2019 West Virginia State of the State Address

201

1/9/2019

To view a video of the address, visit this link​.


presented by
GOVERNOR JIM JUSTICE


WEDNESDAY
JANUARY 9, 2019


WEST VIRGINIA STATE CAPITOL

              


       SPEAKER HANSHAW:  Ladies and gentlemen, His 


Excellency, the Governor of the State of West Virginia, 


the Honorable James C. Justice.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Sit, sit, listen.  Let’s get 


at this.  Thank you, sir.  Well, when I was getting 


wired up out there just a second ago, there was a scene 


on the practical jokers where we have a ball of wires 


and they’re in a ball and they’re trying to get 


somebody to untangle it, and Marshal and I were 


fighting with that just a few minutes ago, boy.


       But nevertheless, it’s great to be here, it’s 


holy ground, sacred ground, and I know just how serious 


and how big of an impact we have on so, so many.


       So let me tell you this:  I’m fortunate to 


report that since the first time I was here, I weigh 


about the same amount.  Now, that’s not good news.  But 


I hope tonight I’ll have a lot of good news for you.


       You know, I know how hard you work.  I know how 


hard it is to serve.  I know how much you have to 


sacrifice from your families and your businesses.  And 




mine the same.  And so I’ve got Cathy, our First Lady, 


over here, Jill, my daughter, that has a beautiful, 


beautifulest grand — son, and our only grandson, J. C.


       And her husband Adam’s not with us right now, 


because he’s looking after J. C. as he’s bouncing off 


the wall everywhere.  And my son Jay.  And it —


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  And his wife Catherine’s not 


able to be with us tonight.  And right beside Jay is my 


older son Bray.  So — and believe you me, he’s a whole 


lot more to handle than all the rest of them.


       But tonight, they’ve made a little more room for 


me, and they’ve given me the opportunity to sit on my 


stool.  Now, I do that lots of places, and I do that 


because my knees are in really bad shape.  Of course, 


you know that.  And I’ve had 10,000 surgeries — and 


I’m exaggerating to make my point, but — and I’ve 


still got to have some more.  I was just too slow in 


sports to get out of the way, and so I got hit a lot.  


And —


       But tonight, I’m proud to be sitting and talking 


to you and not at a podium maybe lecturing to you.  And 


the same is true for all those that are out there 


watching us on TV right now.




       To me, I need to be talking to them as if I were 


in their living room, or if I were sitting on a log 


with them in the middle of the woods grouse hunting.


       You know, that’s what I think the people really, 


really connect with and really get.  Now, I know that 


it would be impossible for any of us to disagree that 


the first time you ever saw me, the first time I walked 


in the door, things were pretty doggone tough.  


       The first set of books they handed me — you 


know this, and you know I’m not exaggerating in any 


shape, form or fashion.  But our state was bankrupt.  


There’s no way around it.  I mean, when you look at the 


current year you’re in with the $217,000,000 deficit 


that you’re going to have that year, six months have 


already elapsed before I walked in the door, and we’re 


saying, we’re going to be $217,000,000 short that year.  


And the next year, it’s gonna be $497,000,000, and the 


next year, 600 and some.  And in the last year, 


$772,000,000.


       Now, that’s not how bad it’s going to be; that’s 


cumulative how bad it’s going to be.  So yeah, add them 


all up.  And before you know it, you get to a number 


that is so astronomical, it’s not even comprehendible.


       Now, anybody would say — anybody would say, 




"Well, what are we going to do?  What are we going to 


do?  How much money do we got in the bank?"  And 


immediately turn to the Rainy Day.  


       And we say, "Well, we can’t take any more money 


out of Rainy Day, because if we take more money out of 


Rainy Day, the bonds are already going to be de-rated, 


and they were.  So what are you going to do?  What are 


you going to do?  


       And I prayed a lot.  A lot.  And I truly give 


the good Lord the credit for all the good ideas, and 


I’ll take the credit for the bad ones.  And I’ve had 


plenty of credit for the bad ones.  And I said, 


somehow, some way overcome them and work.


       But at the end of the day, after we went through 


everything there was to go through, 23 months later, 


we’re here today, 23 months.  Seems like an eternity, 


but it just seems like it just happened yesterday.


       There’s been lots and lots and lots of hard 


work.  You’ve done a lot of great work, you really 


have.  And I could never thank you enough for it.  I 


could never thank you enough for the State, for the 


people of West Virginia.  I do feel like I came up with 


a dadgum good bunch of ideas, but at the same time, I 


thank you for your work.




       This is not a king or a dictatorship.  This is 


not one.  This is a body of people that are all in this 


together, working for one cause, in my book, and that 


is for the people of this state.


       Now, I’m very proud tonight to say just — when 


I got here, we had multiple, multiple years – four or 


five years – of cut budgets.  Didn’t have anywhere to 


go.  Had to cut.  Had to cut to balance the budget.


       Well, we haven’t had any cut budgets recently, 


and we’re not going to have one today either.  Today, 


we have things that are so good, so pluses.  No new 


taxes.  Did you hear that?  No new taxes.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  In fact, we’re going to 


embark on significant tax cuts.  Now, I know there is 


those out in the never-never land that are wondering, 


well, how?  How can it be?  How can you possibly, 


possibly embark on all of these things that have been 


introduced or that are floating around out there?


       I’m going to tell you tonight.  And I’m going to 


tell you, at the end of the day, you’re going to see a 


budget that is increased less than the rate of 


inflation, a budget that is increasing significantly 


less than the — than the economic growth of our state, 




and it’s going to be able to do all the things that 


I’ve told you that we could do.


       I challenge you over and over to watch the 


numbers.  We all know on day one that — red, red, red, 


red.  Today, we have an all-time record.  Now, I’m 


telling you, this bothers me.  But when you’re able to 


announce to the world – whether it be in the media or 


social media or all of our friends or whomever it may 


be, but you’re able to announce – that the biggest in 


the State’s history — now, that’s pretty damn big to 


me.


       I mean, that’s all there is to it.  The biggest 


in the State’s history.  The biggest in the State’s 


history.  For six months, a surplus bigger than we’ve 


ever had before.  And the largest revenue that we’ve 


ever had before in the first six months of collection.


       And I tease about Bray all the time.  But I’d 


say if you go back to whenever in West Virginia, even 


Bray wasn’t here then.  Now, it’s possible, but I’m not 


sure — we probably should get a birth certificate.  


But nevertheless, it is really an accomplishment.


       No one guy can do this.  There’s no way.  


Tonight, I would — I would have said before, make 


education our centerpiece.  You see, I’ve really been a 




believer that education is the hot spot that really can 


change our image.  


       You know, so many on the outside — you and I 


know how good it is here in West Virginia, and we know 


how great our people are here.  We know how good our 


schools are, and we know how low crime we have and all 


the goodness that we have and the beauty beyond belief.


       But the outside world doesn’t know it.  The 


outside world, in all honesty, thinks that we’re — or 


maybe thought is the right word, that we’re backward, 


or that we’re absolutely naive.  I’ve said it over and 


over, we had to kill a deer every day in school to feed 


the kids.


       But that’s not the way it is.  That’s not West 


Virginia.  So I said, let’s make education our 


centerpiece.  It in itself, that stake we put in the 


sand right there, that very stake, has changed a lot of 


our image.


       Now, we decided to make education our 


centerpiece.  I am telling you, in my world, at least, 


we have made education our centerpiece.


       Now, we have decided to invest.  We got rid of A 


through F.  We absolutely got rid of so much of the 


ridiculous testing, and we put control back in the 




local hands as much as we can.


       We absolutely gave a 5 percent teacher’s pay 


raise, and we ended up giving a 5 percent 


across-the-board pay raise to all State employees.  We 


did change our image.  We’ve still got a long ways to 


go, but we did change it.


       Very proudly tonight, very proudly tonight, I am 


saying that within my budget, I have included a 5 


percent pay raise for all State employees.


       In regard to PEIA, PEIA, I promised that we 


would put $50,000,000 in PEIA one year, $50,000,000 the 


next year, $100,000,000 total.  That was the beginning 


of the talks.


       Then we decided, well, we’ve got enough surplus 


dollars, we could put $100,000,000 into PEIA right now.  


Now, it’s not a —


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  I’m — I’m really only 


getting started.  And that’s the good part.  The other 


thing is just this:  Through — $100,000,000 in PEIA is 


not going to solve PEIA forevermore.  But today, PEIA 


does not need any true-up moneys.  Putting $100,000,000 


into PEIA is a giant first step.  And we can do that, 


and that is exactly what we’re going to do.




       But in addition — in addition, just think about 


this:  Dave Hardy, our Secretary of Revenue and his 


great disciples, they have found a way that really and 


truly, we can dedicate not 100 percent of that as 


required, but only $105,000,000 will earn us 


$150,000,000 that we can dedicate to PEIA today.  


       So that’s not what we’re going to do.  We’re not 


going to do $100,000,000; we’re going to do 


$150,000,000.  And you know what we’re going to do?  


We’re not going to take one dime of that from the 


budgets, the upcoming budgets.


       Now — I’ll talk about that again in just a 


second.  But — am I messing up here somewhere?  My PBS 


mic’s not on.  Well, that’s good.  Let’s just take time 


to fix it.


       I’m not in charge of the electronics now.  This 


isn’t a shock collar, is it?  While we’re doing that, 


I’m going to untangle wires.  No, I’m not either.  I 


can’t — I can’t pull it off.


       Okay, are we good?  All right, we’ll try again.  


I’m going to start from the beginning.


       No, I better not do that, huh?  Of course, you 


know my commitment to education.  I love kids.  I love 


— I love what they bring to us every day.  I have a 




great fortune to be with kids in the wintertime, a 


whole lot.  And I just — I think you can learn so 


much, and they’re — it’s easy to say that they’re a 


hope, but they are.  And they’re naive, and they learn 


so much, and we owe them everything.


       You know, tonight, we have with us a teacher, 


Jada Reeves.  She teaches at Brandley Elementary 


School.  Bradley Elementary School — my son Jay and 


Jill know Bradley Elementary School really, really 


well, because Mo Ball who’s sitting here in the 


grandstand with us somewhere, Mo Ball took them — Mo 


Ball was a custodian at Bradley Elementary forever, and 


he was a basketball coach at the school and did great 


stuff with — with lots and lots and lots of kids, is 


my best buddy on the planet. 


       Now — so Jay and Jill went there many, many, 


many times working and honing their basketball skills 


with Mo.  But Jada Reeves, a fifth grade teacher from 


Bradley Elementary School, would please stand up, and 


we want — let’s recognize her as our Teacher of the 


Year.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Everybody started clapping 


before I could tell them that you were our Teacher of 




the Year.  Congratulations.  They must love you, and so 


do I.  Thank you.


       Another individual I’d like to introduce real 


quickly is Dan Anderson.  Dan Anderson leads our 


charges at Appalachian Bible School, and what he’s done 


at Mount Olive, he needs a great big round of applause.  


So wherever Dan is — is he here with us tonight?  


Please stand, Dan.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Tonight, I’m putting a 


challenge out to our State Department of Ed.  We have 


to improve our math scores.  In 2020 — right now, 


we’ve got to get it done very quickly.  Right today, 


we’ve got to go to work, and we’ve got to improve our 


math scores.  We’ve got to do something about 


absenteeism, and we’ve got to make West Virginia the 


first state —


       You know, I love to say "first," I love to say 


"first."  


       — the first state to offer computer science 


class in every high school within our state.


       The other thing is, I want them to always be 


revisiting our state aid formula just to look — just 


to look at ways or possibilities to always make it 




better.


       I want to urge you to pass into law the ability 


to raise our math, our science, our foreign language or 


our special ed teacher salaries in order to be able to 


be competitive and to attract those people here.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  I want you to allow our 


teachers to be able to bank their leave days.  We got 


away from doing that, but I absolutely believe that it 


will be beneficial to us, it will surely help in our 


absenteeism, and it will be beneficial to our teachers.  


So —


       (APPLAUSE)


              GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  I also want our 


Promise scholarship to be covered for vocational 


education.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Now, there’s a special 


project in West Virginia that’s been amazingly special.  


You know, my wife Cathy, she’s — she’s not involved 


like a scatter gun in every project known to man, but 


nobody is kinder, nobody is more directed, nobody is 


more sincere to communities and schools than Cathy.


       My salary — if I didn’t do this, she’d kill me.  




But my salary is all dedicated, 100 percent, to 


Communities in Schools.  Now, Community —


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Communities in Schools, I 


think in West Virginia, really started in Greenbrier 


County.


       Now, there was a lady that brought it there — I 


think it was Emily Haas if I’m — is that correct, 


Cathy?  And really brought it when Bobby Haas was with 


the Dallas Cowboys and they moved back — or to 


Greenbrier County.  It is incredibly successful.  It is 


unbelievably successful.


       Tonight, you’re going to hear a lot of just 


this:  We have got to refocus ourselves on our youth 


and some way steer them away from this horrible drug 


epidemic and help them become a work force that we’ve 


got to have in West Virginia.


       Now, the site coordinators working with kids in 


Communities in Schools do an unbelievable amount of 


work in a lot — and they touch kids when they’re 


having troubles, they’re having all kinds of issues.  A 


lot of us maybe here don’t realize just what they do 


and just how good they truly are.


       In Greenbrier County, I think they have 100 




percent graduation rate.  And today, we’re only in 


about three or four counties within West Virginia, and 


we’ve expanded that since we’ve been here and since 


Cathy’s gone to work on that.


       Tonight, I am calling for $5,000,000 within my 


budget to expand Communities in Schools statewide.  And 


I’ve got a special presentation, because tonight — and 


I — and forgive me if I mispronounce, but if this 


gentleman could stand:  Dale Erquiaga.  Is that close?  


       Is Dale with us tonight?  Up here?  If Dale will 


stand, Dale is the guru of Communities in Schools.


       And please give him a good round of applause.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Now, also I’ve got one other 


smaller friend that from time to time — you know, he 


and I kind of bingo off of one another and we enjoy 


each other’s company a little bit, he’s a good guy, 


he’s real involved in Communities in Schools, and I 


think we’re going to show — wherever it may be — over 


here, we’re going to show a little video.


              (Video playing:)


              SHAQUILLE O’NEAL:  Communities in Schools 


is an incredible program doing great work, and I’m glad 


to hear the sincerity and commitment to Communities in 




Schools.  You know, it’s very encouraging when an 


entire state gets behind a program like this, because 


it’s all about helping one another.  


              Thank you very much.  Governor Jim, you 


know I love you.  (Kisses)


              (Video ended.)


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Shaq is really involved with 


Communities in Schools and does tremendous work, and 


he’s a great friend, and don’t be paying any attention 


to his kisses and love bit.  But what a great, great, 


great person.


       If I could jump from this to Commerce.  The 


Department of Commerce today, we have new leadership.  


We have Ed Gaunch.  Ed —


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  If I could say this about Ed, 


he brings — he brings friendship; he brings respect, 


from you.  He brings knowledge.  He brings a lifetime 


of business wealth and experience to the table, and 


he’s going to really help us.


       I say this real quick:  Don’t think for a second 


that the China issue is off the table or the natural 


gas hub is gone.  Today, like it or not like it, but 




we’re still having a little bit of head-butting going 


on with the U.S. and China, and until the dust settles, 


you know, between our Presidents and everything, we’re 


probably going to have a little head-butting going on, 


but they’re still in touch all the time.


       There’s absolutely so much interest in West 


Virginia.  We have so many possibilities for 


manufacturing and natural gas hub and expansion of our 


coal industry and on and on and on, tourism through the 


roof, and so many different things, that we need a 


great man like Ed – and we’ve got him – and I’m really 


proud to have him.


       Tonight I’d like to introduce one other person, 


Phil Dickinson.  Now, Phil is here representing the 


British ambassador, and the British ambassador came 


just not long ago, and he’s got all kinds of ideas and 


possibilities and things that they could bring to us 


right here from Europe, from England, and do great, 


great stuff as well.  


       So wherever Phil is, if Phil would stand.  Good 


to have you, Phil.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Okay, if I could jump from 


there to tourism.  And tourism is another wonderfully 




bright spot in West Virginia.  Wherever Chelsea Ruby 


is, I’d like her to stand.  Is she — where’s Chelsea?  


Chelsea, great job.  Great, great job.  Unbelievable 


job.


       I mean, think about this —


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  I think that we could clearly 


say that in 2017, we had unbelievable growth.  We 


greatly surpassed the natural growth.  In 2018, it 


looks even stronger and stronger.  Our hotel occupancy 


is up 11 percent.  You know, our increased prices in 


revenue in our hotels is up 13.4 percent, and I will be 


asking you for another $14,000,000, because every 


dollar we put in tourism comes flooding back to us.  


It’s a multiplier effect.


       It’s just absolutely a cash register.  We put 


the money in, it comes flying right back at us.  We 


seeing this every month in our surpluses.  This is the 


state that ought to be the number one state in the 


nation as far as tourism, and that young lady is doing 


one whale of a job.  Thank you, again, Chelsea.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Now I’ve got to report real 


quickly about our state parks.  We sold $60,000,000 of 




excess lottery bonds to upgrade our state parks.  We 


have absolutely been doing that.  That’s all underway 


right now.  


       You know, we’re getting a tremendous response 


with our state parks, and there’s just lots and lots of 


good going on there.  


       As far as our DNR efforts we’ve made, you know, 


we have reestablished an Elk herd in West Virginia; 


we’re extending deer seasons.  We’re doing so many 


things with our trout and our streams, and we’re 


exposing this state in so many ways, it’s unbelievable.


       But now, let me just tell you one other thing 


that can be done.  Now, a lot of people look at me like 


a three-headed monster when I told you things and you 


thought, no way, no way, coal severance tax aren’t 


going to come back, this or that or whatever it may be.


       But I am telling you today, Austin Caperton, who 


is a leader beyond belief, is not with us today right 


now because he has been under the weather and he’s had 


some surgery, and Austin will be back soon.  We miss 


him.


       You talk about a super star.  Now, he is a 


flat-out super star.  But here’s what I am going to ask 


Austin to do tomorrow, and that is just this:  It’s 




something that we need so badly within West Virginia, 


it’s unbelievable.


       We need to develop multiple lakes within West 


Virginia, multiple lakes that can give us hydroelectric 


power — which maybe we don’t need, but at the same 


time, they can give us flood control.


       We need the ability to develop those lakes.  Do 


you know if you step back and think about it, four of 


the most beautiful seasons in the world, the most 


incredible people on the planet, the most unbelievable 


natural resources, and we’re located within 600 miles 


of two-thirds of the people in the country.  The only 


thing we don’t have is an ocean. 


       Now, I am telling you, our state needs more 


developable lakes.  It is a project that you may think 


is a pipe dream, but I am telling you, without any 


doubt, there is an infrastructure program about to be 


announced by our President, and we need to be at the 


line waiting.  Austin Caperton will lead the charge for 


us.


       Now, if I could switch to that — from there to 


roads.  Our Roads to Prosperity program, no one can 


deny, it’s absolutely been a knock-it-out-of- the-park, 


home run, grand slam, grand slam.  It’s created all 




kinds of new jobs.  Absolutely, it’s working.  It’s 


working in every way.


       We salute all the great people that made the 


licks and made it all work and made it all happen. 


       Before I get into the last component of this, 


I’ll say to the people out there in the world, the 


tolls on the turnpike are going to change to $4.00 in a 


couple of days, and we have pleaded with you, pleaded 


with you, to buy your E-Z passes that are going to cost 


you almost next to nothing.


       Now, the idea that Mountaineers — now, others 


out of state can go too, but Mountaineers should go 


free.  And that’s as close to free as we will ever be 


able to get.  You’ve got to go buy your E-Z Pass.  We 


cannot make the horse drink, but we can take it to 


water, and we’ve taken you to water, so you have to go 


apply and buy your E-Z Pass.


       Now, we’ve got a terrible backlog with the E-Z 


Pass situation, and we almost caused the dog mess of 


all times.  We could have been out there at the toll 


booths, you know, on January 1st writing people notes 


and saying, "Well, you can go," "You can’t go."  


       Before you know it, we’d have had traffic backed 


up to Pittsburgh.  We figured it out and we got caught 




up, and we’ve had umpteen, umpteen people that put in 


all kinds of licks to get caught up.


       You know, my office, Parkways, everybody in the 


world, and we are caught up.  So please, if you have 


not applied, apply.


       Now, back to our roads just a second.  We’ve 


done — I don’t know how many, but it’s hundreds of 


projects already.  Here’s the very thing, though, that 


we need to do:  We’ve got to shift a little bit of the 


focus — and we have had extensive discussions with the 


bond holders and everything else, that we can do this.  


       We’ve got to pull some of the money out of the 


bigger projects and move some of the money — or 


significantly more money.  Not more than all the big 


projects, but a little bit of additional moneys over to 


fix more of our secondary roads.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  I’m glad to see you all get 


up.  I thought you were going to sleep.  Okay.  If I 


could have General Hoyer stand, if where — where is 


General Hoyer.


       (APPLAUSE)


              GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Okay, we’re going to 


all stand again for this man.  General, all I can say, 




for all of us and all of us as West Virginians, all of 


those as Americans, you talk about us having a super 


star in our midst, we all thank you.  We all applaud 


you.


       You know, I think of so many things, whether it 


be RISE or whether it be just the — just the fact that 


he’s ready at any moment to lay his life down for all 


of us, absolutely this man and what he’s done is 


unbelievable.


       You think about — the Guard has brought in 300 


jobs in the last year future — or near past, and it’s 


created an economic impact on the State of West 


Virginia of $361,000,000.


       A lot of times, that goes unnoticed.  But in 


addition to all that, think about the Mountaineer 


Challenge Academy.  Think about young men and women 


that are just absolutely lost, lost.  Last year, 


they’re going to have above a 90 percent graduation 


rate.  And those people are on their way.


       You know, so General, again, we all thank you in 


every way possible.


       If I could speak of the RISE program just real 


quickly.  We got a little bit diverted.  And the reason 


we got diverted is one thing.  And I’ll talk a little 




bit about this in just a second.  But you see, I came 


here, and I have never wanted a dime.  Not a dime.  I 


drive myself, put my own gas in.  I don’t want a dime.


       Absolutely now, it’s tough to step up like that.  


Some people can’t.  But at the same time, when we get 


off track and it seems to me like that government is 


throwing away money or people are taking advantage or 


there’s improprieties that look absolutely wrong, I’m 


going to be tough to deal with.  That’s all there is to 


it.


        And we got going in a direction that we would 


have thrown away millions and millions and millions of 


dollars.  We had to stop for a minute or two.  And the 


General came to the rescue and stepped in.


       And tonight we have John and Grace Harris with 


us, and they are the first — first stick-built home 


occupiers that we have now finished their home, and if 


they would stand, I’d love for you to give them an 


incredible round of applause.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  There’s lots more to do.  And 


the General’s all over it, and there’s lots and lots 


and lots more to do.  There’s dollars — there’s 


significant dollars out there that are at our 




fingertips, and we may be — we may not be — we may 


not have to have all the dollars for the flood victims, 


and we may be able to redirect some of the dollars and 


the economic recovery or redirect some of the dollars 


into something that I feel is a real pet peeve, and 


that is just this:  


       You have a Senator in your midst tonight, a good 


man, that has been after this project for a long time, 


and that is some way tearing down these abandoned homes 


and abandoned buildings that scatter all over our state 


and clutter us in every way.  And so we’re going to try 


to redirect some of those dollars and do just exactly 


that.


       Now, let me jump to the veterans.  Our veterans, 


we owe all to.  We all know that.  We are able to 


exempt their retirement.  Good stuff.  There’s a few 


other things that we’re able to do right now that 


you’ll see in the budget, good stuff.


       But I can tell you just this:  For any of us 


here that think that we don’t owe every single thing 


that we have to our vets, we’re just plain wrong.


       Dennis is here tonight.  If Dennis would stand, 


let’s give him a big round of applause.


       (APPLAUSE)




       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Okay, so we’ve done a bunch 


of stuff.  You see my hand?  My hand’s got four fingers 


and a thumb.  And sometimes your thumb can get in a lot 


of ways, get caught in a door or whatever it may be.  


But these fingers, if they were to represent our 


economy, education, our veterans and our roads, we’ve 


done pretty good on those four fingers.


       But every time we jam our hand in a glove, we 


hook our thumb, and it just won’t go just right.  We 


keep just messing up and messing up and messing up.


       What’s the last component?  Now, there’s lots 


and lots and lots of stuff still to do.  But what’s the 


last component?  We’ve got to fix the drug problem.  We 


have to fix the drug problem.  We have to be committed 


enough to fix something that is absolutely 


cannibalizing us.


       Now, in Cabell County, we just had information 


that we reduced our overdoses by 40 percent.  Marshall 


University, we started a Governor’s Council on 


Substance Abuse Prevention.  We have done lots of 


stuff, and we’re making headway.  


       The very number one thing you had to have to get 


the drug problem halfway under control is jobs.  But 


you know what?  We’re losing the battle.  We’re losing.




       Now, if you don’t know that we’re losing, get 


out there in the field and look and talk to people.  


We’re losing.  So I’m going to ask you tonight to trust 


me.  I’m going to propose a program to you right now, 


and I’m going to ask for your trust.


        You see, I would say to you just this:  What 


would you do — what would you do if you were in a 


baseball game or a softball game — what would you do 


if the count was 3-2?  What would you do if the bases 


were loaded?  The other team was at bat and your team 


was one run ahead.  The bases are loaded.  The other 


team’s at bat.  There’s two outs.  The count’s 3-2.


       You’re on second base.  You’re in right field.  


You’re standing there pounding your glove, and you’re 


saying — as the pitch is on the way, are you saying, 


"Please, Lord, don’t let them hit me the because I’ll 


muck it up."  


       Or are you hitting your glove and saying, 


"Please, Lord, have them hit me the ball.  I’ll make 


the play.  I’ll make the play.  I want the ball."


       Well, you see, right now, I’m going to ask you 


for the ball.  Now, I’m going to call this "Jim’s 


Dream," because I want it to be just that.  I want it 


to be a dream that we can take our people off this 




terrible trail of terrible — terrible drug trail, and 


we can put them in a job, and we can give them real 


live hope.


       I’m going to tell you it’s going to take some 


money to do this.  Not all the money in the world.  But 


let me just tell you — and there’s so many — there’s 


going to be so many opinions of what it — how we ought 


to do this.  This is the most important thing that I’ll 


talk to you about tonight.


       You know, there’s going to be opinions, "Well, 


we can do it at the community college," "We can do it 


at the four-year schools," "We can do it through the 


vo-tech," "We can do it through education," we can do 


it through this, we can do it through that.  


       But I’m going to tell us just this:  Just give 


me a chance.  Just give me a chance to fix it.  You 


know, I can get it done.  I want the ball.


       So if Rebecca will unveil this.  The "J" is 


going to stand for "jobs."  The "I" is going to be 


"in."  The "M" is going to be "making."  And the little 


apostrophe is upside down, and we twisted it around to 


make a "U."  "Succeed."  


       Now, looks a little funny, doesn’t it?  But it 


looks pretty much like I’d probably write.




       But here’s what I think we need to do:  I think 


our best alternative today is the adult training — or 


the adult learning educations in the education 


department.  The problem is just this — and here’s the 


problem:  Nobody’s really going today.  The reason 


nobody’s really going is not because it’s not a good 


program, it is because – and I don’t know how to speak 


of this any way but folksy, like you’ve heard me speak 


– it’s not the real deal.  


       It’s not real training that they can go get a 


real job.  But what I’m going to ask you for is 


$5,000,000.  $5,000,000 to put into prevention.


       I’m going to ask you for $10,000,000 to put into 


DHHR into treatment.  I’m going to ask you for 


$10,000,000 for staffing and replacement and 


maintenance of equipment at the training centers, at 


the vo-tech centers.


       And then I’m going to ask you that if I — if 


I’m an addict, and I go to treatment and I get better 


and then I go into some level of training and I get a 


certificate, that you will be able — I will be able to 


take that to a court and get immediate expungement of a 


misdemeanor that I have.  Not felonies, but a 


misdemeanor.




       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  I want to tell you one more 


time how it’s going to work.  Through the surpluses 


that we have today, I want to take $20,000,000 out of 


those surpluses, through an appropriation, $20,000,000 


out of their surpluses, and buy all the necessary 


equipment that I’m going to have to have at all of 


these centers to be able to do the level of training 


that I think needs to be done.


       Now, think about it.  You can’t go learn how to 


drive a pickup truck and go to a surface mine job and 


tell them you can drive a 777 rock truck.


       You can’t go to somewhere and learn how to tack 


weld and go to a — you know, to an industrial site and 


say you’re an industrial welder.  These people can’t 


get jobs.  Let’s just tell it like it is.  They can’t 


get jobs.


       And if we lay — if we lay the burden on our 


continue — on our ongoing budget, we lay a burden on 


that we say we need $50,000,000 ongoing to be able to 


perpetuate a program like this, we don’t need that.  We 


don’t need that.


       It’s time to start to be able to have the 


equipment onsite to be able to teach the welding, to 




teach the electrician stuff, to teach the heavy 


equipment operation, to teach and build our work force.


       You know, I heard it 10,000 times.  I don’t know 


how to say it any better.  Companies all over the place 


come in my office and they talk and they talk and they 


talk and then they say, "Well, you don’t have a 


qualified work force here.  I don’t know how in the 


world we can come here."  


       The other thing:  "You’ve got people who can’t 


pass a drug test."  I say, why don’t we train them?  


Why don’t we train people to do something?  Why aren’t 


we training people?  Why don’t we absolutely, some way, 


somehow, let our people that are struggling on drugs 


beyond belief go get treatment and go get treatment for 


free, provided that they’ll come out of treatment and 


go into some level of training and provided they’ll 


take constant drug tests?  Why don’t we absolutely 


train our work force and give those people hope?


       I don’t get it.  Now, we have too many ideas, 


too many ideas.  Let me fail.  Let me fail.  Give me 


the ball.  Just let me fail.  Absolutely, I promise 


you, I’ll run across the finish line, and I won’t fail.


       Our State Police had our first cadet class not 


long ago.  We just started on Monday our second cadet 




class.  They need a few dollars to update the forensic 


lab, and I’ve got that in the budget.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Child welfare is a real 


issue.  Of course, everyone knows my commitment and how 


I feel about kids.  Foster care, we’re really upside 


down, and we’ve got to figure out the foster care 


crisis, and I’m going to challenge all of you all to 


bring me — bring me solutions.  Bring me answers of 


what we can do.


       I want to begin immediately — I want to take 


$10,000,000 directly out of the surplus moneys that we 


have now, and I’ve got $5,000,000 in the budget to 


immediately build back the Anthony Correctional Center.  


We need it built back.  


       As far as medical cannabis, we need to solve the 


riddle, guys.  We’re running out of time.  There’s a 


lot of people out there that are hurting, and they 


could probably very well use medical cannabis.


       I want everyone here to understand —


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  I want everyone here to 


understand this and understand me loud and clear.  I am 


adamantly, adamantly, etched in stone, adamantly 




against recreational marijuana.


       Today — and this is the fun stuff.  Today, I’m 


requesting the elimination of the business inventory 


machinery tax.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Since the first day I came, 


I’m a business guy.  I haven’t changed.  I’ll tell you 


the truth.  I’ll tell you what I think.  I think — and 


I make mistakes.  I’m a business guy.


       I know that wherever we can, we look for — and 


we found waste upon waste upon waste that we’ve been 


able to cut out.  We found ways to streamline 


government, and now today, we can streamline even more.


       We have found 2007 jobs in government today that 


have not been filled in the last year.  They have been 


vacant for a year, and we want to eliminate them all.


       Now, I don’t mean this in any way to sound like 


a tough guy or whatever, but I meant it when I said 


that as far as — I’ve done this job for nothing.  And 


if you’re going to do something for nothing and put 


your heart in it, you’re not going to stand back and 


stand there comfortably with your buddies and your 


friends wasting money and just have everybody on the 


dole and think it’s okay.  It’s not okay.




       And whenever I can find it, I’m going to uncover 


it.  And when I uncover it, I’m going to try to do 


something about it.


       Tonight, we have another special person with us.  


She’s with the AARP.  Her name is Gaylene Miller.  And 


if Gaylene could stand, wherever Gaylene is.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  And Gaylene, don’t sit back 


down, Gaylene.  Stand, if you would, just for one 


second.  Because together, you and I and all this great 


body — I have sent up, and now today — today is the 


time for us to eliminate the tax on Social Security.


       (APPLAUSE)


       (Bell rang.)


              GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Oh.  Was that one of 


your members that was ringing that bell?  Okay.  Let me 


just say this, that what we’re going to do in regard to 


Social Security is two things.  We’re going to give you 


a choice.  If you want the $8,000 deduction, you can 


keep that.  You can’t keep — have them both.  If you 


don’t want that and you want totally exempt on your 


Social Security from State income tax, you’ve got that.  


Your choice.


       It’s time to create an Intermediate Court of 




Appeals in West Virginia.  It’s another step forward to 


instill — to restoring honor and integrity back to the 


court system.


       I’ve just got a couple more, and I’ll go 


quickly.  Not long ago, our mine rescue teams, they 


brought three people out of a mine, and all of us know 


that without any question, they had no business being 


in the mine.  


       All of us know that maybe we just need to 


stiffen our laws even more to make it more of a 


deterrent for them to go.  I’m all for that.  I am 100 


percent for that.


       But I would tell you just this:  They’re our 


brothers and our sisters.  They were in there.  And 


just think, the mine rescuers — I said, "Can you tell 


me — can you tell me they’re not there?  Can you tell 


me that it’s unsafe to go and try again?"  


       And they said, "We can’t tell you that.  But we 


feel like that it’s not — it’s not unsafe, and we 


could go, but we don’t think that they’re alive," or 


"We really don’t think that they’re there."


       But they weren’t willing to quit, and neither 


was I.  And lo and behold, we brought them out of 


there.  Your brothers.  Your sisters.  They shouldn’t 




have been there in the first place.


       But just think:  What if we had not gone back?  


What would have happened to those people?  And if you 


can live with this — I can’t.  We went back and we did 


exactly what my dad always said to do:  "Damn you, 


there’s always something you can do, and you better 


damn well always remember that."


       We went back, and we found them.  If we hadn’t 


have gone back, you know what we would have done?  We 


would have taken a D11 bulldozer and we would have 


pushed dirt against the mine opening so tight that 


there’s no way somebody could get into the mine.  And 


what would have happened to those people?


       They had water; they had air.  They would have 


set there until they starved to death.  Starved to 


death.  That’s what would have happened to them.


       We found them.  They shouldn’t have been there.  


We should make the laws tougher, but we should 


celebrate that West Virginians found them. I couldn’t 


be any more proud.


       (APPLAUSE)


       GOVERNOR JUSTICE:  Now, I’ll end by just telling 


you this:  There’s a guy not long ago, he set in my 


office and he said, "What about this job keeps you up?  




What about this job keeps you up at night?"


       Well, I’ll surprise you when I tell you this:  


What keeps me up is just this:  Too many people out 


there, too many people out there still haven’t heard 


the news.  Too many of our people, no question, are 


still hurting.  But too many of our people believe 


still that they really just should be 50th and stay 


50th.


       By God, you should know your place.  Too many of 


our people need to hear the good things that we’re 


doing.  Too many of our people need to pull the rope 


all together with us.  They want to be — they want to 


feel good.  They want to feel joy in what they do.


       Now, let me tell you just this, and this is all 


there is to it:  I came to you again wanting nothing; I 


came to you just as a man that had incredible 


experience, a man who’s probably made so many mistakes, 


maybe as many mistakes as there is in this room, and 


I’ve learned from them.


       I’ve done all kinds of stuff.  You learn.  I’ve 


got a tremendous amount of wisdom, and absolutely, I 


would challenge every single person here to know that 


all I want to do is help.  All I want to do is try to 


do all the good that can be done for our people, and 




whether I’m here on this planet two more days or with 


you two more years or with you six more years, I would 


say "Use me.  I’m a resource that can be used, and I’m 


a resource that can help."


       Now, I think big.  I think create — with a lot 


of creativity.  Absolutely, look at my track record.  


I’m not going to let you down.  I’m absolutely not 


going to let you down.


       So at the end of the day — I’ve said this over 


and over and over.  I meant it when I came here and 


said everything that I just got through telling you.  I 


meant it when I said over and over and over that all 


I’ve ever really wanted for this state is goodness and 


its people.  That’s all I want.  


       And I meant it when I said to the people, and 


I’ve said to you, that I love you.  And I do.


       So with that, I’d say God bless you, and thank 


you again for having me, and let’s get to work and do 


great work.  Thank you all.


       (APPLAUSE)



















​​

Contact Information


Butch Antolini, Butch.Antolini@wv.gov

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