Gov. Jim Justice continues push for road bond support

BECKLEY, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice continued his push for road bond support Thursday saying he believes the initiative will stimulate the economy and bring jobs to the state.

Residents will vote Saturday, Oct. 7, whether to approve the referendum. In a Thursday conference call with reporters from across the state, Justice and several members of his cabinet talked about benefits they see coming out of the passage of the referendum.

“From my take, and I speak very plain and I’m forward in my words, but I really believe that this is the single-biggest vote West Virginians have ever made in the history of their state,” Justice said. “This road bond referendum is the launching pad to a future for West Virginia that is beyond belief.”

Secretary of Transportation Tom Smith said some of the easier projects, such as resurfacing areas of roads, are already under way. The majority of the projects, he said, will start next spring.

At a town hall event in Beckley last week, Justice said there are 600 road construction projects throughout the state — 212 projects in southern West Virginia, totaling about $750 million.

This includes $132.4 million in Raleigh, $46.3 million in Fayette, $177.6 million in Wyoming, $9.3 million in Summers, $10.6 million in Nicholas, $35.7 million in Greenbrier, and $9.6 million in Monroe.

There are a few funding mechanisms for the projects. First, are federal aid funds, or GARVEE bonds, which are an 80-20 match. The second is turnpike revenue, which would go to 10 counties in southern West Virginia that border the turnpike. The third is the general obligation funds, which includes money from the already passed wholesale gasoline tax, motor vehicle privilege tax and an increase to the Division of Motor Vehicles fees, which amounts to about $130 million a year.

Smith said GARVEE has a shorter pay back time of eight to 12 years. General obligation bonds are longer at 20 to 25 years.

“The net net of the whole thing is the funding is already there,” Justice said. “There is no additional tax increases at all.”

Justice said constitutionally, all the money has to go to the roads.

“What if this weren’t to pass? Then the government has dollars still coming. At some point in time, politicians find a way to squander our money and not really complete our roads.”

Justice said passing the referendum would create immediate jobs, estimating about 48,000 or greater. He said it could be hard to find 48,000 construction workers in West Virginia but said he hopes to see West Virginians in these positions.

“We want every one of these jobs filled by West Virginians,” he said. “We want to get our tech schools, community colleges working toward this. We want our structured bids to be labor intensive and we want there to be training. We want additional labor hired where there is on the job training for these jobs.”

Commissioner of Tourism Chelsea Ruby said roads are key to tourism. She said one of the goals is to increase spending in West Virginia. One of the ways to do this, she said, is to increase the length of stay for visitors. Right now, she said the national average is 4.5 nights per stay. In West Virginia, it’s two nights. She said another goal is to promote regions, not just special attractions or certain counties.

“We can do everything to get them here, but if the roads are bad, that will deter people to coming back.”

Secretary of Commerce Woody Thrasher said he believes the roads initiative will stimulate the economy.

“There certainly is a hole again this year and the whole state can recognize and be honest with itself that the economy desperately needs to be stimulated. I know of no better way to stimulate the economy besides infrastructure.”