A Harsh Reality in A Rapidly Aging State
West Virginia is facing a harsh reality. Young people, upon whom economies rely for workforce and purchasing power, are leaving the state in droves. And what incentive have we given them to stay? A dwindling economy that Governor Morrisey purports to support with an inevitably disappointing data center infusion that will further leach the natural resources and beauty of West Virginia? Subpar housing at metropolitan prices? Healthcare shortages and increasing costs? Food deserts and abandoned buildings? A job market of hard labor? Hardly a utopia of incentives, with Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia – all performing higher than WV in the preceding categories – minutes away.
What exactly is our legislature doing to solve these issues? Certainly not passing first time homebuyer credits. Those are reserved for buyers 60+. Draining the PROMISE college scholarship funding by subsidizing private schools through the K-12 HOPE scholarship program. Reducing higher education appropriations, despite our state having the lowest college degree attainment level in the country. Understaffing our Department of Human Services (DoHS) and putting foster care youth at risk. Morrissey is hellbent on cutting income taxes, but if your income is 25% below the national average to start with, what is keeping you here?
For a year now, we have heard about the POWER Initiative Morrissey platforms as a data-center reliant economic boon. However, data centers do not need staffing. They need security. The jobs created by this initiative are largely short-term construction jobs. So why is Morrissey corralling institutions of higher education like WVU, Marshall, and local Shepherd University and Blue Ridge Community and Technical College into some type of collaborative to develop a workforce for data centers and manufacturing that will never pan out? Where are the industry partnerships? Where are the factories and financial commitments? It seems that Morrissey and his cronies are building an economic Bridge to Nowhere.
Mismanagement of funds and poor policy is practically a state motto at this point. The WV BUILD program was funded to incentivize developers with tax credits to erect multifamily housing. In Putnam County, new apartments are priced at twice the local market rent average at over $1.6k per unit. How did no one think to include a pricing cap in the authorizing legislation? Now, units sit empty, or are costing residents more than half of their monthly income.
If we want young people to stay in our state – or even move here of their own free will! – we need to develop sustainable, appealing job opportunities supported by reliable infrastructure. Morrissey’s administration hugely fumbled federal BEAD funding, meant to fund broadband infrastructure, leaving over 40k households with subpar connections and using only half of the funds available. Not to mention, he falsely credits the Trump administration for the funding, though it was awarded under a Biden budget. For remote workers and small businesses, strong connectivity is essential to effective operations. Without these investments – and with malfeasance from the governor’s office – we will continue to experience brain drain.
So what can we do? There are solutions. Just look at the incredible work at Coalfield Development, a 501(c)(3) delivering job training, renovation of abandoned land, and regenerative agriculture research. The legislature should limit HOPE scholarships to public schools students and fund these appropriately, while increasing educator pay to retain talented and dedicated staff. “Promise” scholarships for WV institutions of higher education should be widely distributed, and high schoolers should be educated on their availability by dedicated staff. Additionally, DoHS should be fully funded with reserves for additional social workers and staff who travel the state connecting foster care youth with the resources available to them, like scholarships and stipends, to keep them off of the streets and set them up for success in our state.
Pass a first time home buyer credit for young people. Give them (us!) incentives to stay in the state for the long haul. Make West Virginia a great place to raise a family. Young people leave, in part, because they can’t imagine settling down and having families here. And with healthcare shortages, closing schools, and dwindling childcare programs, I can’t blame them. Rescind the enrollment funding model, which penalizes smaller centers with lower enrollment, so remote areas can maintain their existing childcare. Instate a funding accrual model so that centers above a certain enrollment can receive more money, to establish a continuum of care statewide.
This is not an exhaustive list of problems or solutions, to be sure. But the GOP supermajority in Charleston, and our local GOP leadership, have failed to substantially address any of the above. They take and take, slashing programs and making empty promises, while the minority of Democrats endeavor to build a West Virginia that takes care of our seniors, supports our families, and offers our youth abundant lives.
