Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) held an administration update briefing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, everyone. It's Wednesday, June the 26th. Thank you so much for being with us
00:07and everything. We'll lead off with something that's really, really terrible
00:12and it's really sad, but we lost a real athlete and we lost a great young man.
00:22From what I understand, his girlfriend is still in pretty tough shape and
00:29everything, but this news, you know, first, you know, the first we heard came out of
00:36Barber County, but Keaton McDermott and, you know, and he's nicknamed Beef and, you
00:48know, he just had played in the, you know, the North-South All-Star Game, the
00:56football game. He was an outstanding shot put and discus thrower. You know, I don't
01:06really know what to say. I mean, he was on his way this fall, you know, to starting
01:15his track and field career at West Virginia Wesleyan and had a tragic car
01:21accident and we lost him. And so, for all of his family, I ask for your prayers. For
01:30his girlfriend, I ask for your prayers. Surely Kathy and I will be praying for
01:35this young man, but I just, and I know we lose people all the time, but this came
01:41to us and I wanted to make mention of it and I hope we carry that to all
01:48the folks that have tragic accidents and the folks that we lose. So, God
01:55bless this great man and all his loved ones. So, thank you so much. Just an
02:04update on hunting regulations in West Virginia, you know, that are
02:10coming out. Get all the regulations and just look for them for
02:13yourself. Sometimes they can be a little complicated, but the biggest changes
02:18include updated dates and the open counties for antlerless deer and fall
02:26wild turkey and our black bear season. So, you know, get the regulations
02:34to look and everything. It's interesting stuff, but the people, the folks that are
02:40at DNR continue to do an incredible job and in managing our incredible abundance
02:48of wildlife in West Virginia. It's amazing. It's truly amazing stuff. Today, I
02:57am announcing that we've delivered $150,000 in grant funds, $150,000
03:04in grant funds to the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and
03:10Services. So, this will only help us get better and everything and stop these or
03:17do the best we possibly can to stop these terrible, terrible situations and
03:22everything that, you know, affect our young ladies and so this funding
03:29also allows us to hire and train a statewide nurse examiner and this
03:37money is really important in our effort to support medical providers and it
03:42improves our response and support. So, you know, more good work that we're able
03:47to do and more funds that we have available and everything to be able to
03:52do good stuff. I'm announcing that I'm excited about this all the time because
03:57at one time we grew a lot of Christmas trees and we grew Fraser fir Christmas
04:02trees and so now we're on the look again. You know, our Christmas in July starts
04:08our tradition of looking for West Virginia's next new gigantic Christmas
04:16tree that we'll unveil, you know, in December and so you might remember
04:23last year we had an unbelievable 50-foot balsam fir displayed in the
04:30South Plaza. It's truly spectacular and everything. So, we're looking. We're
04:35looking for the next one and everything and if you know about someone and
04:40everything that's or you do know yourself of a tree that you've grown and
04:45everything yourself, please get in touch. On Monday, you know, if we could recap
04:55the day on Monday real quick, we went to WVU. One of the more fascinating things
05:02that I've been involved in and everything as your governor, you know,
05:07those two individuals right there, Mara on the left, Dr. McLaughlin and Duncan on
05:17the right and Dr. Lorimer, you know, both incredible, incredible
05:24scientists. You know, Mara, Dr. McLaughlin on the left is up for one of the
05:33finalists for the Nobel Peace Prize and Dr. Lorimer has received the 2024
05:43Fellow of the Royal Society of London, which is like an Oscar Award and
05:50everything. So, it is amazing what they're doing. Astrophysicists, you know,
05:58it's, I just can't tell you, you know, how this draws more and more attention to
06:05West Virginia, to West Virginia University, has more and more of a
06:10participation, you know, in bringing us more students, more attention, more
06:15goodness to West Virginia. You see President Gee there with us and I think
06:19Gordon has done a magnificent job at the university and right beside us, right
06:24beside him, Roger Hanshaw, our Speaker of the House, and Roger's done a wonderful
06:29job as well. They showed us a little presentation, it would have blown your
06:34mind, that's all there is to it, but it was really a special, special day. Then, after
06:40that, we went to Cooper's Rock to the State Forest there and we visited Cooper's
06:45Rock and we were able to announce the first set of stargazing cabins that will
06:51be ready this fall and Chelsea Ruby was there and Brett McMillian and what an
06:57incredible job both of them have done. The more and more we've been able to
07:02invest in our state forest or more or, you know, our state parks, absolutely now
07:09we're approaching 250 million dollars that we've invested in our parks and
07:15forest and whatever it may be and absolutely the return is astronomical.
07:21More and more and more people come. I think each and every one of these cabins
07:26will have a telescope in it. It is just, it's just neat stuff and they're
07:32already just getting booked up, booked up, booked up, and so I congratulate,
07:37I congratulate, you know, Brett McMillian, but I also, I'll tell you, Chelsea Ruby,
07:44Secretary Ruby, gosh what a job, what a job, what a job she's done.
07:48Unbelievable, unbelievable. Great, great, great time. Good, good, good stuff. So, you
07:55know, we went to Astrophysicists and then we went to Cooper's Rock, but I'm telling
08:01you just as straight up, as straight up could be, both of them, as fabulous as
08:06they were, they absolutely were topped as we completed the day with, at
08:13Stepping Stones. These folks, all they wanted to do, they're trying to build an
08:22adult handicap playground and they had, they were short a bunch of money. I
08:32frankly don't know what we should be doing that is better than this. I mean,
08:42just look at these kids and young adults and just look at how great they
08:50are and the goodness and what they wanted, they needed, they'd already,
08:55Stepping Stones had already raised like $700,000 and literally they needed to
09:02get to two million. We made up the Delta of a million three and now they're on
09:10their way. I, like I said, I don't know how it gets any better and really and
09:15truly us being able with surpluses and everything to be able to get things like
09:21this done is absolutely, in my opinion, what we ought to be doing. Now, Coach
09:27Nealon's sitting there. Coach Nealon was sitting in a lower chair and I was
09:31sitting on that stool and there's no question I'm a pretty big guy
09:36and Coach Nealon is just not a great big guy, but he's sitting way down below me
09:42and so a lot of people have had a lot of fun with this picture and everything and
09:46they've kind of made me bigger and him smaller and you see us doing that right
09:51there. My belly's getting bigger too, but nevertheless, Coach Nealon, what an
09:57incredible guy, incredible man, what an unbelievable job he did as our coach, but
10:02with all that being said, on top of all that, I'd have never known and we'd have
10:07never made the move on Stepping Stones if he hadn't contacted me and said, Jim,
10:16they're really, they've done all that they can get to, but this is an
10:23unbelievable project and if there's any way in the world to find a way to help
10:28so we went to work and we got it done. So, what an incredible day and all
10:35the love that I could possibly tell you for those incredible young people.
10:41You know, I had a, you know, beautiful little, probably 20 year old girl that
10:48walked right up to me and she looked right at me and she said, I love you and
10:54I said, well I love you too and she said, well I love you more and I said,
11:01well how about this, we just say it's a tie. We both love each other the same
11:06amount and she said, good enough, but absolutely a beautiful, beautiful,
11:13beautiful young girl and so I just, I like said, you know, Cooper's Rock was
11:21great, the astrophysicists were unbelievable, unbelievable, that's all
11:26there is to it, but it doesn't beat this right here. It doesn't beat this and
11:30really and truly, I am really, really proud that we were able to help and
11:34those people, what those people are doing is unbelievable and we're helping this
11:38much and they're helping this much. God bless each and every one of them. Okay, Kathy, I
11:48want to congratulate Kathy again. Kathy brought a new therapy dog to Richwood,
11:54Richwood Middle and it's name, because you know, the Richwood Lumberjacks,
12:02it's name, believe it or not, was Jack and so J-A-X, so Jack is there and
12:11you can see he's already doing really good and you know, it's great stuff. That
12:17program is out of sight, out of sight, that's all there is to it. Last thing I got to
12:22report is Baby Dog's summer list and is in full swing and I'm thrilled to
12:29announce that we visited breathtaking, like I said, Cooper's Rock and she
12:34explored one of the trails and had a little hike there and they've got a
12:41couple pictures of that and everything, but nevertheless, I want to tell everyone
12:47and don't forget, you know, everyone is encouraged to participate in the West
12:51Virginia Summer Bucket List Challenge and which includes 10 must-visit
12:57attractions and so, you know, get online and check all those out and
13:03everything. Beautiful places in this unbelievable state. That's all I've got.
13:09Thank you. All right, thank you, Governor. We'll now take questions from members of
13:14the media. Our first question today, Mark Curtis with Nexstar Media. Good
13:20afternoon, Governor. Good morning. Good morning. I'm checking my watch. Good
13:23afternoon or good morning, fellow reporters and staffers. Governor, I want
13:27to circle back to a question I asked you last week to get an update because we
13:31are just four days left in the fiscal year now. What preliminary numbers, if any,
13:36are you getting with regard to the revenue situation in terms of whether it
13:41will trigger a 10% tax cut or perhaps a lesser amount? I'm hearing it may be only
13:47two or three percent in the state income tax cut and I want to frame the
13:51question and how important is it to keep reducing the state's personal income tax
13:56and get it down to zero? What do you think that will do in terms of
13:59attracting business and workers to this state and how important is it and is
14:04this year going to get us continuing on that path after the 21% last year?
14:11Mark, I don't know how to be more blunt than just this. You know, we need so
14:19badly to continue on that path. I mean, at the end of the day, if West Virginia
14:27could advertise today that West Virginia has no personal income tax, it would be
14:35unbelievable of the goodness that would come to this state. We need to continue
14:41on. We absolutely need to do what I've said over and over. Mind the store
14:47properly. You know, now, you're only going to have me for just a little while
14:53longer and in that, my message to everybody would be just this. Be smart.
15:01Don't blow our own legs off. I mean, for crying out loud, be smart as we go
15:07forward, but be aggressive as you can possibly be because there is nothing and
15:14I've said it in the state of the states multiple times. In the state of the
15:19states, there is nothing that will motivate growth in this state like
15:25getting rid of your personal income tax and if we don't watch out, other states
15:30are trying to do the same thing now. If we don't watch out, we're going to wake
15:34into the fact that we're going to be behind. Instead of being out in front,
15:38we're going to be behind. So, Mark, you know, I'm going to push our
15:44legislature to do as much as we possibly can. I'm going to push our revenue
15:49department to do as much as we possibly can, but do it smart. Smartly, I don't
15:54think 10% is a possibility at this stage, but I do believe that the
16:01revenue numbers are going to come in and they're going to come in, I think, really,
16:06really close to 800 million, probably a little short of 800 million surplus and
16:10it's unbelievable. And so, we surely, to goodness, ought to be putting money back
16:16in the pockets of our people. We ought not be doing any pet projects and all that
16:21kind of stuff. We ought to put money back in the pockets of our people. And so,
16:26at least a percentage of it anyway. So, Mark, I don't know exactly what that will
16:30be right yet, but we're working it. All right, thank you, Mark. Let's now take a
16:36question from Charles Young with WV News. Hi, this is Charles Young with WV News.
16:41Governor, just kind of staying along those same lines, the end of the fiscal
16:45year, what are some other uses you're currently considering for the nearly
16:49$800 million surplus? If a percentage of it would be going to additional tax
16:53cuts, do we have any other defined allocations at this point? Thank you.
16:57Charles, you know, here's the thing, you know, I can give you what my thoughts
17:05are, you know, and, you know, we always still have a need for infrastructure in
17:12the state, and we, you know, it seems like, you know, you pour hundreds and
17:19hundreds of millions of dollars into taking care especially of our roads and
17:22everything and making our roads better, and you turn around two or three times
17:27and you still got hundreds of millions of dollars to put in that, but we've
17:33surely got a 10 million times better road system today than we had before we
17:39walked in the door, and if we don't watch out and everything, we're
17:43gonna, you know, we can't let us slip back because, you know, Charles, you know
17:49what it was, I mean, for crying out loud, you couldn't go to the convenience store
17:52without tearing your car all to pieces. I've said it over and over, we sold our
17:57maintenance equipment, did we not? You know, and so to get us up and going
18:04to where we are today, big deal, and we need to continue to do more, and, you
18:10know, we've invested buckoos of buckoos of money in, you know, water and
18:17sewer projects, and all that's paid off, and we've taken dollars and spun
18:23it with federal dollars and increased it to many, many multiples of what we were
18:27able to do, and so all that's really good, you know, and Charles, we're
18:33looking at all of it, and we'll have a final list, but at the same time
18:38we're trying to do everything we possibly can while putting money back
18:45into pockets of our people. We're trying to do the smart stuff that really, at the
18:50end of the day, you know, will just make things better and better and better for
18:54all of us. All right, thank you, Charles. Let's now take a question from Leah
18:59Willingham with the AP. Hey, Governor, I know that you have been asked a few
19:07questions about this already this week, but I have to ask you about baby dogs
19:11inclusion in the Capitol mural. When and how did you find out? What do you and the
19:18First Lady think of it? And lastly, I don't know if you saw this, but your
19:23opponent in the Senate race, Glenn Elliott, tweeted he was in Wheeling as
19:31Mayor of Wheeling when you were dedicating the Governor Borman statue
19:35and said that while there you talked about baby dog and not Governor
19:40Borman, showing a, quote, total lack of respect for anything beyond yourself. Do
19:47you have a response to that? Thank you. The only response that I would have is
19:56tell Glenn to get a life. I mean, for God's sakes, 11, you know, that's so
20:01ridiculous. It's off the chart. You know, we didn't, I didn't bring baby dog with
20:06me up there. Lots and lots and lots of folks would have loved to have seen her, I'm
20:11sure, but at the same time, it was so hot. It was unbelievable and, you know, I saw
20:16it and saw off to doubt to not do that. You know, Arthur I. Borman, you know, our
20:22first governor, we made every tribute in the world to him. We spoke of, you
20:28know, how he was our governor right in the middle of the Civil War toward the
20:32end of it. I said 20 days, 20 days before Gettysburg. You know, so many things,
20:38you know, so many things happened and, you know, that were really
20:44positive that day and, but you've got a desperate politician
20:51that's going to absolutely lose by a landslide beyond belief because the
20:56people of this great state know me. They know me. They know what I've done and
21:01everything and they've helped me pull the rope in every single way and,
21:07you know, to be perfectly honest, the folks in Wheeling were great. I love
21:13Wheeling and I mean that sincerely. You know, they've always been wonderful,
21:18wonderful folks to me. So, you know, like I said, desperate politicians can do a
21:23lot of crazy stuff and we'll just wish Glenn the best and go on down the road.
21:31All right, thank you, Leah. Let's now take a question from Brad McElhaney
21:35with West Virginia Metro News. Hi, Governor. Hope you're well. Governor, I
21:41will stipulate that your son and daughter run the family businesses. The
21:46justices eventually pay their bills and that all is good in Jim's
21:49neighborhood. But last week, a federal judge ordered a move toward the sale of
21:54a holding company for a number of the justice coal companies to satisfy debt
21:59to a Russian mining company. Those companies have been at the heart of
22:03your family business network for generations. Can you tell me the
22:07significance of this move? Thank you.
22:12Brad, what I would tell you is, you know, if you're going to report something
22:21that's just basically a hit job, I'd do my job if I were you, you know, because
22:27the reality is just this, and here's all I can possibly say, you know, and
22:34that is you need to stay tuned and watch what happens. You also need to
22:42remember that the Russians, the Russians bought Bluestone from our family and
22:50then turned it into a godawful mess you've ever seen in the world. And it
22:56literally, it literally would have caused so much harm to a lot of great
23:03West Virginians, our environment, so many different things, taxes and on and on and
23:09on, that we've taken care of, and literally the dispute with the Russians
23:15and what, and the idea that they can now, because of a federal judge has
23:22done this or that and everything, they can sell parts of Bluestone or whatever
23:26like that. The folks at Credit Suites and UBS have the first in regard to all of
23:33this. You know, it's just, it's just something else for us to throw mud at Jim
23:40about and everything else, or you report and everything. You got to do your job.
23:45You got to absolutely know that absolutely at the time we bought this
23:51back from the Russians, think about it. Think about what was out there. Think
23:57about the magnitude of the damage that they've caused to the environment, they've
24:04caused to people, they've caused to vendors, they've caused to, as far as taxes, they've
24:09caused to everything, and who took care of all of it. And at the end of the day, I
24:14am telling you, when the point in time comes that we're siding with the
24:18Russians, I mean, you know, we're pretty damn desperate.
24:24Thank you. Governor, we'll turn it back to you.
24:28No, I would like to go back, you know, and, you know, only because I don't know that I
24:37completely answered the question in regard to baby dog in the mural and all
24:41that kind of stuff. Look, you know, baby dog has brought a lot of happiness, a lot
24:48a lot a lot of happiness all across the state, and I love it in every way that
24:54she's brought that level of happiness. And really and truly, and I wasn't a
24:59party to the putting baby dog in the mural, you know, I absolutely, I think
25:07really what they were trying to do is, you know, they wanted to put a dog in, and
25:12well, they had to pick some kind of dog, you know, so they picked an English
25:15Bulldog, you know, long long long time ago and everything, before we ever really
25:20became a country, the English were in charge and everything, seemed kind of
25:24fitting, you know, but as long the way, you know, I was just as surprised in
25:31many ways as anyone, but it, you know, but, but, you know, our curator Randall Reed is
25:38is with us today, maybe he could, he could, you know, shed a little light on it and
25:44everything, but, but with all that being said, you know, I'd be lying to you if I
25:48didn't tell you, I mean, come on, do we not have another, do we not have other
25:53stuff that's a little bit more important to be doing, and really and truly, here's
25:58something that, you know, that just to call it like it is, she's, she's brought a
26:04lot of joy, there'll be a lot of people that'll come in the Capitol and looking
26:08at the murals and everything, and looking for her and everything, it's kind of, kind
26:12of a neat thing, I love it, I love it to totally to death, and, and so just be
26:18happy, I mean, for crying out loud, do we not have enough to worry about, I mean, do
26:23we not have enough to take care of, to be taking care of people that are really
26:27having a tough way to go, be happy, just somebody be happy, I mean, Randall, you
26:33got anything to say? Hi Governor, first thing I want to say, thank you to
26:37everybody in the press, because people are coming to see those murals because
26:40of Baby Dog, because they love her, and Governor, I got 54 kids here at camp, they
26:45want to know when they get to meet Baby Dog, so we're all excited about that, but
26:48I do want to tell you about, really quickly, the process, because people have
26:52asked, were you involved? The only involvement that Jim Justice had in
26:56these murals is that he gave us the money to pay for these murals that had
27:00not been done in 92 years, and I thank you for that, Governor, and you had
27:05nothing to do with our little ad hoc committee who put together everything
27:10that, when they brought the renderings, and there was no wildlife in this
27:15one thing, we thought about putting the elk in, the Cardinal, and then when
27:20somebody said dog, all five of us said Baby Dog, so that's how that happened,
27:23Governor. Well, let me just add just this last little tidbit, now think about this,
27:31yesterday, and I wasn't going to say this, but I'm going to say it now, but yesterday we, or
27:37Monday, rather, we were at West Virginia University and sitting with two of the
27:45super scientists, the most intelligent people that you could ever possibly be
27:50with, unbelievable, unbelievable, that's all there is to it, their level of smarts, what
27:57was the first thing they did? The first thing they did was come up to me and
28:01they had treats for Baby Dog. What was the last thing they did? Astrophysicists.
28:07The last thing they did, because I didn't take her in the building where people
28:12were, had her out in the vehicle, and so when they gave me the treats, I
28:17told them that and everything, and what was the last thing that these two
28:21astrophysicists, that absolutely were so smart, it was unbelievable, one of them up
28:27for a Nobel Peace Prize, I mean, come on, give me a break, what was the last thing
28:33they did? They came up to me and said, Governor, do you care if we go outside
28:38where we can get a picture of Baby Dog? I mean, come on, do we not, in this state, can
28:46we not just share a little bit of fun, a little bit of happiness and everything?
28:51I mean, absolutely, I'm tickled to death, so, you know, Randall, I think you did good.
28:56Be good. Thank y'all.