CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia lawmakers are trying to figure out the details of why flood relief efforts in recovering communities dried up over the past few months.
“I wish I knew,” said Senator Stephen Baldwin, D-Greenbrier. “I’ve been trying for a month now that I’ve been getting calls from constituents. I just can’t get any information. Nobody will answer my questions. I don’t know what’s going on.”
Legislators from a variety of areas hit by the devastating floods of 2016 are having the same experience.
They say federal relief money that flows through state government to help their constituents slowed way down couple of months ago.
On Wednesday afternoon, House Speaker Tim Armstead and Senate President Mitch Carmichael formally requested and authorized the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding to begin examining the RISE West Virginia program.
“Many questions and concerns have arisen regarding the management of the West Virginia RISE program and use of funding the program is charged with administering,” Armstead and Carmichael wrote.
MORE: See the letter authorizing an investigation of RISE.
A big part of what’s happened appears to be Justice administration scrutiny of a contract with a company meant to manage federal flood relief dollars.
The contract with Horne LLP was reached after the federal government pledged millions of dollars to help West Virginia with flood relief in 2016.
Horne was to help West Virginia with an action plan to handle the money. A later contract for Horne was to help the state with an implementation phase.
The Department of Commerce manages the RISE West Virginia disaster recovery program through the West Virginia Development Office and West Virginia Community Advancement and Development Office.
Early this year, the Justice administration started looking at whether that second contract was in line with state purchasing laws.
The administration says it halted work related to the contract during its examination.
“There’s a new sheriff in town and people need to realize that Jim Justice will see to it that West Virginia is not going to be on the short end of the stick,” Gov. Jim Justice stated in a release distributed by the administration.
“We found things that could save West Virginia millions in federal funding. Our flood victims are going to continue to be served. Those people that weren’t doing their jobs have been held accountable.”
The Justice administration spoke with WSAZ television and with a writer for the West Virginia Press Association but has not made any other statements.
Brian Abraham, the governor’s chief counsel, told the press association that the relationship with Horne may be reinstituted. By catching a mistake, pausing and then refocusing, Abraham said, West Virginia may avoid federal penalties for misspent funds.
Lawmakers are still trying to figure out more about what happened and why relief dollars didn’t start flowing back to their constituents more quickly.
Baldwin says answers have been scarce.
“I think my constituents deserve to know why,” Baldwin said Wednesday. “There may be a very good reason. They’re becoming increasingly frustrated and I would be too.”
He said over the past few weeks he has reached out to the Justice administration and to the Department of Commerce with little luck.
“I have reached out to them,” Baldwin said. “They have said they’re happy to talk, but I have not had that opportunity yet.
He added, “If I can’t get information as an elected official from the Commerce Department that is charged with administering the program, then how can anyone get information? I’ve tried to talk to Commerce and the Secretary won’t return my call. It’s a perplexing situation.”
Senator Ed Gaunch, R-Kanawha, also expressed frustration.
“I became anxious about this two or three weeks ago when I kept going up to Clendenin and parts of my district where people are still hoping to hear from RISE. I keep asking, ‘Where’s the help?'” Gaunch said.
“It breaks my heart. We still have people using tubs and buckets for bathrooms and people living in trailers. It’s just wrong. That’s all I can say.”
Gaunch is still waiting to hear a timetable.
“When are we going to get this money out ot people who really need it?” he said Wednesday. “There doesn’t seem to be any answers coming out of the administration.”
Gaunch had heard about concerns with the contract with Horne.
“After that I don’t know what happened. It’s like people are sitting on their hands.”
Also concerned is Delegate Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay.
Hanshaw said bureaucratic problems have slowed relief efforts since right after the flood struck two years ago. But the red tape loosened up for a while.
“We went through a bit of a lull in frustration probably about six months ago,” Hanshaw said. “The sentiment became that most people’s claims had been processed and we were simply waiting on the system to do what the system does.”
Then problems kicked back up again just a few months ago. People started telling Hanshaw they weren’t getting what they need.
“It’s only been in the last 90 days that we’re told ‘No, much of the application process that constituents and citizens and business owners had gone through, that forms were incorrect, that claims that weren’t made properly would be denied’ started to come to the surface,” Hanshaw said. “Everybody is frustrated.”
West Virginia’s approach to relief efforts needs to improve, Hanshaw said, not only in response to the flood from two years ago but to make sure people get the help they need in the future.
“We know that we experience flooding events in West Virginia all the time. We’re talking right now about an event in 2016. We’ve had at least two significant flooding events since then. They weren’t on this magnitude, thank goodness, but these things happen.
“We’ve got to learn from this. We’ve got to get better at it. I’m delighted that the governor’s office is working through the process of doing some type of investigation as to how we got where we are, but that doesn’t change the fact that people are still waiting on help to show up that should have been here two years ago.”