6:00: Morning News

Randy’s Dream for highways maintenance moves toward passage in W.Va. Senate

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Randy’s Dream is headed toward passage.

The state Senate is headed toward third reading, passage vote, on a highways bill that Senator Randy Smith has been talking up for weeks. That vote should be Tuesday, a day ahead of a deadline for each house of the Legislature to pass bills to the other.

“The reason for this bill here is to require them to do something about it,” said Smith, R-Tucker. “It’s a start. It’s not going to fix them all. It puts some much needed money into it. I wish it was a little more money.”

The actual title of the bill is “Creating Special Road Repair Fund.”

The text of the bill makes a point:

“The Legislature finds that the Division of Highways, through no fault of its own, struggles to maintain roadways to the expectation of the citizens of this state. The purpose of the Enhanced Road Maintenance Program established in this article is to increase the utilization of private vendor contractors to provide maintenance and road repair services for the Division of Highways in districts where there is an established need so that this state’s roads will be properly maintained and usable by the citizens of this state.”

The bill would create a special sub-account of the State Road Fund with $110 million next year and another $110 million the year after that. Smith had originally wanted about $400 million.

County highways supervisors and other officials are to submit an an annual list of road repair and maintenance needs in order of priority. The Division of Highways is then to determine available funding.

An amendment that was passed Monday says the Division of Highways must hire private contractors if 70 percent of the core maintenance projects from the prior year haven’t been completed.

Eric Tarr

“If they have been dropping the ball and not getting the roads repaired, this bill says they will contract it out,” said Senator Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, a sponsor of the amendment.

The repairs would include, but are not limited to, pothole repair, paving, ditching, and mowing on and along each district’s roads.

“The big problem with our road conditions is keeping the water off our roads, it’s washing them out, it’s freezing and thawing, freezing and thawing, and that’s what’s keeping our bad roads,” Smith said.

Funding for the grants is based upon the total mileage of nonfederal aid eligible county routes in each district.

At one point, the bill said no county should receive less than $1.5 million. But that was also amended Monday to be no less than $1 million.

The amendment was meant to provide more latitude.

“For some counties that’s more money than needed and for others it’s not enough,” Tarr said of the $1.5 million amount.

Ron Stollings

Senator Ron Stollings, D-Boone, said the money distribution should be more equitable.

“I think there’s enough need in each county, even if you’re rural, you still have the same drainage and water issues in each county,” Stollings said.

The Senate pushed forward some additional notable bills while dealing with a long Monday list of legislation.

One would increase penalties for passing a stopped school bus.

Stephen Baldwin

“It’s happening to bus drivers each and every day in counties throughout the state,” said the lead sponsor, Stephen Baldwin, D-Greenbrier.

It doubles fines and the amount of time a license is suspended.

“If they do not take our children’s safety seriously they will face serious consequences,” Baldwin said.

The bill also requires cameras on all school buses purchased from July 1 forward. The Senate passed the school bus bill 34-0. It now goes to the House of Delegates.

Another bill that passed 34-0 Monday would allow colleges to hire police officers who live across the state line.

The section of code originally used the phrase “bona fide residents of this state” to describe campus police officers who could be hired. Now the bill just says such hires must be qualified. There was an explanation of the bill but no particular debate. The bill goes to the House of Delegates.

And another bill would increase salaries of State Police personnel over a three-year period. Again, there was little debate and the bill passed the Senate 34-0.

That bill is notable, though, because a separate pay raise bill passed by the House of Delegates includes State Police plus teachers and service personnel. Following a brief teachers union strike last week, it’s still not clear what level of support exists in the Senate for that bill.





More News

News
PSC approves settlements involving Mon Power, net-metering cases
Rate increase went into effect Tuesday.
March 27, 2024 - 9:42 pm
News
Speakers at Focus Forward symposium discuss AI capabilities in West Virginia
The event was organized by the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
March 27, 2024 - 8:30 pm
News
Justice vetoes vaccination exemption bill, draws praise from healthcare groups
Educational and healthcare organizations banded together to urge a veto.
March 27, 2024 - 6:35 pm
News
Testimony wraps up in attempt to remove 2 Jefferson County commissioners from office
Three-judge panel hears 2 days of testimony.
March 27, 2024 - 5:11 pm