subscriber servicessubscribecontact usabout ussite mapBuy a Classified
Tue, Feb 09 2010 

Published: November 21, 2009 04:23 am    print this story  

Tweaks to the gas tax, state energy policy among final bills to pass

By Lawrence Messina
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON West Virginia’s Legislature ended its special session Friday with tweaks to the gas tax and state energy policy among the final bills to pass.

Party-line debates and votes marked the House’s approval of both those measures. The Senate ended its work with unanimous passage of the energy-related bill, and of a funding measure that earmarks $27 million for the state’s secondary roads.

Lawmakers approved all but one of Gov. Joe Manchin’s 11 proposals during the four-day session. The House and Senate also endorsed one resolution honoring U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., as history’s longest-serving member of Congress, and another defending the state’s coal industry.

The coal measure reflects anxiety over increased federal scrutiny of mining practices, and the Capitol Hill debate over climate change legislation. The House’s minority Republicans invoked such concerns in opposing Manchin’s energy policy proposal, which passed 59-28.

The governor has set a 2025 goal of relying on alternative and renewable sources for 25 percent of the energy sold by West Virginia’s producers. The policy counts several forms of “clean coal” technology as alternative sources. The bill approved Friday aims to encourage high efficiency coal-burning power plant boilers, capping the credits for less-efficient types.

“The bill allows coal to be used more efficiently to meet our energy needs and is a step forward for energy independence and for our natural resources industries,” Manchin spokesman Matt Turner said Friday.

Manchin’s fuel tax bill, passed 64-23, limits the annual changes to that levy that are based on average wholesale prices. Raising the tax’s price floor from 97 cents per gallon to $2.34, the measure also sets a 10-percent range for any changes after 2010.

Republicans argued the bill would prevent the tax from dropping 1.7 cents per gallon Jan. 1, as currently projected. They also targeted the bill’s provision making permanent a nickel-a-gallon component of the tax. Adopted as a temporary measure in 1993, it has since been repeatedly extended and would otherwise expire in 2013.

West Virginia’s fuel taxes total 32.2 cents per gallon, ranking it 13th nationwide in figures compiled last month by the American Petroleum institute. Among its five neighbors, only Pennsylvania’s are higher.

Manchin and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature argued that Friday’s proposal makes more predictable this chief revenue source of the chronically strapped State Road Fund. West Virginia’s government maintains 92 percent of the roads found within the state’s borders, and is by that measure the sixth largest road system nationwide. The average for other states is 19 percent.

Other states holding autumn special sessions are largely wrestling with recession-blasted budgets. The key item on Manchin’s agenda, passed Thursday, helps municipal police and fire pension plans deal with massive funding shortfalls.

The governor’s other successful items include one allowing counties to sell up to $225 million in stimulus-related development bonds. A pair of funding measures distribute $28 million, with more than half that benefiting state Medicaid programs.

The sole failed bill offered a temporary reprieve from the way the state’s public employers account for the cost of retiree health coverage. County school boards in particular are struggling with the reporting rules for these “other post-employment benefits.”

print this story  



autoconx
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Premium Jobs

Drivers
DRIVERS
Why Not Work For a
Growing Company
That Cares About You?
You’re more than a number with Eagl
...>MORE

Sales Consultant
Sales Consultant
$40,000 - $70,000
potential!
Premier Buick GMC
currently has a tremendous opportuni
...>MORE

NCWVCAA- Marion County - off2/6
NCWVCAA Head Start Children Services Supervisor - Marion County - Bachelor Degree from accrediated collegeuniversity in ...>MORE

Auction Block Clerks
Part-time, Mondays Only, Auction Block Clerks needed at Mountain State Auto Auction
(Exit 125 off I-79). Stop at t
...>MORE

MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST/EDITOR
MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST/EDITOR
UNITED HOSPITAL CENTER
United Hospital Center has an immediate full time and p
...>MORE

Mountain State Auto Auction
Maintenance position open at Mountain State Auto Auction. Job includes building upkeep, modifications and repairs. Appli...>MORE

Manager Position
Manager Position available immediately in Fairmont area. Salary,plus bonuses, Holiday,and paid vacation. Apply in perso...>MORE

different positions
The Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission (MCPARC) is now accepting Applications for the 2010 summer season for ...>MORE

LPN's & CNA's
Choice Staffing Agency
now hiring
LPN's and CNA's
for the Fairmont area.
Please call Jody 304-993
...>MORE

Cashier
Full time Cashier needed. Must be available any shift. Apply at
K&T Truck Stop, Speedway
Extension, Fairmont
...>MORE

See all ads


 

Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.CNHI Classified Advertising NetworkCNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2009. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope and our Internet Yellow Pages site is powered by PremierGuide.
Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
View our Privacy Policy
Advertiser index