CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The office of Gov. Jim Justice is further explaining comments Justice made Wednesday during his media briefing concerning $50 million he wants state lawmakers to put into the year-old Flood Resiliency Trust Fund.
Justice said Wednesday the decision by the legislature not to put the money into the surplus section of the new budget to help individual disaster victims, after he proposed it, was a bad decision.
“It is frivolous, frivolous, for us not to create a bucket to where we can help folks where they have a situation whether it be a mudslide, a flooding event or God forbid, another tornado event,” Justice said.
Those comments and others brought quick reaction from both House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw and state Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr who said Justice has $85 million in his civil contingency fund to do with what he wants.
Thursday’s statement from the governor’s office appears to be an attempt to add context to the governor’s comments.
“I think he was trying to emphasize the need to get that money in and it could have helped these people (recent storm victims),” Justice administration Chief of Staff Brian Abraham told MetroNews. “I don’t think the reference was helping them the same day but it would be money for people like that and then themselves when it became available.”
Abraham said the governor’s office appreciates the thoughts of both Hanshaw and Tarr but the monies kept in the global contingency fund are linked to prior commitments.
“Each of those typically has some type of restriction on them and we follow them very closely,” Abraham said.
For example, according to the statement, “in 2016, funds were earmarked for the Governor’s Office to use during the floods. That fund was sporadically used during parts of the pandemic to aid the National Guard and other State agencies, as well. The remaining funds are being held for the outstanding balances of Kanawha and Nicholas counties’ school reconstruction. Nothing has recently been appropriated in any fund for emergencies.
“Concerning the Civil Contingent Fund, the Governor maintains that these funds are to be utilized for purposes outlined by the Legislature during the appropriation process, such as economic development, water and infrastructure projects, higher education capital improvements, and, most recently, to maintain our jails and prisons.”
Abraham said the governor’s office has also done research and has failed to find any examples where the governor’s contingency fund was used to pay individual disaster victims.
“There’s not a real way to take money directly out of the contingency fund and just go out and pay members of the public,” Abraham said. “We went back and looked at it and it’s never been in any governor’s office that they take money directly out of contingency to citizens.”
Abraham said Gov. Justice wants the $50 million in the Flood Resiliency Trust Fund to help disaster victims when disasters here don’t meet FEMA requirements for funding. That’s why he’ll try again in the special session.
“The governor is very adamant that we get that funded so that when we have these kind of incidents that FEMA doesn’t step up and cover because we don’t meet the threshold that that money be available to the people of West Virginia. It’s their money. It’s their tax dollars,” Abraham said.
Thursday’s statement said Justice was willing to meet with lawmakers about the issue.
“If lawmakers genuinely support the Governor utilizing the other contingency monies, he is fully prepared to employ them as a down payment. Additionally, he is willing to meet with them to negotiate fully funding the resiliency account.
“The Governor will engage with leadership in the upcoming weeks and establish a clear plan of action, a move that will undoubtedly benefit the people of West Virginia,” the statement said.
Justice said Wednesday the special session will likely be in late-May.