Charleston Gazette-Mail
It’s encouraging to see the West Virginia Legislature take another shot at revitalizing communities across the state devastated by the decline of the coal industry. Hopefully, the effort won’t run out of momentum.
House Bill 5223 would establish a council to focus on economic development in Boone, Logan, McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming counties, all of which have seen population loss, few economic opportunities, crumbling infrastructure and higher barriers to health care over the course of several decades as the coal industry has dwindled.
In fact, McDowell County once was ranked the poorest county in the entire United States, and is still in the top 10 today. In 2022, about 30% of McDowell residents were living in poverty, compared to the national average of around 11.5%, according to census statistics. Surrounding counties haven’t fared much better. In Mingo County, the poverty rate in 2022 was nearly 29%, while it was 25% in both Logan and Wyoming counties, and around 18% in Boone County.
The Legislature passed a bill two years ago to establish a similar board to assess poverty in these counties, analyze ways to implement change and help facilitate recovery efforts, but, as the Gazette-Mail reported last week, that effort was mostly dormant under Gov. Jim Justice, whose second term ends in about 10 months.
