CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice has called a news conference for Friday morning about long-term flood relief, and state lawmakers announced they are expanding the scope of their investigation into the state’s response to the 2016 flood as its two-year anniversary approaches.
Those two turns were announced just shortly after legislative Democrats put out a group statement today saying Governor Justice should be more attentive to his job or resign.
And all that happened hours after the announcement that the governor had asked for and received the resignation of state Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher.
A lot is going on in West Virginia.
The governor’s press conference, supposed to start at 9 a.m. Friday, isn’t necessarily in response to the other happenings. He and Gen. James Hoyer of the West Virginia National Guard had said last week that they would likely provide a Friday update on the RISE flood recovery program.
Controversy has stirred over the past month over the Justice administration’s handling of Community Development Block Grants for disaster relief administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Questions have arisen over a contract for an outside consultant to manage the millions of dollars in grant money, the pace of West Virginia’s long-term flood relief and the effectiveness of communication among agencies and with the public.
Justice announced last week that Hoyer would be the point man on all aspects of long-term disaster relief. The announcement at the governor’s June 7 press conference was the first time the governor had discussed the controversy that had already swirled for a couple of weeks.
Senate President Mitch Carmichael and House Speaker Tim Armstead announced on May 23 an investigation into how the state has handled long-term disaster recovery.
Now the investigation will expand to include not only a look at how money from HUD has been handled but also the effects of relief efforts under the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
That’s according to a memo distributed by Senator Ed Gaunch and Delegate Roger Hanshaw, the chairmen of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Flooding.
“It became apparent to us that our Committee’s investigation of the Program would be difficult, if not altogether impossible, without addressing broader questions about how the State of West Virginia and the federal government responded generally to the June 2016 flood event,” the chairmen wrote.
“The questions raised by many constituents, flood victims, business owners, donors, first responders, and elected officials suggest that a broader inquiry is necessary, including a review of how the Federal Emergency Management Agency responded and how FEMA’s work, and funding, was integrated into the overall response to this disaster.”
The committee plans to gather a detailed timeline of the formation of the RISE West Virginia relief program and its operation, a detailed breakdown of all sources of government funding received by the state and a summary of legal requirements.
The committee wants to hear from General Hoyer, receive an update from the Flood Resiliency Office created by the Legislature and hear from the Legislative Auditor’s office on preliminary findings on the flood relief issues.
The chairmen wrote that more than one meeting is likely necessary to work through the investigation.
“We will begin our official inquiry into the Program at this month’s interim meeting,” Gaunch and Hanshaw wrote.