October Legislative Update

Governor Jim Justice issued a proclamation today calling for a special legislative session this coming Monday. The proclamation comes on the heels of Governor Justice’s most significant political achievement to date: passage of the statewide road bond referendum.

Oddly enough, the Governor’s proclamation only includes two bills, neither relating to roads. One bill concerns exempting military pension pay from state taxation while another concerns expanding tax credits for rehabilitating historic buildings.

Governor Justice’s office is working on legislation to streamline the hiring process to make it easier to hire workers for the Department of Highways (“DOH”) and/or Department of Transportation (“DOT”). It remains to be seen whether this legislation will be ready by next week. Governor Justice has broad authority to amend his proclamation to include DOH/DOT hiring legislation should same be ready by next week’s special session.