Charleston Report

The West Virginia Legislature met in Charleston September 13 through 15 for another round of interim committee meetings as preparations continue for the 2027 Regular Legislative Session. Interim meetings allow legislators to take a deeper look at issues facing West Virginia outside the time constraints of the regular session. As we move closer to January, the focus is beginning to shift from gathering information and identifying problems toward developing practical solutions and determining which ideas should move forward as legislation.

The Joint Committee on Economic Development, which I co-chair with Senator Glenn Jeffries, examined the future of financial technology during a meeting that I had the opportunity to chair. We heard from West Virginia native Sarah Biller, who has founded and invested in several financial technology companies, about how technology continues to reshape banking, payments, lending, investing, insurance and other financial services. Her presentation showed that West Virginia already has a substantial foundation on which to build, with Finance and Insurance contributing approximately $4.3 billion to the state’s economy and supporting about 19,100 jobs.

Those numbers are important because we do not have to invent a financial services sector in West Virginia. We already have one. At the same time, financial services make up about 4% of our state’s economy compared with almost 8% nationally, leaving considerable opportunity for expansion. As technology allows more financial work to be performed outside traditional financial centers, West Virginia should aggressively compete for companies and jobs that no longer need to be located in high cost urban markets such as New York or Chicago.

Economic diversification does not always mean chasing an industry that has never existed here. Sometimes it means recognizing an industry where we already have a foothold and creating the conditions for it to become much larger. Financial services and FinTech offer West Virginia that kind of opportunity, bringing professional jobs that can locate throughout the state while expanding and diversifying our economy.

Monday’s interim schedule included a meeting of the Joint Committee on Government and Finance, the Legislature’s joint leadership committee. Its membership includes leaders from both chambers as well as legislators representing some of the House and Senate’s principal committees and policy responsibilities. I am privileged to serve on Government and Finance representing Finance and Economic Development, giving our area a voice in many of the broader policy and fiscal discussions taking place between legislative sessions.
One of Monday’s presentations came from Deputy Revenue Secretary Peter Shirley, who reviewed West Virginia’s General Revenue collections and financial position. The overall picture remains encouraging. Fiscal Year 2026 ended with nearly $5.7 billion in General Revenue collections, approximately $370.6 million more than projected. That was about 7 percent above the official revenue estimate. Importantly, the strength was not entirely the result of energy revenues. Removing severance taxes from the calculation, the state still collected $233.7 million more than estimated.

West Virginia also enters the new fiscal year with strong reserves. Our Rainy Day Funds ended Fiscal Year 2026 at nearly $1.5 billion, while the Personal Income Tax Reserve Fund stood at more than $493 million with another $29 million scheduled to be added. General Revenue collections have continued to outperform projections in the first 2 months of Fiscal Year 2027, reaching $838.3 million through August and exceeding estimates by about $46.1 million. Those figures are encouraging signs that West Virginia continues to operate from a position of financial strength.

The presentation also illustrated how dramatically West Virginia’s energy economy has changed. A little more than a decade ago, coal generated roughly 62 to 63 percent of state severance tax collections. Today that relationship has essentially reversed. In Fiscal Year 2026, coal accounted for less than 30 percent while natural gas and natural gas liquids generated more than 70 percent. Coal continues to play an important role in our economy and energy sector, but natural gas has emerged as the dominant source of severance tax revenue.

The committee then heard from Dr. Hannah Hazard Jenkins, Executive Chair and Director of the WVU Cancer Institute, about the Institute’s statewide impact and its effort to secure National Cancer Institute designation. West Virginia is one of only 6 eastern states that does not currently have an NCI Designated Cancer Center, and achieving that status would represent a major advancement for health care in our state.

The significance goes far beyond adding another designation to WVU’s name. The Cancer Institute already combines research, clinical trials, prevention, screening, treatment and survivorship programs through a statewide network. NCI designation would strengthen that research infrastructure, increase opportunities for advanced clinical trials and therapies, help attract top physicians and researchers and reduce the number of West Virginians who must travel out of state for specialized cancer treatment. WVU’s research also places particular emphasis on cancers that disproportionately affect Appalachia, including lung, colorectal and blood cancers.
West Virginia has already invested $50 million toward faculty recruitment, research expansion and facilities, and that was matched by a separate $50 million commitment from the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust toward a new cancer hospital. Because the WVU Cancer Institute operates through the larger WVU Medicine network, the potential benefits extend throughout the state, including to our own WVU Medicine Potomac Valley Hospital.

We spent a great deal of time in Economic Development discussing investments in infrastructure, businesses and jobs because all are necessary to grow West Virginia. This is a different kind of investment with an equally important return. Building a nationally recognized cancer research and treatment system can strengthen our economy and attract highly skilled jobs, but its real value will be measured in West Virginians receiving better treatment closer to home and families having more options when they are facing one of the most difficult times of their lives.

The Joint Standing Committee on Finance also met during the interims. While we received the same General Revenue update presented to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance, much of my attention was on an update from Department of Health Cabinet Secretary Dr. Arvin Singh on West Virginia’s Rural Health Transformation Program.
One item in the report caught my attention. Spotted Owl Healthcare Organization received a $1.174 million award, the second largest among the organizations listed. The other recipients were WVU Health, Charleston Area Medical Center and the Cabell Huntington Hospital Foundation, all well established names in West Virginia health care. Spotted Owl was much less familiar, and the largest previous grant I could identify for the organization was $50,000.

I asked Secretary Singh what gave the Department confidence that Spotted Owl had the experience and financial capacity to manage an award of more than $1.1 million. He did not have that information available during the meeting. I also noted that the program called for experience with employer based or occupational health models, which I could not identify in previous work by Spotted Owl in that area. I asked what in its application demonstrated that experience and gave the Department confidence in its ability to carry out the project. Again, that information was not immediately available.

Secretary Singh committed to getting back to the committee with the scoring information used in determining the awards. There may be a sound explanation for the selection, and that scoring information should help provide it. However, when taxpayer dollars are being awarded, particularly when a relatively unknown organization receives the second largest award alongside some of the state’s best known health care institutions, I believe it is appropriate for the Legislature to ask how that decision was made and make sure the process can withstand scrutiny.

Tuesday’s Joint Committee on Energy and Public Works focused on the investments being made to keep West Virginia’s coal fired power plants operating safely and reliably for decades to come. We heard from the Public Service Commission, FirstEnergy and Appalachian Power about upgrades already underway and the additional work needed to extend the useful lives of these generating facilities.
FirstEnergy reported that approximately $500 million has been invested in its West Virginia coal plants over the past 5 years. Those investments include turbine overhauls, generator refurbishments, major boiler work, environmental improvements, control system upgrades, ash handling systems and a new wastewater treatment facility at Fort Martin. The company is also replacing Fort Martin’s original coal crusher, which has become a potential single point of failure for unloading coal delivered by river. The $8.6 million project will install 2 crushers to provide redundancy, with the U.S. Department of Energy providing half of the cost through a reliability grant.

Just as important is planning for the future. FirstEnergy is evaluating what will be required to safely operate Fort Martin and Harrison beyond 2040. Detailed inspections of piping, electrical systems, structures and other major components are planned during scheduled outages in 2027, with a comprehensive estimate of the investments necessary for life extension expected in 2028. That information will ultimately be presented to the Public Service Commission for evaluation.

West Virginia needs reliable electricity around the clock, particularly as we compete for new manufacturing, data centers and other large employers. Maintaining and extending the life of our existing coal generation is an important part of making sure we have the dependable power necessary to support our residents and grow our economy.
Our next joint interim meetings are scheduled for December 6 through 8, although the House may meet before then as we continue preparing for the 2027 Legislative Session.
If you need help with a state agency, have an idea to make West Virginia better or have an issue that needs attention, please contact me at Gary.Howell@WVHouse.gov or (304) 340-3191.