skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Momentum Building Behind WV Future Fund

play audio
Play

Monday, July 8, 2013   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Momentum is building for a West Virginia Future Fund that would set aside a portion of coal and gas severance taxes for economic development. A poll last month found that West Virginians favor a mineral trust fund by more than three to one. State Senate President Jeff Kessler sponsored a bill to create a future fund in the last legislative session. That bill failed, but he said the more people hear about it, the better they like it.

"This is legislation [for] which [the] time has come. It took a few years to get people warmed up to the idea, but I have yet to run into one legislator, or one person in the general public, who doesn't think it's a good idea."

Future fund supporters say given the impact of coal and gas on the state, West Virginia needs make sure the economic benefits remain long-term. This summer, legislative leaders plan to go to North Dakota to learn about that state's "legacy fund." It was started in 2011, and reached $1 billion in a little more than a year-and-a-half.

A half-dozen states have permanent mineral trust funds. Kessler pointed to Alaska, where every resident gets a check each year. He says when a state has a natural resource boom, it makes sense to set some of the money aside so it has something to show when the boom ends.

"[It's like] opening a savings account for the people of this state so that, 40 or 50 years from now when the gas is drained or depleted, we don't say, 'What on earth did we do with all our precious resource?'"

According to the poll, state residents overwhelmingly favor raising severance taxes 1 percent to raise money for the fund. Kessler's legislation would not have done that. Instead, his proposal would have used the expected doubling or tripling of natural gas severance money from Marcellus drilling.

The principal in the future fund would stay in the account, while the interest would be used for economic development and diversification. Kessler said part of the interest income would also go back to the coal and gas counties, to offset the impact of the mining and drilling.

"Demands on their roadway system, infrastructure, water systems, housing markets - we do think it's important to give a little bit back to the counties of origin of the resource," he said.

"Creating an Economic Diversification Trust Fund" is available at www.wvfuturefund.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021