House Finance Committee Vice Chairman Clay Riley said House Bill 4007, proposing updates to the Industrial Access Road fund program, would help improve access to needed dollars for infrastructure improvements. (Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography)

CHARLESTON – Less than a week since the beginning of the West Virginia Legislature’s regular session last Wednesday, the House of Delegates will soon consider one of the first bills from the House Republican caucus’ economic development agenda.

The House Finance Committee recommended a committee substitute for House Bill 4007, relating to the state industrial access road program, for passage to the full House Tuesday morning.

HB 4007, which proposes updates to the Industrial Access Road (IAR) Fund, increasing the annual funding cap, currently set at $3 million, and the maximum grants available for unmatched and matched funds used to build roads for industrial sites. The unmatched funds cap would increase from $400,000 per project to $800,000 per project, while the matched funds cap would increase from $150,000 per project to $300,000 per project.

The committee substitute adopted Monday would grant the Commissioner of Highways discretionary authority over the additional $3 million allocation, ensuring that road maintenance budgets are not unnecessarily diminished. The bill also broadens the definition of eligible sites and mandates a 90-day response time for project applications from the Division of Highways.

“We know we’ve had significant increases over the past number of years of economic development,” said House Finance Committee Vice Chairman Clay Riley, R-Harrison. “The IAR program has proven to be successful since 1999. As I mentioned the other day, the past five years we’ve had in excess of $4 million on average spent per year. I think the ability on the amendment makes it a little more flexible and doesn’t detract from the State Road Fund. And I think that was a product of the discussion that we had here two days ago.”

Department of Transportation Secretary Todd Rumbaugh told committee members Tuesday that he supports the bill and the approved committee substitute.

“I’m all about development and return on investment,” Rumbaugh said. “If I think that the business coming in needs it and it will help and bring a lot more money to us … then we would help that development.”

The House took up the committee report on HB 4007 during Tuesday’s House floor session. The bill will be up on first reading today, amendment stage on Thursday, and up for passage to the state Senate on Friday.

HB 4007 is the first bill up for passage that is part of the “Jobs First – Opportunity Everywhere” agenda, a legislative roadmap released by the House Republican caucus in December. The Jobs First agenda is designed to stimulate statewide growth by focusing on modernizing education to prepare a skilled workforce, fostering a competitive business climate through deregulation, and ensuring responsible, long-term infrastructure development.

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com