Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) held a press briefing to provide an update on an administration's actions.
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Hello everyone, it's Friday, June the 7th.
00:03 I hope everybody's doing good and everything.
00:05 I want to remind you that in a couple of weeks,
00:08 we'll have Juneteenth.
00:10 Today, I'm announcing and issuing a proclamation,
00:13 officially declaring Juneteenth 2024 as an official state holiday.
00:20 I also want to remind everyone that
00:23 our Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs is
00:27 hosting a Juneteenth celebration,
00:30 I've told you this many times,
00:32 on the Canal Boulevard lawns of the Western Interstate Capitol and everything,
00:38 on Saturday, June the 15th,
00:41 from 4-9 AM.
00:43 I've told you many times about signing up and coming down and absolutely doing
00:47 all the great stuff and celebrating this incredible day.
00:50 So do so.
00:51 Absolutely, if you want to just come down and enjoy absolutely some great,
00:56 great, great stuff, please come.
00:58 Please come. We welcome in every way and absolutely free to the public.
01:05 I want to report our May revenue numbers.
01:09 If you haven't already seen and everything,
01:11 we were another $63.7 million above the budget.
01:17 Now, year to date,
01:19 we're $701, gosh,
01:21 is this unbelievable, $0.1 million above budget.
01:26 Now, that takes into consideration that last year we cut taxes and put back in your pockets,
01:33 $750 million and we're continuing to do it every single year.
01:38 It will be in place forevermore.
01:42 With all that being said,
01:44 these surpluses, what's my job?
01:48 When it really boils down to it,
01:50 the number one thing of my job,
01:52 have the economics right.
01:54 If you've got the economics right,
01:57 then all the other things that can be done can be done.
02:01 If you've got the economics wrong and you're upside down,
02:05 then you absolutely have experienced what that's like.
02:09 When I walked in the door,
02:11 all we could come up with was,
02:13 we got to cut more.
02:14 We got to cut more.
02:16 Absolutely, every time we cut,
02:19 more people left.
02:20 More people went to Atlanta and Charlotte and Denver.
02:24 All of a sudden, the tax base went down.
02:27 We drug our whole right with us.
02:29 Absolutely, I've said so many times.
02:32 On Sunday, Edith wanted to have a picnic.
02:35 She can't do it because she wants her grandkids to be there.
02:38 They're in Atlanta and Denver and Charlotte and all over the place,
02:41 because they had to leave to get a job.
02:43 Not anymore. Not anymore.
02:46 West Virginia has opportunity after opportunity after opportunity.
02:50 Absolutely, more and more and more goodness on the way.
02:53 Let's keep doing it.
02:54 Let's keep doing it.
02:55 These surpluses are unflat believable.
02:58 We've done it by minding the store properly.
03:01 We absolutely have taken care of our house how you should.
03:07 Absolutely, with all that,
03:09 then these surpluses are just unbelievable.
03:11 All the great stuff that we can do.
03:13 I'm going to report to you about the spring turkey season.
03:17 Not long ago, it seems like,
03:21 but I think it was in 1976.
03:26 The first wild turkey that Jim Justice ever saw in his life,
03:33 he got on the opening morning of the spring turkey season in Monroe County.
03:39 I think if I'm right,
03:41 that year there was just a few hundred spring turkeys harvested that year.
03:47 This year, 11,650 spring turkeys were harvested.
03:54 Six hundred and one were harvested on our two youth days.
04:00 The story of how we've introduced wild turkeys back to West Virginia, unbelievable.
04:06 Hats off to the DNR,
04:08 all the great work that they've done and many, many, many others.
04:11 Good work. We're going to do a bill signing in just a minute on
04:16 FASTA and basically the bottom line of the whole thing is you had kids held up,
04:23 didn't know what to do,
04:25 didn't know what to do.
04:26 That's all there is to it.
04:28 So today, I'm holding a ceremonial bill signing of Senate Bill 1007,
04:36 which allocates more than $80 million in funding for
04:40 college students and higher education institutions.
04:44 I don't normally read, but I want to read this to you.
04:46 Forty million will go to states needs-based higher education grant program to
04:53 double the maximum award from $3,400 to $6,800 for eligible students.
05:01 Eleven point two million will go towards newly established college access emergency grant,
05:11 which will provide up to $2,000 for eligible students,
05:15 and 32 million will go to support
05:19 the operations of West Virginia's public colleges and universities.
05:23 It's good stuff, really, really good stuff.
05:27 Let me just add a little bit more.
05:30 We just left Clay County.
05:33 Now look, we can say what we want,
05:36 but not long ago, not only did not many people know about Clay County,
05:43 nobody can hardly find Clay County.
05:45 But with all that being said,
05:47 there's so much good stuff going on right up there right now on the river.
05:52 From the standpoint right now on a rail system and everything,
05:56 rail explorers, which is the neatest thing in the world.
06:01 You can pedal, I guess it's a bicycle type contraption that runs on the rail.
06:10 It's a 12 mile deal.
06:13 You can pedal or there's an electric motor that makes the pedaling effortless.
06:19 It is a way to absolutely see so much beauty in this great state, it's unbelievable.
06:24 The great people of Clay County have worked really,
06:28 really hard and very deservingly so.
06:31 We went up there just a little while ago and cut the ribbon.
06:34 It is amazing.
06:36 Go do this.
06:37 Go do this, you will absolutely love it beyond belief and the beauty is second to none.
06:44 Those people have really,
06:46 really worked hard and I salute all those folks in
06:49 Clay County and I'm really,
06:51 really, really happy for all those people all around.
06:54 So much stuff.
06:56 There's so much stuff going on all across West Virginia,
06:59 especially in tourism.
07:01 The world is awakening to West Virginia, are they not?
07:06 I mean, just imagine worldwide travel guides saying,
07:11 West Virginia is the place you ought to go and it is.
07:14 There is no place as beautiful as West Virginia.
07:18 There's no place that has the people,
07:21 the kindness and appreciation and all the good stuff of West Virginians.
07:26 So many things that we have to offer and it just will get better and better and better.
07:31 Keep it going West Virginia.
07:33 I won't be your governor forever,
07:35 but absolutely with all in me,
07:37 nobody will be rooting for you any harder than me and nobody will be more supportive of you than me.
07:44 But with all that being said,
07:45 keep it going.
07:47 Demand that we keep it going.
07:50 It is so good for so many.
07:53 God bless each and every one of you.
07:55 There was a group that just came into Wood County and everything.
08:00 We celebrated them coming.
08:02 They're spending two and a half million dollars here and maybe some more dollars.
08:07 A few people, I think maybe up to 20 or 25 people are going to be employed.
08:12 They're epoxy resin product for the automobile industry
08:18 and they're going to be making in Wood County.
08:23 I don't know a tremendous amount about this company and everything
08:27 other than the fact that we welcome you and absolutely,
08:29 I think once you find West Virginia as your home,
08:32 you will love it beyond belief.
08:35 There's a Huntington native that has been on Jeopardy.
08:41 Her name is Adriana Haymeier.
08:47 She is a big winner.
08:50 She's a seven-day champion.
08:52 I understand she's a professor at Purdue University.
08:56 My dad was a graduate of Purdue.
08:58 I know a little bit about Purdue University,
09:01 but she has earned in seven-day stay,
09:06 $155,700.
09:09 She must be pretty smart cooking everything.
09:11 We keep rooting her on, that's for sure.
09:14 Remember your free fishing days on the 8th and the 9th of June and everything.
09:20 Get out and enjoy these.
09:23 There's a couple of fishing derbies for the youth,
09:26 one's at the Bowden Fish Hatchery and the other one's at Little Beaver Lake.
09:31 I got to tell you another story.
09:33 When little Jimmy was skinny and he was about this big and everything,
09:37 probably not much taller than baby dog because she stands up on her back legs.
09:41 Jimmy was an absolute Little Beaver Lake and had the opportunity and caught a trout that was tagged and everything.
09:49 I don't remember what I won,
09:50 but I think it was a tackle box.
09:53 But please, get your children out,
09:56 introduce them into hunting and fishing in this great state.
10:00 Let them have the opportunity to have this unbelievable beauty,
10:06 unbelievable nature and everything, touch their soul.
10:10 It is God given to every one of us from this great state.
10:14 Please help them and get them out and introduce them into fishing and hunting.
10:19 Our first lady is going to have a hot dog sauce contest.
10:26 It's going to be on our state's birthday.
10:29 I want to remind everyone that Kathy's going to host.
10:33 There's going to be all kinds of activities and everything going on.
10:37 The deadline is going to be Monday, June the 10th,
10:41 to have your recipes in.
10:44 Then on our state's birthday,
10:45 we'll be right down here on the front lawn and everything.
10:49 We'll have a big day of celebration, a lot of fun.
10:51 We want you to come.
10:52 We want you to come for sure.
10:56 The last thing I've got to report is this about the West Virginia baseball team.
11:00 Boy, they are doing it.
11:03 I mean, that's all there is to it.
11:04 First time ever they've reached the NCAA Super Regional
11:09 for the first time in their program's history.
11:12 They take on tonight, they play North Carolina.
11:16 They play at six o'clock at Chapel Hill.
11:20 We want this to be a bad event for the home team.
11:23 Absolutely, with all in us,
11:25 we want West Virginia to prevail and prevail at Chapel Hill and send the home team.
11:32 They'll have a short drive home and we want to send them home on their short drive,
11:37 and then we'll drive a little bit further coming back.
11:40 Nevertheless, that's all I've got right now. Thank you so much.
11:44 Thank you, Governor. We'll now go to questions from members of the media.
11:48 The first up today is Mark Curtis with Nextar Media.
11:51 Good afternoon, Governor and staffers and fellow reporters.
11:56 Governor, I want to just go back for a moment to
11:58 yesterday's briefing that Brian Abraham chaired with the superintendent of schools,
12:03 the major of the state police, and the secretary personally.
12:06 I'm not going to ask you any specifics about the case
12:09 because I know that you can't disclose them things,
12:11 but what is your comfort level with the changes that have been made?
12:15 The announcements yesterday were that
12:17 CPS investigators could no longer just directly go to a jail or prison,
12:21 interview an inmate without getting a supervisor's permission,
12:25 and also that even informal reports or
12:30 complaints of possible abuse or neglect would automatically trigger a call to the 1-800 line,
12:37 something that didn't happen in that case.
12:40 What is your confidence level that these measures
12:42 are going to work to prevent something like this from ever happening again?
12:46 Mark, you know me well enough to know that I'll always tell you the truth,
12:50 and I can tell you that we discovered things and areas we can make better,
12:58 and that's exactly what we've done.
13:01 But at the end of the day,
13:04 Mark, there's nothing fail-proof.
13:08 I mean, for crying out loud,
13:10 when you have a young child living in a house and a mother and a grandmother and everything,
13:19 allow this hideous stuff that could happen to a child.
13:26 Mark, I'd love to say to you,
13:30 never again will anything ever happen in the state of West Virginia or any state.
13:37 I can't tell you that.
13:39 All I can do is tell you that we will try with all in
13:42 us every single day to make things better and better.
13:47 I'm confident that the things that we've changed will make things better.
13:52 But at the same time,
13:55 Mark, something like this is just beyond comprehension to tell you the truth.
14:05 Thank you, Mark. Next, we'll go to Charles Young with WV News.
14:12 Hi, this is Charles Young with WV News.
14:15 Governor, my question is along the same lines.
14:17 I wondered if there's anything that your office has learned from
14:20 this investigation thus far that you're considering having lawmakers address.
14:24 I know you had already said you're considering
14:26 a second special session of the year sometime for the summer.
14:29 Is there anything that we've learned so far that might be on your call? Thank you, sir.
14:34 Charles, I think this,
14:38 that we're discussing with
14:42 legislatures now and the homeschooling issue,
14:49 we need to probably find a way to tighten up.
14:53 That's an area we sure can probably make things a little better.
15:00 Any and every idea I'm open to,
15:05 I've always been that way.
15:06 But Charles, I just go back to just this.
15:11 You couldn't possibly have,
15:17 you could have tens of thousands of workers.
15:22 You cannot completely guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt that nothing ever will happen.
15:32 Our agencies, whether we have policies that we can fix or whatever it may be,
15:41 we can make it better.
15:42 That's what we try to do in life every single day.
15:46 I'd like to tell you there'll never be another traffic accident.
15:50 We try to make it safer.
15:52 We try to make it better.
15:54 But at the same time,
15:56 in this situation, this is just beyond belief.
16:02 Thank you, Charles. Next, we'll go to Amelia Nicely with West Virginia Watch.
16:08 Hi, Governor. First, I want to say thank you to your administration yesterday for taking questions.
16:16 I think we all appreciated that.
16:18 I was going to ask about homeschool law specifically.
16:21 I'll shift.
16:22 Have you had conversations at all about changing current education laws to
16:28 mandate how these truancy officers might respond to
16:31 homeschool families versus changing homeschool laws?
16:35 Are you having conversations about what you can do in
16:37 current education policy in response to Kennedy Miller's death?
16:41 I think in all honesty,
16:44 I do believe that the actual following up on our homeschool kids is more of an issue than specific homeschool law.
17:04 But I think this is still somewhat in its infancy,
17:11 and we've got to do more work with the legislatures and everything to
17:15 see how we can tighten up some things to
17:21 ensure that maybe just nothing will happen.
17:25 Nothing will ever happen like this again.
17:27 Thanks, Amelia. Next, we'll go to Curtis Johnson with WSAZ.
17:33 Hey, good afternoon, Governor.
17:36 Thank you so much for taking my call.
17:38 Like others, I do really appreciate your administration's time yesterday,
17:42 taking the time to discuss its findings related to
17:45 the investigation and the state's interaction with Kennedy Miller.
17:49 Given those findings, I have a similar question.
17:52 Governor, are you committed to pursuing legislative and/or
17:59 policy changes related to those findings before you leave office?
18:02 You talked to us several times about how you're not going to be governor forever.
18:06 I just want to know what kind of changes were you pursuing if you're
18:10 committed and will those involve the legislature?
18:14 Curtis, I'm going to run through the finish line.
18:19 You know me well enough to know that I'm not done.
18:24 I want to make things better to the very last day that I'm your governor,
18:30 and then I'll try to make things better in every way I can
18:34 for the last days or all the days left in my life.
18:39 We announced changes yesterday,
18:43 but the agencies are in charge of changes in a lot of cases and everything.
18:50 But absolutely, we're in discussion with the legislature,
18:54 we'll be in discussion with the legislature,
18:56 and if need be, just for this,
19:00 I would call a special session just for this.
19:05 I mean, because the just for this is not fair.
19:09 I mean, this is so monumental, it's off the chart.
19:13 So I want to make things better,
19:15 but we've got to work with some people and everything,
19:20 and try to get some kind of format on what we're going to do.
19:25 >> Thanks, Curtis. Governor, I'll turn it back to you to close out.
19:29 >> Well, I would like to just touch on this.
19:35 Everybody kept bombarding us with this happened, this happened, this happened.
19:41 A lot of situations in regard to the CPS stuff and the state police and all the different things.
19:47 Lo and behold, we knew.
19:49 We knew really what had happened,
19:51 but we were letting the investigation play out.
19:54 Lo and behold, a lot of the allegations that this happened,
19:57 this happened, didn't happen.
19:59 Really, so with all that being said,
20:02 I would always tell you,
20:05 just take your time,
20:07 absolutely do the investigation properly.
20:10 Let's make the smart decisions.
20:13 Let's make the decisions that are absolutely the best for our people.
20:16 We don't kick anything under the rug,
20:21 we don't hide anything.
20:23 I have told you 10 million times,
20:25 every single thing about me is fully transparent.
20:29 But with all that being said,
20:31 I think we ended up with a good solution.
20:34 I'm proud of our people that came yesterday,
20:37 gave all the time that everybody needed and everything to get your questions answered,
20:42 to get the facts right and everything.
20:45 I think that that's been fairly reported.
20:48 So we move on and we move on with improvements and a better day.
20:54 So nevertheless, let me just check real quick.
20:57 Remember Juneteenth everybody,
20:59 we celebrate these incredible revenue numbers, that's really good.
21:03 Congratulations to everybody that's spring turkey hunting,
21:07 and now let's do some stuff in just a few minutes and everything.
21:10 We'll be celebrating a bill signing,
21:12 ceremonial signing, Senate Bill 1007.
21:17 It'll help our kids and everything.
21:19 We just went to Rail Explorers.
21:21 Get up there in Clay County,
21:23 look it up, Rail Explorers, and go do this.
21:27 You'll absolutely have a blast doing it.
21:29 It doesn't matter how old you are and everything,
21:31 it's effortless.
21:34 So absolutely go do this, you'll really enjoy.
21:37 Thank you so much for coming to West Virginia,
21:40 and remember the free fishing days,
21:43 and whatever you do,
21:45 remember the hot dog sauce contest on our state's birthday.
21:50 Congratulations in every way to the WVU baseball team,
21:55 but let's don't end it here.
21:56 Let's take care of North Carolina tonight.
21:58 That's all I got. Thank you all so much.