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EDITORIAL: With the bond passed, now it’s time to get to work

The Exponent Telegram editorial

West Virginia Department of Transportation Secretary Tom Smith had it right Saturday night after voters overwhelmingly supported Gov. Jim Justice’s $1.6 billion road bond amendment: “It’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We’re ready to roll.”

Smith and Justice were both ebullient after the bond amendment passed, with about 72 percent of those bothering to vote supporting the concept.

Sadly, only about 11 percent of registered voters took the time to help decide such a key issue, one that Justice touted as a integral part to the state’s future.

Justice’s plan to sell the bonds to quickly generate the $1.6 billion calls for more than 48,000 jobs to be created. In turn, he says those people will have more disposable income, adding to the economic base with more purchases, as well as the tax base with personal income tax.

Justice, an ultra-successful, billionaire businessman, has found governing more difficult. But he is best in meetings held directly with constituents and he did a masterful job promoting the road bond.

“We’ve got to have jobs, and we’ve got to have opportunity, and this will do it,” Justice told The State Journal Saturday night after the outcome was apparent.

Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, likewise was confident the vote was a key step forward for the Mountain State.

“I am thrilled that the West Virginians who chose to vote on this critical issue put the greater good of this state first and said yes,” Carmichael said in a prepared statement.

“With the passage of this amendment, we have taken a tremendous step in moving West Virginia forward. Soon, our state will see more jobs and better roads, and more importantly, we will see these benefits without any additional taxation of our citizens.”

State leaders used that inducement as a key selling point, emphasizing that DMV fees and gas tax increases already put in place last legislative session would generate about $130 million in additional road funding.

They will use that money to make the yearly bond payments, thus having more than $1.6 billion available as soon as the obligatory paperwork is complete.

This is exciting news for the Mountain State, and we can’t emphasize enough the need for lawmakers to put in place a framework that allows for the expedient issuance of the bonds and the hiring of contractors to move these projects forward.

We need better roads. We need jobs. Now with voters’ blessings in hand, lawmakers should move quickly to remove any further obstacles. It’s time to put the pedal to the metal and power the state forward.

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