Special session to expedite roads program begins today

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said he will call the Legislature into special session today to speed up implementation of his $3 billion road construction and maintenance program.

On Oct. 7, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment allowing state highways officials to sell $1.6 billion in general obligation bonds that will make up about 60 percent of the governor’s “Roads to Prosperity” construction program. Justice believes the construction boom will give a much-needed jolt to the state’s sagging economy, bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and put tens of thousands of West Virginians to work.

“We’ve been conditioned to taste losing,” Justice said in a press conference. He said passage of the road bond amendment meant that West Virginia, “for maybe the first time here in its existence, tasted winning.

After final, but unofficial, vote totals were tallied, the road bond amendment passed by a statewide vote of 87,751 in favor to 32,759 against.

The amendment passed in every county but Ritchie, and Justice said the measure passed in McDowell County by a margin of more than 90 percent.

The road bond amendment was approved by a margin of 72.82 to 27.12 percent.

But state officials said there is some work to do before the road bond projects get off the ground. State Transportation Secretary Tom Smith said highways officials are doing all they can to expedite selling the general obligation bonds, which will be paid off over a period of 30 years. He said construction should start next year for projects funded by the general obligation bonds.

“It’s an exciting day here at West Virginia Department of Highways,” Smith said.

But Smith also said the department is about 500 workers short at the moment. Justice said part of the special session will be dedicated to passing legislation to make it faster and easier to hire state employees. Justice said it currently can take six to nine months to fill a vacant state position.

Lawmakers may also consider legislation to help ensure that as many jobs as possible created by the expected construction boom will go to West Virginia residents.

The West Virginia Jobs Act already requires that 75 percent of state-funded construction jobs go to West Virginia residents, or to people who live within 50 miles of the border in border counties. But Justice said lawmakers may pass additional legislation favoring West Virginia workers if they can legally do so.

“We’ll be very, very supportive of any legislation that eliminates roadblocks to hiring in West Virginia and promotes that these jobs will be filled by West Virginians to the extent that we can legally do so,” Carmichael said. “We’re on the same page with the administration on this.”

Carmichael said the special session is scheduled for a week when lawmakers are in town anyway for interim meetings. “It won’t cost the taxpayers anything,” he said.

Some of the other projects included in Justice’s $3 billion road program are already underway or in the planning stages. Some critics are already saying that many of the jobs for those projects are going to end up going to out-of-state contractors.

However, Smith said almost all of the consultants and contractors hired so far for roads projects contemplated under the “Roads to Prosperity” program have come from West Virginia.

With so many jobs at stake, state AFL-CIO President Josh Sword said it was vital that state officials enforce the jobs act and do all they can to make sure as many West Virginia workers as possible benefit from the road program. “We’re talking about a significant number of jobs,” he said.

Steve White, director of the state chapter of the Affiliated Construction Trades, has said he was concerned there would be enough qualified construction workers in the state to fill the jobs created by the roads program. Justice has said training programs are being ramped up to train more workers.