H. B. 4588
(By Delegates Fleischauer, Miley,
Marshall, Beach, Shook, Susman, Varner,
Fragale, Frazier, Hamilton and Moore)
[Introduced
February 19, 2010
; referred to the
Committee on Energy, Industry and Labor, Economic Development and
Small Business then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §12-7A-1 and
§12-7A-2, all relating to the creation of the 2010 West
Virginia Job Promotion, Evaluation and Reporting Act;
providing legislative findings; requiring complete evaluation
of job promotion programs; requiring report on remaining
stimulus funds; and requiring new transparency and
accountability requirements for job promotion programs.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §12-7A-1 and §12-7A-2,
all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7A. 2010 WEST VIRGINIA JOB PROMOTION, EVALUATION AND
REPORTING ACT.
§12-7A-1. Legislative findings, purposes and objectives; how article cited.
This article may be cited as the "2010 West Virginia Job
Promotion, Evaluation and Reporting Act".
West Virginian citizens have a strong work ethic and a
tradition of high levels of performance in trades and professions
in our state. A historic lack of good paying jobs with benefits
has resulted in many West Virginians migrating out-of-state for
employment. West Virginians are incredibly loyal to our state and
many of those who have moved out-of-state ultimately return to
retire in the state.
Nevertheless, West Virginia parents have been saddened by the
exodus of their children out-of-state to obtain employment. The
loss of any of our state's talent is a loss to the state of
investments made in public and higher education, and a personal
loss to families and communities. Any effort that the state can
launch to retain the young people of our state by the creation and
retention of good paying jobs with benefits is an investment in the
state's future.
A new decade is a perfect time to evaluate our state's job
promotion and retention efforts to ensure that all federal grant
money is being applied for, to ascertain whether state investments
in job promotion are producing the results that are intended and to
require transparency and accountability for state investments in
job promotion and retention.
§12-7A-2. West Virginia Development Office report required.
The West Virginia Development Office, with assistance and
collaboration from all other relevant state agencies, is hereby
directed to prepare and present a report to the Joint Committee on
Finance and Administration no later than August 15, 2010, that
shall include the following three components:
(a) Complete Evaluation of Job Promotion Programs - The report
shall include a complete evaluation of all state statutes that
promote the creation or retention of jobs, train workers, provide
incentives for employment and training, or give loans, grants, tax
breaks or other types of incentives for these purposes. In
addition to a complete statutory review, this evaluation shall
include a budgetary analysis that would compare the amount being
spent on the foregoing objectives, broken down by category, to the
results actually being produced. This evaluation should also
include any recommendations for changes that result from this
statutory and budgetary review, i.e. if the financial analysis
results in a conclusion that the investments are not producing the
desired results, recommendations should be made for increasing,
decreasing or eliminating programs. The evaluation shall also
include predictions about where future job growth is likely to
occur, including, but not limited to, the fields of health care,
energy efficiency and green jobs. The training, education
requirements that will be needed to fill these new positions should
also be addressed.
(b) Report on Remaining Stimulus Funds - The federal government authorized a stimulus program, the "American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act" designed to revive the national economy from
the worst recession experienced by this country since the great
depression. As part of that legislation, numerous grants were made
available to state government to promote job creation and train
employees for jobs that would be needed in the future. To date,
there remains a great deal of stimulus money, available to the
State of West Virginia for such projects as green jobs, increased
unemployment assistance, broadband access and other programs, that
has not been applied for or the conditions for obtaining it have
not been met. In addition to the above report, the Development
Office in collaboration with all other relevant state agencies
shall provide a complete list of all stimulus money that remains
available to the state, the relevant deadlines which may be
applicable and the reasons why the funding has not been sought.
(c) New Transparency and Accountability Requirements for Job
Promotion Programs - The federal "American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act" required information relating to the number of
jobs created, along with the salary and benefits for each job, be
reported to the public and published on the Internet. On or before
August 15, 2010, the West Virginia Development Office in
collaboration with other relevant state agencies, shall recommend
to the Joint Committee on Finance and Administration how this code
may be amended to require similar or more extensive reporting and
publication of job creation data that would be applicable to all state programs which promote the creation of jobs, train workers,
provide incentives for employment and training, or give loans,
grants, tax breaks or other types of incentives for these purposes.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the 2010 West
Virginia Job Promotion, Evaluation and Reporting Act. It states
legislative findings and requires the West Virginia Development
Office to make a complete evaluation of job promotion programs and
a report on remaining stimulus funds under the "American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act"; and requiring recommendations for new
transparency and accountability requirements for job promotion
programs to be made to the Joint Committee on Finance and
Administration on or before August 15, 2010.
This article is new; therefore, it has been completely
underscored.
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