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ELKINS -- Four local lawmakers answered questions about the upcoming legislative session during a special event this week.
Delegate Ty Nestor, R-District 66; Delegate Elias Coop-Gonzalez, R-District 67; state Sen. Robert Karnes, R-11th District; and state Sen. Bill Hamilton, R-11 District, attended Thursday's Legislative Luncheon, hosted by the Elkins-Randolph County Chamber of Commerce.
Moderator Emily Coffman, a political science graduate of Davis & Elkins College, asked the legislators about bills they may have sponsored or voted on.
Coffman's first question went to Hamilton and had to do with Bill 265, which Hamilton introduced. The bill has to do with the West Virginia Department of Economic Development implementing a procedure to address employment, labor force participation, and the economic development problems of small business when it comes to low income and minority populations in the state.
The bill remains in the Senate Finance Committee, and Coffman asked Hamilton if he had any plans to reintroduce the bill during the 2024 session.
"I think it's important that we include our minority population in our businesses," Hamilton said. "I don't think I was the lead sponsor of that bill, but I was the co-sponsor of that bill. Hopefully it will be re-introduced this year."
Coffman then asked Coop-Gonzalez why he voted against Senate Bill 523. The purpose of the bill is to provide funding for infrastructure and economic development; clarify the purposes and use of the Economic Development Project Fund; provide that funds may be used solely for loans; provide for repayment of loans; and provide that a maximum amount of $200 million of the funds may be used for financing high impact development projects.
"I think a lot of it has to do with accountability," Coop-Gonzalez said. "We didn't get enough information on this at first and what ended up happening was the Department of Economic Development cut a deal before getting permission from the Legislature.
"Essentially, what this does is that it takes a lot of money and gives them authority over that. It really favors big business over small business, and I really don't think that's the approach we should be taking as West Virginians.
"The vast majority of our businesses in our state are small businesses that employ our neighbors, our family, and our friends. And those are the businesses that are actually going to come together in our community and make it a unique place to live. At the end of the day, the big businesses are going to leave if they don't make a profit. They are not going to be a part of that community aspect."
Coffman asked Karnes why he voted against House Bill 2882, also known as Form Energy Bill, which makes a $115 million supplemental appropriation to the Department of Economic Development. With the bill, legislation transfers the $115 million from available surplus tax dollars, $10 million of that going toward broadband expansion projects, with $105 million being a part of a $300 million package. The state is providing the package to support Form Energy's plan to build an iron-air battery manufacturing plant on the site of the former Weirton Steel property in Hancock County.
"Form Energy is a company that is primarily backed by folks outside of West Virginia, including Bill Gates and the Chinese communists," Karnes said. "So the first sort of red flag for Form Energy was that it's the Chinese communists. The second red flag for Form Energy was that they are a battery company that has never made a battery in production, which means now we are investing what turns out to be a $300 million investment, essentially leaving West Virginia a venture capitalist.
"The CEO of Form Energy did a radio interview and said the purpose of Form Energy was to put an end to the coal industry and natural gas industry. That's 25 percent of West Virginia's economy, so you're talking about $20 billion worth of destruction to our economy for 700 jobs. Form Energy was an extremely bad deal for West Virginia, so I could not support that."
Because Nestor's assignments include the Economic Development and Tourism Committee, Workforce Development Committee, and Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, Coffman asked what his plans are to promote economic workforce and rural development in Randolph County during the 2024 session
"We have to first get Corridor H built," Nestor said. "I don't think anyone would disagree, especially here at a Chamber of Commerce function, that Corridor H is vital to our growth here in this county. It's been talked about for many, many years and we need to get it completed -- we have the money to do so.
"There's going to be some challenges on the Agriculture Committee as far as economic growth is concerned. We have a pretty big elephant in the room in the form of carbon sequestration agreements. In broad strokes, those are essential agreements where a landowner agrees not to timber their property for 20 years.
"What that does is, it allows companies to buy these carbon credits, where they could be in California and purchase West Virginia land," Nestor said. "They don't get titled that land, but they have a contractual agreement with that landowner that the landowner can't timber that property for 20 years.
"Where there's a conflict is that the timber industry, especially in Randolph County, is a very vital industry. It's a big tax base and it generates a lot of commerce. I don't want it to be affected by any sort of carbon sequestration."
The luncheon took place in the Myles Center for the Arts, Senate Commons on the campus of Davis & Elkins College.
The event was sponsored by Performance Chevrolet, and all proceeds benefited West Virginia Rhododendron Girls State.