On the eve of the start of the 2022 legislative session, lawmakers concluded a two-day special session Tuesday by passing several bills aimed at luring large industrial manufacturers to West Virginia.
The West Virginia House of Delegates passed six bills Tuesday morning, including Senate Bill 1001, the West Virginia Industrial Advancement Act. The bill passed 91-2, with Delegates Chris Pritt, R-Kanawha, and Laura Kimble, R-Harrison, being the only no votes.
The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Jim Justice, who called the special session Saturday night. The state Senate passed SB 1001 Monday in a 30-1 vote with Sen. Owens Brown, D-Ohio, the only no vote.
SB 1001 creates several tax incentives that kick in when large capital and labor-intensive industrial manufacturers make certain investments and employment commitments.
The West Virginia Industrial Advancement Act creates a tax credit equal to 50% of the qualified manufacturing investment of a company.
The projects that would qualify for the tax credit require a minimum investment of $2 billion in property for use as an industrial site and the hiring of at least 500 full-time jobs within the first 36 months of the tax year the incentive is offered.
The credit could be used to reduce either personal income tax liability or corporate net income tax liability for eligible certificate holders. The bill also includes an already available consumer sales and use tax credit to cover the cost of equipment and materials for constructing and expanding the industrial sites. The bill includes claw back provisions should the approved companies not meet their commitments.
The House took nearly 1 1/2 hours on the bill Tuesday, with comments ranging from full-throated enthusiasm from Republican members to cautious support from Democratic members. Del. Mark Zatezalo, R-Hancock, said the project will be good for West Virginia’s future.
“This is the start of something really good,” Zatezalo said. “This is not the end of anything. The hard work starts now. We have lots of work to do. If we keep doing what we’re doing right now, working hard, we’ll succeed because we have the baseline load of energy, and we have a good location.”
“Because of the policies we have enacted here in recent years, we’re finally getting the types of looks similar to what we have here before us,” House Majority Whip Paul Espinosa, R-Jefferson. “For me, it’s not really a difficult call at all when you look at the economic impact figures.”
