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House Agenda Sends a Message · Commentary - TJ Meadows

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  Speaker 1: West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw stepped to the podium
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  Speaker 1: Tuesday and made one thing crystal clear. This legislative session
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  Speaker 1: is about jobs. Economic development, and jobs, Hanshaw said, are
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  Speaker 1: how West Virginia moves forward, especially when local communities are
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  Speaker 1: empowered to shape their own future. Nail meet head. The
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  Speaker 1: House is calling it the Job's First Economic Opportunity Everywhere agenda,
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  Speaker 1: and it puts job creation at the center of everything.
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  Speaker 1: The cornerstone is House Bill one Team West Virginia, a
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  Speaker 1: statewide nonprofit modeled after Jobs, Ohio, designed to coordinate site development, partnerships,
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  Speaker 1: and business growth. Handshaw's message was simple, good paying jobs
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  Speaker 1: are the foundation for strong communities. The plan also tackles
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  Speaker 1: workforce development, infrastructure and investment, from job training and education
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  Speaker 1: to flexible tax credits, faster approvals for energy infrastructure, and
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  Speaker 1: steps to low or construction costs and increase housing supply.
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  Speaker 1: This is pragmatic leadership, something West Virginia could use more of.
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  Speaker 1: Under Handshaw, the House has often played the Senate's role,
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  Speaker 1: the role the founders envisioned for a deliberative body, slowing
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  Speaker 1: things down, focusing on outcomes, and avoiding unforced errors. That
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  Speaker 1: leadership mattered last session, where the House resisted bad ideas
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  Speaker 1: from vaccines to debanking schemes that would have hurt the
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  Speaker 1: state's business climate. Meanwhile, the Senate last year largely fixated
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  Speaker 1: on social issues, leaving pro business groups playing defense instead
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  Speaker 1: of advancing growth. Hanshaw's early move sends a message not
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  Speaker 1: this year. House Finance Chairman Vernon Chris summed it up best.
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  Speaker 1: We can fix a lot of problems if people are
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  Speaker 1: working exactly right. Work should come first. If a bill
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  Speaker 1: doesn't grow the economy, help kids, or help West Virginians
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  Speaker 1: gain skills and jobs, it shouldn't be the focus. Voters
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  Speaker 1: don't care about culture wars. They care about opportunity. Ignore that,
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  Speaker 1: and the ballot box in may may have something to
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  Speaker 1: say about it.