SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 42
(By Senators Wooton, Kessler, Oliverio, Sprouse, Ross,
McKenzie, Fanning and Helmick)
Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance study the
merits of enabling the State of West Virginia, local
governments and certain other political entities to enter into
agreements authorizing private entities to acquire, construct,
improve, maintain and/or operate qualifying transportation
facilities in the public interest.
Whereas, The state has an interest in the timely acquisition
of, construction of and improvements to transportation facilities
within West Virginia which are compatible with state and local
transportation plans; and
Whereas, Such public need may not be wholly satisfied by
existing ways in which transportation facilities are acquired,
constructed or improved; and
Whereas, Authorizing private entities to acquire, construct,
improve, maintain and/or operate one or more transportation
facilities may result in the availability of such transportation
facilities to the public in a more timely or less costly fashion,
thereby serving public safety and welfare; and
Whereas, The opportunity exists to leverage federal resources by encouraging private participation in the delivery of surface
transportation infrastructure to supplement the traditional federal
aid grant assistance by increasing funding flexibility and program
effectiveness; and
Whereas, It is the desire of the Legislature to facilitate, to
the greatest extent possible, the pooling and funding mechanisms of
the Transportation Equity Act for the twenty-first century (TEA-21)
and the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act
(TIFIA) to the end that transportation financing be expanded and
accelerated to improve and add to the convenience of the public and
that public and private entities have the greatest possible
flexibility in contracting with each other for the provision of
improved services to the public; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance is
requested to study and evaluate the merits of enabling the State of
West Virginia, local governments and certain other political
entities to enter into agreements authorizing private entities to
acquire, construct, improve, maintain and/or operate qualifying
transportation facilities in the public interest; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Government and
Finance report to the regular session of the Legislature, 2002, on its findings, conclusions and recommendations, together with drafts
of any legislation necessary to effectuate its recommendations;
and, be it
Further Resolved, That the expenses necessary to conduct this
study, to prepare a report and to draft necessary legislation be
paid from legislative appropriations to the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance.