thank you Mr chairman for

[1:21:30] recognizing me a second time

[1:21:31] I had a question about the

[1:21:32] housing development as well we

[1:21:33] several years ago

[1:21:36] the senate had legislation in

[1:21:38] front of us Mountain Homes

[1:21:40] actct it's been in in front of

[1:21:40] us a few times. Are you familiar

[1:21:42] with that legislation it was

[1:21:44] House Bill5509 this past

[1:21:45] session.

[1:21:46] and

[1:21:48] you mentioned about part of

[1:21:50] the problem that we have with

[1:21:52] getting housing here is the

[1:21:53] upfront site development having

[1:21:53] a spot that's ready

[1:21:58] that legislation is very

[1:21:59] specific to that issue.

[1:22:01] so that it's

[1:22:06] the what was explained to to to

[1:22:07] me when we were developing that

[1:22:07] legislation and some others

[1:22:11] is that theerry the capitalit

[1:22:12] carry cost that you're going

[1:22:13] through when you're doing the

[1:22:16] horizontal development getting

[1:22:16] ready for housing so you got you

[1:22:18] got dirt to sell but in houses

[1:22:19] aren't going up yet.

[1:22:23] that carry cost in West Virginia

[1:22:24] is extraordinary relative to

[1:22:26] some of our bordering areas

[1:22:27] where people are developing

[1:22:28] across the river somewhere from

[1:22:32] us. and so cap rates or the

[1:22:34] risk rate goes up and which even

[1:22:35] increases the capital carery

[1:22:36] even more

[1:22:38] That legislation is designed to

[1:22:39] help make that more competitive.

[1:22:44] I I would appreciate you guys

[1:22:45] taking a look at that relative

[1:22:46] to conversations you've had for

[1:22:48] housing attracting developers

[1:22:49] to West Virginia

[1:22:52] and see where the changes would

[1:22:53] be need needed in that

[1:22:53] legislationta Bill5509.

[1:22:57] it's and essentially what it

[1:22:58] does is it goes in and and

[1:23:02] helps banks loan to these

[1:23:03] developers at a cheaper rate

[1:23:06] to get the horizontal done so

[1:23:07] then we can start getting

[1:23:07] foundations

[1:23:10] ra is ing that it has not been

[1:23:12] raised in conversations with

[1:23:13] housing developers but it's

[1:23:14] great to know there may be a

[1:23:15] vehicle to start with that we

[1:23:16] could look at thank you thank

[1:23:17] you

[1:23:21] thank you Senator. Are there any

[1:23:21] further questions?

[1:23:26] seeing none deputy Secretary

[1:23:27] Davies thank you so much for

[1:23:28] your testimony thank you for

[1:23:29] being here today we really

[1:23:29] appreciate it.

[1:23:33] Next up we'll have testimony

[1:23:34] from the secretary of state's

[1:23:35] office

[1:23:38] we have Mr Donaldersey with us I

[1:23:39] believe and also

[1:23:43] Miss is it Leslie Taylor as well

[1:23:49] would you please both approach

[1:23:49] and raise your right hand.

[1:23:55] Do you swear to tell the truth,

[1:23:56] the whole truth and nothing but

[1:23:57] the truth under penalty of false

[1:23:58] swearing

[1:24:00] Please introduce yourselves

[1:24:02] and and proceed with your

[1:24:03] testimony thank you for being

[1:24:03] here.

[1:24:09] good morning thank you Chairman

[1:24:10] Willis, Chairman Akers, mi

[1:24:12] members of the committees

[1:24:13] appreciate you being here

[1:24:17] I want to introduce Leslie

[1:24:18] Taylor she's our coordinator for

[1:24:20] the office of entrepreneurship

[1:24:21] first I want to thank you for

[1:24:21] your support in the last

[1:24:22] legislative session

[1:24:24] and kind of tell you how we

[1:24:25] got here

[1:24:26] or remind you perhaps

[1:24:28] when

[1:24:33] I came to this office in2017,

[1:24:34] I was primarily focused on

[1:24:36] elections and I've only been

[1:24:38] chief of staff for the last

[1:24:40] couple of years and one of

[1:24:42] the most common questions I got

[1:24:43] that was not elections related

[1:24:47] was how do I start a business?

[1:24:49] Where do I go next? They always

[1:24:50] came to us if you pull out your

[1:24:52] phone right now you can google

[1:24:53] how do I start a business in

[1:24:53] west Virginia

[1:24:56] we're gonna be the first4 or5

[1:24:58] results among some other

[1:25:00] LegalZoom and other third party

[1:25:01] assistants organizations that

[1:25:01] pop up

[1:25:06] that was important for me to

[1:25:08] learn when we were trying to

[1:25:09] figure out how to answer that

[1:25:10] question because how many

[1:25:12] agencies do we have in the state

[1:25:14] that help businesses we just

[1:25:16] heard from commerce we heard

[1:25:17] from EDA we have West Virginia

[1:25:18] hive we have small business

[1:25:20] development centers we have

[1:25:22] innovation innovations we have

[1:25:24] universities we have all

[1:25:26] sorts of organizations from

[1:25:28] state and local regionally

[1:25:30] even that do this kind of work

[1:25:32] but if you don't know where to

[1:25:33] go

[1:25:33] you go to google

[1:25:36] and when you google it you get

[1:25:37] us.

[1:25:40] so we researched the country

[1:25:42] to see what other states are

[1:25:43] doing to help small businesses

[1:25:45] get their foot in the door and

[1:25:46] then continue down their path to

[1:25:48] success and it's these offices

[1:25:49] of entrepreneurship.

[1:25:51] so thank you for your support in

[1:25:53] that. Leslie is our coordinator

[1:25:54] she's been with us for a full

[1:25:55] two months now

[1:25:58] and I'm excited for you to

[1:25:58] hear what she's been doing

[1:26:04] but before she begins I I do

[1:26:05] want to say that it's still

[1:26:07] early yet she's done a lot

[1:26:08] and we're very proud and we're

[1:26:10] very excited with what's to come

[1:26:12] I think she's got the number

[1:26:13] of days quite literally down to

[1:26:14] the day to tell you how long

[1:26:16] she's been working with us so I

[1:26:17] encourage you in her first

[1:26:19] opportunity to be before the

[1:26:22] legislature in her career

[1:26:23] to ask her questions about not

[1:26:24] just what she's working on

[1:26:26] but what we're seeing around the

[1:26:27] country what we're seeing around

[1:26:28] West Virginia and where we see

[1:26:29] some opportunities for growth

[1:26:29] to really benefit our small

[1:26:32] businesses. Thank you chairman

[1:26:33] and Leslie.

[1:26:50] Good morning. thank you

[1:26:52] chairman for having me and thank

[1:26:54] you members for hearing me this

[1:26:55] morning.

[1:26:58] I'm excited to share the work

[1:26:59] that I've been doing in the west

[1:27:00] Virginia Office of

[1:27:00] ntrepreneurship.

[1:27:04] Before I was anything else I was

[1:27:05] my papa's favorite grandchild.

[1:27:08] there are almost 20 of us so

[1:27:10] that becomes very important when

[1:27:12] you think about the amount of

[1:27:13] seats in his tiny Ford Ranger.

[1:27:16] being the favorite came with

[1:27:18] many different opportunities but

[1:27:20] maybe none more enduring than

[1:27:22] the opportunity to spend time

[1:27:24] growing up in Sharp's hardware

[1:27:25] and supplies a little way up

[1:27:26] route 60 in Cedar Grove.

[1:27:30] my time spent in the hardware

[1:27:33] I've now learned that it was not

[1:27:34] the fact that mama needed help

[1:27:37] while papa was at work. It was

[1:27:38] him teaching me really important

[1:27:39] life

[1:27:44] I learned how to run the cash

[1:27:45] register, count change

[1:27:47] I learned the importance of not

[1:27:48] mixing the bolts together if you

[1:27:49] would like to eat warm dinner.

[1:27:53] and what has become more

[1:27:55] apparent to me now than it ever

[1:27:57] has been the importance of small

[1:27:58] business in our communities.

[1:28:01] more than a place where people

[1:28:02] brought bought their hardware

[1:28:03] supplies

[1:28:06] This hardware became a place

[1:28:08] where my mama sewed prom dresses

[1:28:10] for the tradespeople. She made

[1:28:11] their wedding cakes

[1:28:14] it was a warm cup of coffee

[1:28:16] offered to somebody who didn't

[1:28:17] have anybody else at home to

[1:28:18] talk to and a conversation.

[1:28:21] it's that you're never too busy

[1:28:22] to take a moment

[1:28:26] to close down the shop and drive

[1:28:27] to someone's house because you

[1:28:28] haven't seen them this week.

[1:28:32] These businesses are more than

[1:28:33] just the goods and services that

[1:28:33] they sell.

[1:28:35] they are cornerstones of our

[1:28:36] community.

[1:28:39] I'm sure many of you have fond

[1:28:41] memories of very similar places

[1:28:42] that have become these

[1:28:43] cornerstones of your childhood.

[1:28:46] I have just been fortunate

[1:28:47] enough to have a front

[1:28:51] The folks who take a chance on

[1:28:52] starting a business

[1:28:54] make their dreams come true,

[1:28:56] employ our neighbors are what

[1:28:58] makes West Virginia a great

[1:28:59] place to live work and raise a

[1:29:00] family.

[1:29:01] it is my upbringing

[1:29:04] my own small business ownership

[1:29:08] and my nearly decade of

[1:29:10] identifying problems and

[1:29:12] implementing solutions that have

[1:29:14] guided my work in the53 working

[1:29:16] days since this office opened

[1:29:17] its doors to the public.

[1:29:20] Since July 1st, I've spoken with

[1:29:21] entrepreneurs who are

[1:29:21] experiencing issues

[1:29:24] who just needed a place to

[1:29:25] start.

[1:29:27] like Dike said, how do I start a

[1:29:28] business?

[1:29:31] I've been able to work out

[1:29:33] resolutions connect them with

[1:29:34] our resource partners and ensure

[1:29:36] that if a process is burdensome

[1:29:37] that they do not walk it alone.

[1:29:40] What used to start with somebody

[1:29:44] going through a phone tree or

[1:29:45] being on hold now starts with me

[1:29:48] they call my phone number and

[1:29:49] they get my answer.

[1:29:50] the only reason I don't answer

[1:29:52] the phone is if I am somewhere

[1:29:53] like here

[1:29:54] or on the other line with an

[1:29:55] entrepreneur.

[1:29:58] in addition to these meetings

[1:30:00] with our entrepreneurs I have

[1:30:01] met with our entrepreneur

[1:30:02] support organizations.

[1:30:05] I want to make sure that we

[1:30:06] coordinate efforts

[1:30:08] make sure my servicess are not

[1:30:09] duplicative

[1:30:12] and ensure that we all put our

[1:30:14] best foot forward and make doing

[1:30:15] business in West Virginia as

[1:30:15] frictionless as possible.

[1:30:20] in my conversations with several

[1:30:22] people it wasn't even as simple

[1:30:24] as getting someone on the phone.

[1:30:25] Oftentimes you sit on hold

[1:30:28] you finally get someone and they

[1:30:29] say well you can just read the

[1:30:30] code

[1:30:34] because I'm here that answer is

[1:30:35] no longer going to be

[1:30:36] acceptable.

[1:30:40] By allowing access to a real

[1:30:41] person through this office

[1:30:44] I get a phone call an email and

[1:30:45] I get to work

[1:30:46] it is no longer the burden of

[1:30:48] the entrepreneur to sit and try

[1:30:50] to sort out who they need to

[1:30:51] talk to or where they need to go

[1:30:52] I can take control of the

[1:30:53] problem

[1:30:58] My most recent example is out of

[1:30:59] the southern part of our state.

[1:31:00] I have a family who wants to

[1:31:01] develop a natural spring

[1:31:04] into a business where people

[1:31:06] come they drive their trucks up

[1:31:07] they fill their trucks with

[1:31:07] water and they leave.

[1:31:09] I thought that this sounded

[1:31:10] relatively simple

[1:31:13] you know, I know that health

[1:31:14] departments do water well

[1:31:15] testing

[1:31:16] so I called the health

[1:31:17] department

[1:31:20] and and through no fault of what

[1:31:21] I believe their own. I don't get

[1:31:21] an answer.

[1:31:25] but I'm trying. I'm on this48

[1:31:26] hour deadline and I take it

[1:31:27] seriously

[1:31:29] so I called the department of

[1:31:29] Environmental Protection

[1:31:32] He says ma'am that's a health

[1:31:33] department problem

[1:31:36] ok I called the health

[1:31:38] department back and thanks to

[1:31:39] their elected official I finally

[1:31:39] get somebody

[1:31:42] and they tell me no ma'am that's

[1:31:43] a public utility

[1:31:46] all right so now I'm calling the

[1:31:47] Psc

[1:31:49] no ma'am that's a health

[1:31:50] department problem.

[1:31:54] and you can see where I have

[1:31:55] some time dedicated to this. I

[1:31:56] have an office and

[1:31:59] I'm happy to to sort these

[1:32:00] issues out. where that becomes

[1:32:03] very burdensome, especially when

[1:32:04] you talk about somebody whose

[1:32:05] other income is also small

[1:32:06] business.

[1:32:09] they have a duty to serve their

[1:32:09] own customers

[1:32:12] they need to make the dollar to

[1:32:13] pay their bills to feed their

[1:32:14] family

[1:32:17] it's not fair to have to sit and

[1:32:17] wonder

[1:32:26] Where that currently stands as

[1:32:28] I'm outsourced I've been put

[1:32:29] pushed up a level in the Bureau

[1:32:30] of Public Health to a gentleman

[1:32:32] I finally got on the phone and

[1:32:33] he said, I'll get to the bottom

[1:32:33] of it.

[1:32:37] I think that shows the spirit of

[1:32:38] when people are working in these

[1:32:39] agencies they do want the best

[1:32:39] for folks

[1:32:44] I think just sometimes it's

[1:32:45] been a little more acceptable to

[1:32:46] say I don't know instead of I

[1:32:47] don't know but

[1:32:49] the gentleman I have now said I

[1:32:49] don't know but

[1:32:52] and I want that to be more

[1:32:54] apparent in my conversations

[1:32:56] with folks as I've forged these

[1:32:58] relationships I want the answer

[1:32:59] to be if you don't know that's

[1:32:59] fine.

[1:33:01] but who do I go to

[1:33:03] because don't hang up the phone

[1:33:03] on me

[1:33:04] because I'm call back

[1:33:12] For what will likely be as

[1:33:13] simple as the healthth

[1:33:14] department going out and running

[1:33:15] the same tests that they would

[1:33:16] do for a water well.

[1:33:18] this has been in the

[1:33:18] neighborhood of10 phone calls.

[1:33:21] just to get someone to do

[1:33:21] something.

[1:33:24] the alternative is this person

[1:33:25] files a business license

[1:33:25] and

[1:33:28] waits goes about their day,

[1:33:29] makes their money until someone

[1:33:30] tells them they're wrong.

[1:33:34] when we wait this long to find

[1:33:36] someone operating incorrectly.

[1:33:37] they often face fines

[1:33:39] or at a minimum they're going to

[1:33:39] be told stop

[1:33:42] don't do any more business until

[1:33:43] we can come out there and do

[1:33:44] what we needed to do.

[1:33:45] several months ago when you

[1:33:45] started this.

[1:33:48] this leads me to what I've

[1:33:52] made as the central question

[1:33:54] that I'm asking other agencies.

[1:33:55] Does West Virginia government

[1:33:55] want to be a partner for

[1:33:56] businesses

[1:33:59] or does it want to continue to

[1:33:59] be a litmus test for grit

[1:34:01] and for business success.

[1:34:04] iss it the job of the government

[1:34:06] to stand in the way of our

[1:34:08] people by way of gotcha moments

[1:34:09] and nonanwers

[1:34:11] or is it one of understanding

[1:34:13] your agency's code well enough

[1:34:13] to say yes.

[1:34:15] no or I don't know but

[1:34:19] there are exciting things

[1:34:20] happening across our network

[1:34:23] I am intentional in my

[1:34:24] partnerships choosing to meet

[1:34:25] with the west

[1:34:26] Virginiamallusinessvelopment

[1:34:28] Center and the West Virginia

[1:34:29] ntrepreneurship ecosystem twice

[1:34:29] a month.

[1:34:32] I chose these two

[1:34:35] because they are knowledgeable

[1:34:36] they have a long standing

[1:34:37] history of being

[1:34:39] in contact not only with our

[1:34:40] entrepreneurs but the support

[1:34:41] organizations.

[1:34:44] as I navigate these first hund0

[1:34:45] days in office I wanted to

[1:34:47] surround myself with people who

[1:34:48] were on the ground doing the

[1:34:49] work.

[1:34:52] Most recently the west virginia

[1:34:53] entrepreneurship ecosystem and I

[1:34:56] have partnered together to talk

[1:34:58] to local university about

[1:34:59] service learning opportunities

[1:35:00] and what those are these are

[1:35:02] opportunities where students,

[1:35:05] this casecPA hopefuls get the

[1:35:06] opportunity to work with real

[1:35:07] business owners

[1:35:08] on real world problems

[1:35:11] they get the opportunity to

[1:35:12] learn what it's like to handle

[1:35:14] these issues out in the field

[1:35:15] and these business owners get

[1:35:15] some guidance.

[1:35:18] things that would have typically

[1:35:19] been behind a pretty hefty

[1:35:20] paywall if you've ever paid a

[1:35:22] CPA for any work. it is not

[1:35:23] cheap.

[1:35:26] it's our hope that by building

[1:35:28] this framework with one

[1:35:28] university we can spread it

[1:35:29] throughout the rest of the state

[1:35:30] and provide

[1:35:34] this idea that we can support

[1:35:35] entrepreneurs not just at the

[1:35:35] college level

[1:35:38] but connect our students with

[1:35:39] real world work

[1:35:41] and encourage them to say hey

[1:35:41] there's work here for you.

[1:35:44] you've already built a

[1:35:46] relationship because of the work

[1:35:47] that you've done in university

[1:35:48] and now that these businesses

[1:35:50] are paid they're more successful

[1:35:51] they can pay you for your

[1:35:56] we are also working together on

[1:35:57] a project through the Federal

[1:35:57] Reserve Smallusinessredit

[1:35:58] survey.

[1:36:02] if completed by enough employer

[1:36:03] franchises which are people who

[1:36:03] employ

[1:36:04] more than2 people

[1:36:08] we need50 responses to get a

[1:36:09] dataook

[1:36:10] from the Federal Reserve

[1:36:14] This data book informs us not

[1:36:15] only of the credit readiness of

[1:36:17] our small businesses but brings

[1:36:18] to the forefront the challenges

[1:36:19] that they face.

[1:36:24] The SPDc has become a trusted

[1:36:26] resource as I ensure the clients

[1:36:27] who need coaching are sent to

[1:36:28] them

[1:36:30] they send their governmental

[1:36:31] process issues to me.

[1:36:33] ron g partnerships like this one

[1:36:36] are what the office needs to

[1:36:37] support as I have time to

[1:36:39] analyze the issues they take

[1:36:39] over the coaching

[1:36:42] When I refer them a client, I

[1:36:43] know that they're

[1:36:47] My intention in this office is

[1:36:48] not based to make decisions

[1:36:49] based on feeling but on facts.

[1:36:52] Given the short time the office

[1:36:53] has been open, I'm still

[1:36:55] gathering data and analyzing

[1:36:55] where the issues are

[1:36:56] concentrated.

[1:36:59] it's important to me when I make

[1:37:00] a recommendation that it's

[1:37:02] founded in repeated evidence and

[1:37:03] I propose a solution that works

[1:37:06] Currently I've had some

[1:37:08] discussions with entrepreneurs,

[1:37:09] state agencies and other support

[1:37:12] organizations that business code

[1:37:13] and chapter30 board expectations

[1:37:13] don't always align.

[1:37:16] Our department of laborbor does

[1:37:17] a great job. They pick up the

[1:37:18] phone on a call they're

[1:37:19] responsive to my emails.

[1:37:22] but it is sometimes that agency

[1:37:23] expectations under chapter30

[1:37:25] and licensing requirements

[1:37:29] don't line up with chapter31 and

[1:37:30] the business laws that the

[1:37:31] secretary of state has to

[1:37:31] enforce.

[1:37:34] As the Secretary of State's

[1:37:36] office typically presents its

[1:37:38] legislative recommendation later

[1:37:39] in the year. I will plan to

[1:37:40] collaborate with the staff

[1:37:42] and offer my formal

[1:37:43] recommendations then.

[1:37:46] when I'm not fielding

[1:37:47] entrepreneur issues or working

[1:37:48] with our support organizations.

[1:37:50] I am working on resources aimed

[1:37:52] demystifying our government

[1:37:53] processes.

[1:37:55] and my conversations with

[1:37:56] entrepreneurs and I've

[1:37:57] experienced it myself

[1:37:58] they wonder what's next

[1:38:01] you get super excited you've got

[1:38:02] an idea

[1:38:05] before me you google how do

[1:38:05] you start a business

[1:38:08] hopefully you do some due

[1:38:09] diligence and you start at the

[1:38:09] Secretary of State's website.

[1:38:12] and you've registered and you

[1:38:14] get your little email that says

[1:38:15] congratulations you're

[1:38:15] registered.

[1:38:17] and then you wake up the next

[1:38:17] morning

[1:38:19] what's next

[1:38:24] Because I know that it's not as

[1:38:25] simple as getting some

[1:38:25] certificate

[1:38:27] I'm gonna owe somebody some

[1:38:27] money

[1:38:28] I'm

[1:38:31] in municipality limits.

[1:38:32] somebodydy's probably will be

[1:38:33] knocking on my door at some

[1:38:36] point they'll hear I'll hear

[1:38:38] from them but I don't I don't

[1:38:39] like that and other

[1:38:39] entrepreneurs don't like that

[1:38:40] either

[1:38:42] they want some transparency

[1:38:43] around the process. What do I do

[1:38:43] next?

[1:38:48] in response to this, I've

[1:38:49] drafted a West Virginiaus

[1:38:49] playbook

[1:38:51] a short form regulatory guide

[1:38:51] aimed

[1:38:52] at

[1:38:56] providing the contacts for

[1:38:58] specific agencies within state

[1:38:59] government the businesses are

[1:39:00] required to either apply to or

[1:39:02] be in compliance with their

[1:39:03] regulations.

[1:39:06] this guide introduces my office

[1:39:08] as their advocate within these

[1:39:10] processes letting them know that

[1:39:11] if they call me they get a real

[1:39:11] person.

[1:39:12] that can assist them

[1:39:16] I'm also naming our state

[1:39:18] agencies that support

[1:39:19] entrepreneurship.

[1:39:22] they provide entrepreneurs with

[1:39:23] technical assistance, tax

[1:39:24] credits and workforce resources.

[1:39:28] this guide will be extended into

[1:39:29] a series outlining specific

[1:39:31] licensure and requirements for

[1:39:32] operations in West Virginia such

[1:39:35] as fooder and contracting things

[1:39:36] that I typically hear are a

[1:39:37] little complicated

[1:39:41] I've also begun the creation of

[1:39:43] an interactive map outlining the

[1:39:45] regulatory agencies down to the

[1:39:47] municipality level through all

[1:39:47] of West Virginia.

[1:39:49] this isn't simply putting

[1:39:50] together a list

[1:39:52] it's calling to make sure

[1:39:53] numbers are answered

[1:39:56] If I have to leave a voicemail,

[1:39:57] do you call me back?

[1:40:00] It does nobody any good if I put

[1:40:01] together a list of numbers that

[1:40:02] don't reach someone

[1:40:04] it puts them right back where

[1:40:05] they started.

[1:40:08] it's getting in touch with our

[1:40:09] local health departments and

[1:40:11] navigating the phone tree so

[1:40:11] that when somebody calls me

[1:40:14] I can put it on this map but I

[1:40:16] can also tell them yes you're

[1:40:17] going to call that number you're

[1:40:18] going to press3. you're going to

[1:40:20] speak to Jennifer and you're

[1:40:21] going to ask nicely if she will

[1:40:21] come test your well water.

[1:40:26] So far I've made over200 phone

[1:40:27] calls in the name of this map.

[1:40:27] and I'm not done

[1:40:32] I want clear contacts for every

[1:40:33] agency.

[1:40:34] if you are going to enforce a

[1:40:35] fine

[1:40:38] if you have regulatory

[1:40:38] requirements that are required

[1:40:39] to be followed

[1:40:43] it's my opinion that you have a

[1:40:44] duty to answer phone calls.

[1:40:48] be transparent about what you

[1:40:49] expect of our business owners.

[1:40:52] These processes combined begin

[1:40:54] what I envisioned the first year

[1:40:55] of this office to be.

[1:40:56] map the process

[1:40:58] and learn what is and isn't

[1:40:59] working.

[1:41:02] in addition to these products

[1:41:03] yet to be released which you'll

[1:41:04] get a preview of in a moment.

[1:41:06] Um, I've created a portal for

[1:41:07] entrepreneurs to flag

[1:41:07] what's not working

[1:41:08] this

[1:41:12] portal exists on my webpage on

[1:41:13] the secretary of state's

[1:41:14] website.

[1:41:16] these red tape reports will be

[1:41:18] documented and presented in my

[1:41:19] yearly reports for the office.

[1:41:22] in addition to the red tape

[1:41:23] reports

[1:41:24] new net formation of business is

[1:41:25] a metric

[1:41:27] of vital importance to me

[1:41:30] by establishing how many

[1:41:32] businesses are opened monthly

[1:41:33] less ones that have closed

[1:41:35] this becomes an identifiable

[1:41:37] pattern of areas which need more

[1:41:37] support.

[1:41:41] I also intend to use our annual

[1:41:41] reports

[1:41:45] to capture businesses that are

[1:41:45] quietly going under.

[1:41:47] by flagging the vulnerable

[1:41:48] businesses for early

[1:41:49] intervention

[1:41:51] it's my hope we can capture

[1:41:51] these

[1:41:54] businesses before administrative

[1:41:55] dissolution.

[1:41:57] and hopefully provide them with

[1:41:57] resources to keep them afloat.

[1:42:02] if you'll give me a brief moment

[1:42:03] to connect my computer here. I

[1:42:04] have both the playbook

[1:42:08] Regulatory map

[1:42:25] So I want you to keep in mind

[1:42:27] this is a draft. this is just

[1:42:28] containing at this point numbers

[1:42:30] that I know for sure have a

[1:42:31] person on the other end of the

[1:42:32] line. This is not publicly

[1:42:34] available, but I wanted to bring

[1:42:36] it to you to show that in53 days

[1:42:38] this is where I've started

[1:42:38] because this is what I hear is

[1:42:39] important

[1:42:42] we have a lot of rural counties

[1:42:44] in West Virginia. um, not

[1:42:45] everything is digital first.

[1:42:47] so when I look at McDowll County

[1:42:52] and I don't have all their

[1:42:53] municipalities on here. I know

[1:42:54] but if you'll bear with me

[1:42:58] I've called these kind ladies at

[1:43:00] these town offices and I have an

[1:43:01] email for all of them

[1:43:04] you're gonna email this woman

[1:43:05] and she'll send you back your

[1:43:06] business license and you can

[1:43:07] drop it off

[1:43:10] at33834 Coal HeritageRoad. if

[1:43:11] you want to do business in North

[1:43:15] our albell County

[1:43:20] who have digital first solutions

[1:43:22] you can click through the map

[1:43:24] and immediately are routed to

[1:43:25] their resources.

[1:43:28] a lot of these municipalities

[1:43:30] have whole new business guides

[1:43:31] but some of them only have

[1:43:33] a digital business license

[1:43:36] I wanted this to be easy to

[1:43:38] find. I didn't want people to

[1:43:39] have to wait on a phone call for

[1:43:41] me or an email back for me to

[1:43:41] say hey here's where you go.

[1:43:47] This is the very draft version

[1:43:47] of the playbook

[1:43:50] I promise our communications

[1:43:51] team downstairs is working very

[1:43:52] hard to make this pretty

[1:43:54] I put the words together and

[1:43:56] said, please help me because I'm

[1:43:57] not a graphic designer.

[1:43:59] so it introduces me

[1:44:00] it gives you

[1:44:05] an illustration of the business

[1:44:05] certificate. This is just one

[1:44:06] that is

[1:44:12] a fake one if you will to

[1:44:13] show people this is actually

[1:44:14] what you need this is what gets

[1:44:16] hung up on your wall if you've

[1:44:17] walked into a business that's

[1:44:18] required to be on the wall. you

[1:44:19] see it, you know they're

[1:44:19] legitimate.

[1:44:24] As an employer, so I have an

[1:44:26] entire section dedicated to if

[1:44:27] you are going to employ people

[1:44:29] this is the bare minimum people

[1:44:30] you have to be in contact with.

[1:44:34] I also outline our support

[1:44:36] organizations including our

[1:44:37] community and technical college

[1:44:39] system as I've heard from

[1:44:40] several entrepreneurs workforce

[1:44:41] is hard to grab

[1:44:43] so let's start training them

[1:44:43] together.

[1:44:47] I have here all of the chapter30

[1:44:48] boards

[1:44:50] Sometimes people get a little

[1:44:51] ahead of themselves

[1:44:53] if you're not with your board

[1:44:53] yet

[1:44:54] you ought to be

[1:44:59] and then lastly I've got a small

[1:45:00] section here on restaurants and

[1:45:02] consumable vendor information

[1:45:05] this guide is designed to be

[1:45:05] very brief.

[1:45:07] it will be expanded out as we

[1:45:12] extend the guides that are very

[1:45:13] specific to industry

[1:45:15] but I wanted to give you a brief

[1:45:16] picture of what this might look

[1:45:17] like.

[1:45:18] I wanted to keep it under5 pages

[1:45:22] the idea is this will be in both

[1:45:24] printed form and go out with

[1:45:26] your registration. So after you

[1:45:28] finish the Secretary of State

[1:45:29] portion of the portal. you get

[1:45:30] an email with your

[1:45:31] congratulations you're

[1:45:31] registered with us

[1:45:34] and the West Virginia Business

[1:45:35] playbook.

[1:45:38] thank you for the opportunity to

[1:45:40] come and talk to you today and

[1:45:41] I'd love to answer some

[1:45:41] questions.

[1:45:44] Thank you so much Miss Taylor

[1:45:46] for that presentation.

[1:45:49] first of all applaud your spirit

[1:45:51] of advocacy and and cooperation

[1:45:52] with business

[1:45:54] you know I appreciated your

[1:45:56] story with your grandfather

[1:45:58] you know I'm a small business

[1:46:00] owner in west Virginia and it it

[1:46:03] is hard it is tough you know

[1:46:04] even sitting here things are

[1:46:05] always going on in the back of

[1:46:07] your mind. I've got to file this

[1:46:08] this is owed I've got to pay

[1:46:10] this and so I think having an

[1:46:12] advocate like you is a

[1:46:13] tremendous asset for the state

[1:46:13] so I

[1:46:14] applaud applaud the work you're

[1:46:16] doing. I've got one suggestion

[1:46:17] before I go to questions

[1:46:20] the business playbook is a

[1:46:22] wonderful idea I've been

[1:46:22] actually looking for something

[1:46:24] like that for a few years we

[1:46:25] send something similar for

[1:46:25] clients

[1:46:29] that we have in Virginia we

[1:46:30] have one prepared with my

[1:46:31] firm

[1:46:34] I have not created one for

[1:46:35] West Virginia so I'm very glad

[1:46:36] to hear you have but I agree

[1:46:39] that once you file with

[1:46:40] Secretary of state's office you

[1:46:41] get your certificate in the

[1:46:43] viaail and then for a lot of my

[1:46:44] clients and a lot of small

[1:46:45] business owners the questions

[1:46:48] are what's next I've heard

[1:46:50] about workers' comp I've heard

[1:46:52] about you know the state tax

[1:46:55] department you know labor

[1:46:56] laws licensing you know what do

[1:46:58] I do with all these things so my

[1:47:02] my recommendation for your

[1:47:04] consideration for the for the

[1:47:05] Secretary of state's office

[1:47:05] would be

[1:47:08] once you refine that product

[1:47:10] that might be a good that might

[1:47:12] be good to send that as an

[1:47:13] additional attachment so when

[1:47:15] you send you know the cert

[1:47:16] certificate from the secretary

[1:47:17] of state's office that you've

[1:47:18] successfully formed your

[1:47:20] business and by the way here's a

[1:47:22] business playbook that shows you

[1:47:23] the next steps. I I think that

[1:47:25] would be very helpful for West

[1:47:26] Virginia business owners so just

[1:47:27] something to take under

[1:47:28] consideration.

[1:47:32] put on my radar so thank you so

[1:47:33] much for bringing it to

[1:47:35] everybody's attention that is

[1:47:36] the intention. so it goes

[1:47:37] straight to your email. so

[1:47:38] there's never any question of do

[1:47:40] I have an advocate and what's

[1:47:44] next so thank you so much'm sure

[1:47:45] we'll have some questions we've

[1:47:45] got about15 minutes

[1:47:47] are there any questions for Miss

[1:47:47] Taylor?

[1:47:52] delegate from the 18th

[1:47:56] just a comment this I've been in

[1:47:58] the legislature for I think14

[1:47:59] years now

[1:48:02] this is I think the first time I

[1:48:04] really wanted to applaud when

[1:48:05] someone has done a presentation

[1:48:08] as a small business person I've

[1:48:09] been through all of this for35

[1:48:09] years and

[1:48:12] really I appreciate your heart

[1:48:14] for what you're what you're

[1:48:15] doing here and I think this

[1:48:15] could be

[1:48:16] probably

[1:48:20] one of the biggest developments

[1:48:21] for I mean we we look at all

[1:48:23] these mega data centers and all

[1:48:24] the big businesses were

[1:48:27] attracting in but I think you

[1:48:29] hit the nail on the head here to

[1:48:30] help people get started because

[1:48:31] that's what it takes so

[1:48:34] I look forward to hearing

[1:48:35] recommendations from you

[1:48:39] of things that you think are

[1:48:41] ridiculous that are required of

[1:48:42] people or things that maybe we

[1:48:43] could change

[1:48:46] because you're you're exactly

[1:48:48] right. Small business people

[1:48:50] need to be out doing the service

[1:48:52] that they want to provide for

[1:48:54] their customers not on the phone

[1:48:56] on hold or dealing with some

[1:48:58] crazy regulation so

[1:48:59] thank you sir

[1:49:01] thank you again are there

[1:49:02] further questions?

[1:49:06] I I would just second what

[1:49:10] delegate from the 18th said

[1:49:12] we look forward to your

[1:49:14] recommendations on how we can

[1:49:15] better partner as the

[1:49:16] legislature with your efforts

[1:49:19] and and and those of the

[1:49:20] secretary of state's office and

[1:49:22] I would appreciate it once

[1:49:23] the business planning playbook

[1:49:24] is completed if you could

[1:49:26] forward a copy to me or my staff

[1:49:28] that would be that would be

[1:49:30] great. So we look forward to

[1:49:32] continuing the conversation and

[1:49:33] thank you very much for your

[1:49:35] presentation today you all for

[1:49:35] your time.

[1:49:38] Is there any other business to

[1:49:39] come before the committee?

[1:49:42] seeing then the chair recognizes

[1:49:43] the vice the cochair

[1:49:46] Mr chairman I make a motion

[1:49:47] to

[1:49:51] motion is to adjourn all those

[1:49:51] in favor say aye

[1:49:52] all opposed no

[1:49:55] if you don't know the chair the

[1:49:55] ice have at the meeting is

[1:49:56] adjourned.

Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary

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