House passes Recharge West Virginia Act, delegate questions how much it will cost
By Autumn Shelton, RealWV
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A bill intended to help West Virginia workers receive more on the job training and higher pay passed the House of Delegates on Wednesday, but some legislators expressed concern that the bill still needs work.
House Bill 4004, the “Recharge West Virginia Act,” would give “qualifying” employers a monetary reimbursement “to pay for upskill training of an eligible employee,” according to Del. Clay Riley, R-Harrison.
“An eligible employee is someone who is currently employed by the qualifying employer, who has resided and has been employed full-time for the previous six months, and has a qualifying wage that as a new wage is paid will increase at least 25% greater than the employee’s current average wage,” Riley explained.
The Recharge West Virginia Act would be administered by the Division of Economic Development, Riley continued, noting that the program is competitive and “will be evaluated based upon the wage increase of the employee, the level of economic distress in the region, and the amount of the employer paid contribution, the employer’s history with the work program.”
According to the engrossed version of the bill, “In any fiscal year in which the Legislature appropriates money for the program, the division may, in accordance with the provisions of this article, reimburse a qualifying employer for the costs of providing upskilling training to an eligible employee who obtains an upskill credential and receives a qualifying wage increase: Provided, That a qualifying employer may not be reimbursed more than $10,000 for training provided to any individual employee: Provided, however, That no qualifying employer may receive more than $50,000 in any fiscal year pursuant to the provisions of this article.”
The bill does not identify how much money the Legislature will appropriate for the program, or when, or how much it will cost to administer, which led Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, to question the bill’s completeness.
“Where’s that money going to come from,” Young asked. “It doesn’t look like we’re setting up a fund. Do we need to set up a fund? Or where’s the, if we so choose to appropriate money, where’s that money going to go?”
Riley responded that funds could be set up through either statute or through the budget.
“My intention is that this legislature and this body sees fit to pass [the bill], then I would request that the finance chair appropriates the money,” Riley said.
Young then questioned how much the program was going to cost to administer, as a fiscal note from the Division of Economic Development had not been submitted.
Although Riley explained that Workforce WV had submitted a $0 fiscal note, he did ask for additional information as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.
“I think this is a great idea,” Young replied. “I think anything we can do to help with upskilling our employees is fantastic. I really think this is going to help with manufacturing. I would just think with something that is a landmark piece of legislation, as I’ve seen it and others described, that we would put a little more thought into it and have a little more of these questions answered. I wish we had a fiscal note. I wish we knew how much this was going to cost, but I’m happy to be supporting it because I want to help our workers.”
Del. Henry C. Dillon, R-Wayne, expressed worry about the open-ended nature of the bill, and questioned West Virginia’s “significant budget concerns.”
Riley responded,” I think that’s one of the reasons that we put it subject to appropriations so that this body has the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and what kind of employment actually gets increased, what kind of wage is it getting increased, what goes through the program so that we can evaluate whether we want to continue to contribute money to it in the future.”
Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell, said small business owners in his district have expressed their excitement over the bill.
“Right now, in a small business, it’s tough to afford $10,000 for welding training, $5,000 for CNC machining programming, and the other problem is that they can’t hire skilled workers – they’re not there,” Worrell said. “We’re trying. We’re working on that. We’re passing legislation to improve the skilled and drug-free workforce in this state. This is one of those bills, by the way.”
Worrell said that small businesses can, however, hire general laborers, upskill them and increase their wages.
“I see this as a huge win, win,” Worrell said.
The bill passed the House with 86 yes votes and seven no votes, and a motion was adopted making the bill effective upon passage.
The bill is now headed to the Senate for further consideration.
