Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) and members of his administration held a press briefing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, everyone. Sorry, we've had a little bit of technical issues and everything here,
00:05but it's Thursday, July the 11th, and thank you for being with us. And we're going to
00:10go through a bunch of stuff here pretty quickly. But, you know, we've had a DOH worker that's
00:18been struck by a vehicle, just to be perfectly honest, just going too fast, not paying attention.
00:25You know, I've said over and over and over, but we've got hundreds, if not thousands and
00:30thousands of workers that are out there on our highways. They're trying to do everything
00:34in their power to make things better for all of us. We've got to watch what we're doing.
00:39You know, the driver of this pickup truck, as well as the worker, you know, are still
00:45at Ruby and WVU. And we're told things are better, but I don't think we're out of the
00:57woods yet. And, you know, just a tragic accident, you know, that, you know, one of our workers
01:04just running a mowing machine, just doing his job. I mean, don't they deserve in every
01:10way, you know, to be able to pick up their dinner bucket, go to work, and come home safe
01:16and sound? That's dependent upon us in a lot of ways. So let's be really, really, really
01:21careful and let's say our prayers in every way for these individuals and that they'll
01:27have a speedy recovery. This one, if we don't watch out, is going to just spin off into
01:36no man's land. But today, I'm really, really proud to announce that our trigger amount,
01:43we did hit a trigger amount. And it's not 3%, it's 4. And so you will absolutely be
01:49getting a 4% reduction in your income tax. I'm calling everybody back in. And the reason
01:55I'm calling them back in is I want them to be able to do another 5%. Another 5% gets
02:01us at 30. In fact, a little above 30. And so we're a third of the way almost home and
02:08everything and there is nothing no matter what anybody says, I don't care what you say
02:1210 million times, there is nothing that's going to drive population opportunity, economic
02:18growth on and on and on and on and on to this great state more than getting rid of our personal
02:24income tax. Now with that being said, and again, I'm not casting stones, I don't have
02:31time to do this. If you think in my life, that I have time to fool up with Eric tar,
02:39you're out of your mind. That's all there is to it. It's just not worth the time of
02:43day for me to get in a food fight with Eric tar. You know, now, all that being said, here's
02:51the thing, and you're going to make the decision legislature, that's just all there is to it.
02:57You know, you can either entrust in what our great people in our revenue department have
03:02done over and over and over. And what I've done since I walked in the door, or you can
03:08entrust in this man that has led us down path after path after path, that has caused all
03:15kinds of issues and all kinds of problems. And he wasn't right, was he? I mean, we went
03:20through the cares money. Oh, gosh, the sky is falling one, right? We went through amendment
03:26to when really and truly, it would have destroyed our counties. One right after another, it
03:33would have destroyed. And literally, there, you know, he was running through the woods,
03:39campaigning in every way, you know, we're going to do this, and we're going to on and
03:44on and on. And then six weeks before the election, I went out and talked to you, the
03:52voters, and literally told you what was on the line. And whether it was your police departments
03:58or your fire departments or schools, or whatever your services in every way, you absolutely
04:05were on the verge of a catastrophe. And we turned it around. And absolutely got shot
04:11right out of the sky. You know, in all honesty, probably way back when he may have even been
04:17against the roads to prosperity program. But with all that being said, now, now, we went
04:25down a path, you know, and he jumped up, he gets on his soapbox, and he tries to convince
04:32everybody in the world. And here's the net net of the whole thing. He was wrong on the
04:38income tax reduction. Absolutely. He was wrong on the callback from the education from
04:44the feds on the education side. Oh, gosh, we're going to have to absolutely the send
04:50$375 million, or whatever it was a gigantic amount back to the federal government didn't
04:57have to do it. We didn't, we did not have to do it didn't work out. Wrong again. You
05:04know, but I am telling you legislature, you listen to me, listen to me, I'm going to only
05:10be your governor another five or six months. And at the end of the day, if you make the
05:16decision to follow Eric tar following, following and absolutely be prepared, you might as well
05:25buckle up because it's gonna be one one difficult right. I have no earthly idea why we continue
05:33to do this and why it continues to come right back up on me. Now just think about this just
05:37for one second. You got to remember just one thing and and and I wrote this down somewhere
05:43I want to make sure do y'all know who the center on budget and policy who those groups
05:51are, who those folks are? They're about as liberal and crazy as crazy can be. Who are
05:59they touting right now? Eric tar. So if you want to follow follow, I mean, I mean, I'm not
06:08gonna be here. Follow them if that's what you want to do. If you want to blow your own legs off and
06:13you want to hurt Toby needed the voters out there that absolutely it's their money. And we absolutely
06:20know without any doubt in the world we can do this and do it safely and do it prudently in
06:26every single way. We know it. We know it. If you want to follow this man, follow him. You know,
06:33that's your deal. That's not my deal. But absolutely, I would buckle up if you go that
06:40way. You know, I'm excited today. Now I'm gonna switch channels again, to announce that our DNR
06:47is going to have an accepting they're accepting applications right now for a very special archery
06:53hunt. And that's going to be at the Twin Falls Resort State Park. And one lucky hunter is going
07:00to win something really special. I'm going to end up on national television that they're going to
07:06join the whitetail frenzy TV crew and be able to go on that hunt as well. And, and I'm sure that'll
07:14be a big time. And Brad, I'm gonna turn to you and Kenny and and maybe you can tell us some more
07:19about this.
07:23Well, Governor, thank you for having us today. And I'll tell you what, I'm really excited about
07:27your program here. This is going to be an absolute dandy. The partnership that we've made with
07:31whitetail frenzy is really paying off. You'll remember recently, we did that youth turkey
07:37hunt and what what a success that thing was. Kenny Davis and his crew at whitetail frenzy are
07:42truly superstars. But yeah, the lottery drawings open up July 15. Then when folks log into their
07:49account resident or non resident, you'll have several options to choose from this year, not
07:54only the four state park lottery hunts, but we also open up all of our class in or antlerless
08:00hunts at the same time. So just pay attention to which ones you are logging into and applying for
08:05that application. There's four state park hunts this year. The one we're focusing on today is
08:12Twin Falls, but we'll also have hunts at Beach Fork, Bluestone, and Cacapin. Those things have
08:19proved to be tremendously successful over the last several years and helping us to control the herd.
08:23Well, this year, we're doing something a little special. As a matter of fact, Kenny Davis applied
08:29for a hunt last year at Twin Falls, fell in love with the hunt, came to us with this idea. And of
08:34course, then we brought it to you and it's a dandy. He has put together one heck of a prize
08:39package. And I think Kenny's going to join us also. Hopefully we can get him up on the screen
08:44pretty soon because, Governor, he has absolutely blown this out of the water with the prizes that
08:49he acquired for this thing. Not only is that lucky hunter going to get to be on TV, he'll get his
08:55meals, rooms taken care of at Twin Falls, and then there is a huge prize package. And I think we'll
09:02see him pretty soon here. Those particular packages will be available. There's 15 hunts
09:09that we're going to draw the names for. And then out of those 15 winners, we'll bring the names in
09:14and hopefully, Governor, you can draw that lucky one out for us. Because whoever gets this one,
09:19I'm a little jealous. I'll say that up front. Kenny, are you out there? There he is. Yes, sir, I'm here.
09:26Awesome. Awesome. Welcome again. We're bragging you up pretty hard. I know you sent us a picture
09:32of the prize list that you have now. I don't know if that's something you can pan the camera around
09:37to, but we're excited to see it. I've told them how you fell in love with the hunt from last year.
09:42So talk just a little bit to us and let's see those prizes and what this hunt is going to entail.
09:48Well, yeah, it's a huge prize pack. A little too much to bring into the office, but I can
09:56pull it up and show you here. There's a lot of different things on there. I don't know if you can
10:01see that there, Brett. Get it in the screen there. You can just give us a rundown of what's
10:07there then if you can. Yeah, there's a lot in this prize pack. All of our sponsors were on board
10:15with this and they all jumped in. I mean, the winner's going to get their elite bow of choice.
10:22They're going to get a Killer Instinct Vitalex crossbow, a Fission e-bike, a 750X, I believe is
10:30the model, and those retail for around $2,600. Some Whitetail Trail Mix, some Lethal Addiction,
10:37a Trophy Tree Stand, Lip Curl Scents, a Scent Assassin, Scent Elimination Kit, a Scent Blocker
10:43Suit. I mean, this is a prize pack worth several thousand dollars. And then the Glen Falls Resort
10:51State Park is incredible. Like you said, I've been in West Virginia my whole life, but the first time
10:55I ever went was last year and I love that place. The golf course is beautiful, the scenery is
10:59beautiful, the lodge, the cottages, everything is just awesome. And it's right in the heart of our
11:03bowhunting only county, so it's not just a state park where normally people can't hunt. It's a
11:08state park that's part of an area where there's only a one buck limit and everything surrounding
11:13it. And it's, you know, bowhunting only unless, you know, Class Q, which you can help with a
11:17crossbow. But yeah, excited. We're excited to do it, excited to be partnered with the state and do
11:21stuff like this and give back to the people here. Well, thank you, Kenny. That's absolutely awesome.
11:27And we're excited to see this thing. So we'll get the lottery opened up on the 15th and then
11:32when that baby closes, we'll try to get those 15 finalists that are actually selected through
11:37the ELS system and go from there. And Governor, I would like to share, I believe 11 out of 13
11:45of Kenny's shows are in West Virginia this year. Next year, we really hope he does all 13 in West
11:51Virginia. So he's drinking the water, he believes that West Virginia has everything he needs. So
11:58I'm pretty excited to share that little tidbit as well. Also, Governor, just a quick mention,
12:05you referenced National Hunting and Fishing Days a while back. Tickets are on sale now.
12:11We're encouraging everyone to buy early. We've got a little pre-sale bonus. If you buy your tickets
12:17early, and that's people that are 15 and over, under 15 are free because we're trying to encourage
12:22as many youth to come to these events as possible. But anyone over 15 that buys their ticket early
12:28gets five free tickets for the Taste of West Virginia State Parks Tent, which has been a really
12:34great feature. Chef Matt Welch, believe me, these tickets are for samples, but for me, they're
12:39a meal. So it is a dandy. A couple of other great things back this year, the Outdoor Youth Challenge,
12:46bigger and better prizes. Drawing will be at four o'clock for all the final prizes. Kids, you do not
12:51have to be present to win, just make sure we've got your info. It's going to be an absolute blast.
12:56We've got over 30 vendors this year. You know, frankly, I hate to say it, but we've got more
13:01vendors than we can actually handle. So this is awesome. The turnout and response has been great.
13:06So we'll also hope to see Kenny from Whitetail Frenzy, Curtis Fleming from Fly Rod Chronicles,
13:13Ted and Amber Nestor from The Chase on site as well. So Governor, that's stacking up to be a
13:18monumental event this year. So thank you, Governor. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Thank you
13:24for all you do for us. I can't tell you how much DNR appreciates your belief in this state of West
13:29Virginia and our natural resources. Thank you. Well, Brett, thank you. And Kenny, thank you guys. And
13:36all those that Brett mentioned earlier and everything, whether it be Curtis and on and on and
13:40on, Chad. So, you know, it's great stuff. And you know, all of you know that I speak from my heart
13:49on everything, but especially speak from my heart on all the great work that our DNR has done and
13:55and all the absolute necessity that we all need to be able to get outdoors in this great state
14:04and enjoy this unbelievable nature. And I've said over and over and over,
14:08please go. It'll touch your soul. It's so, so good. So so please just try to get out and
14:15get on one of our streams or our lakes or absolutely get into our woods and just enjoy
14:21because it's amazing. It's truly amazing. OK, I'm with Swiss Channels again. And
14:29today I'm announcing the distribution of five point three eight million dollars in grant awards
14:36for some really important projects and everything throughout and throughout West Virginia.
14:40The first one was the West Virginia Child Advocacy Center has been awarded two point
14:45one million dollars and everything to twenty two different projects. You know, you know, it's
14:52really, really great stuff. The West Virginia National Criminal History Improvement Program
14:59has been awarded two point four million dollars. And finally, the civil legal services grant
15:07award is eight hundred thousand. So thanks again for all the great work that these great folks do.
15:14God bless each and every one of you. Just keep doing good stuff.
15:17Here's something that's really neat. But, you know, we went up in Clay County and
15:23we all know Clay County has says is a beautiful county for absolutely certain.
15:28And the people there are unbelievably just just so genuine and so just absolutely the real deal.
15:36And they're caring, loving, great people. And so with all that being said, the last greatest thing
15:43was this rail bike trail and everything. And I hope I'm pronouncing it right. But being able
15:51to go these these vehicles are electric there. They move on the rail. You know, you can you
15:58can pedal. But at the same time, you know, if you choose to just sit back and watch and everything
16:04and look around and everything, you don't have to do that there. They're motorized, you know,
16:09from an electric standpoint to be able to go on their own. But but what a way to spend some
16:16beautiful time with your family, you know, seeing the unbelievable scenery of this state. And and so
16:24with all that being said today, I'm announcing I get this. We just this thing just got fired up
16:30about a month and a half ago. And we were there and did did the ribbon cutting and everything,
16:37you know, on that day. But today I'm announcing that we're adding even more tours and increasing
16:45the bike capacity from 36 to 60 people to keep up with the demand. The demand is unflat believable.
16:56And it's booked up, booked up, booked up, booked up. But now we have some additional capacity and
17:01everything. So get up in Clay County. Enjoy. It's right out your back door here and everything.
17:07And if you want to go spend some quality time with your family, that's where you need to go.
17:12But Rail Explorers is expanding in Clay County. Absolutely. Remember that name. Go online,
17:19contact these people and get up there in Clay County and enjoy. I'm going to move to something
17:27else. But the HCEAA matching funds later today, I'll be in Kanawha County at the Ambulance Authority,
17:36you know, there and everything to award a million dollars in non-federal matching funds.
17:42And they'll be used, this funding will be used to build four permanent EMS stations around Kanawha
17:49County that will improve the response time. It'll just make us better. It absolutely will make us
17:55better. It'll save lives and everything. It absolutely will make anything and everything
18:00we can possibly do better in great Kanawha County. So we'll be there and we'll be there
18:06at two o'clock and, you know, we all know that in an emergency every second matters
18:13and we're just going to, we're going to have four spots to be able to make things even
18:18even more accessible and better. Okay, I'm also thrilled today to make welcome to Nancy White
18:28as the new West Virginia Department of Education President. You know, Nancy has a 36-year career.
18:36She's a great lady and I congratulate her in every way. She'll do great stuff. She loves our
18:43kids and she loves education and all the good stuff that's happening in West Virginia and I
18:48congratulate her again and tell her, Nancy, just keep keep moving us forward and keep making more
18:54and more goodness happen. Not long ago, I guess it was last week, we were with a dive team and
19:02we were at, you know, Bluestone Lake and, you know, right above the Bluestone Dam. It was a
19:11wonderful experience from the standpoint that West Virginia now has its own dive team and that
19:18dive team has 10 very experienced people and everything and they'll be able to help make
19:25things better in every way in the state of West Virginia from the standpoint of just more safety,
19:31more ability to investigate a boating accident, more, you know, which, God forbid, but,
19:39you know, if a loved one has, we've lost somebody from a drowning and whatever, you know, we'll be
19:46able to recover and recover quicker. So with all that being said, we congratulate the DNR.
19:53They continue to do great stuff and so good stuff, good stuff happening there as well. So that's all
19:59I've got. We'll take your questions. All right, thank you, Governor. Now we'll take questions
20:04from members of the media. First up today, Mark Curtis with Nexstar Media. Good afternoon,
20:08Governor and my colleagues. Governor, there is an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning,
20:14not very flattering concerning the Omni's energy purchase of the Pleasant's power station and
20:20converting it to a facility that would produce hydrogen from coal and graphite for lithium
20:26batteries and the sort. It just questions whether the science is there or can support this. It
20:34hasn't been demonstrated yet that this technology can be used. So I'm just curious, what is your
20:39confidence level in this project and do you still hope it goes forward given the fact that West
20:44Virginia has loaned the company $50 million to get it off the ground? Mark, my confidence is just
20:52this and what the $50 million was structured around. The $50 million was structured around
21:00the plant's profitability from the standpoint of, you know, they buy coal. They buy coal
21:08from West Virginians and absolutely they keep 200 folks plus employed in Pleasant County.
21:16You keep the plant running and you make electricity. Now from all that being said,
21:22you know, they have the obligation and everything, you know, as far as repayment,
21:28you know, and we'll see. As far as the new technology and whatever like that, that was just
21:36a bonus to me. You know, I have told the powers to be that were involved in everything. I've said
21:45beware and watch 15,000 times and with all that being said, to me, the security that we have
21:53behind all this is rock solid, you know, and really and truly if we could be on the cutting
22:01edge to bringing, you know, the hydrogen era, you know, right here, you know, up to speed in this
22:11nation world and everything, it would be great, but from my standpoint, you know, what did the
22:19mathematics need to be centered around? It needed to be centered around the fact that we were going
22:24to keep people in coal jobs, we were going to buy coal, and we were going to make electricity,
22:30and we were going to sell electricity, and we were going to continue to employ 200 plus folks
22:37in Pleasants County, so I think we've done the right thing, and time will tell about
22:45whether or not the hydrogen situation works out and the science works out. I've tried to be
22:53not necessarily skeptical, but I don't believe in, you know, just somebody coming in and
22:59trying to sell you a pie in the sky, you know. That's why we have all these safeguards and backups.
23:07All right, thank you, Mark. Let's now take a question from John Mark Shaver with WV News.
23:16Good afternoon, Governor. Talking about the Eastern Panhandle, do you have any
23:27advice for people, or is your office planning on doing anything in terms of a statement on that?
23:32Thanks. C.J., I can't hear Mark at all.
23:41Yeah, Mark, can you, John Mark, can you ask your question one more time for the Governor, please?
23:46Yeah, can you guys hear me? I can now. Okay, I have a question about the drought happening
23:54statewide, especially over there in the Eastern Panhandle. Can you hear me? I can, yes, sir.
24:02Okay, I just wanted to know if your office had any statements regarding that, what people should
24:08be doing, how they should be interacting in the summer months outside with the dry weather. Thank
24:15you. Well, John Mark, listen, you know, I started my whole work career in agriculture, of all things.
24:27You know, it was really not intended that way, but I got my MBA, and then later on, I became a farmer.
24:36And then we increased our farming activities to, at one time, we were the biggest cash grain farmers
24:43east of the Mississippi River. You know, I know an awful lot about the effects of dry weather
24:52right now. You know, our crops are being negatively impacted in a big way.
24:59I know the effects on, you know, 95 or 99 degree heat on us, you know, and what a toll it takes.
25:12You know, I know the fact that we absolutely are suffering like a lot of this nation is,
25:20you know, under this unbelievable heat that we're experiencing and everything. You know,
25:26there are forest advisories, there's everything that's out there at our fingertips to kind of
25:33halfway know what to do. But here's the problem, John Mark, and it's just this, is you've got
25:40people, you've got a lot of folks in West Virginia don't have any air conditioning,
25:44you know, and you've got folks that, you know, if you have a power outage and everything,
25:49just compounds the situation no matter what the situation may be. We as West Virginians,
25:57of all things, right now best better be, you know, joining arms together and trying to help
26:03our neighbors in every way we possibly can. We don't watch out, you know, it can get really,
26:11really tough. We're not to the real heat of the summer yet, if you really think about it.
26:19It always seemed to me like August was the tough time, you know, like the first week of January
26:24may be the toughest time in winter. But with all that being said, you know, it's really, really
26:33tough, you know, from the standpoint of way over in Eastern Panhandle, you've got all the poultry,
26:39you know, people that are over there. Can you just imagine how difficult that is, you know,
26:45from the standpoint of, you know, whether it be chickens or turkeys or whatever it may be,
26:50you know, from the standpoint of our, you know, our animals that, you know, such as our cattle or,
26:58you know, it's just tough. That's all there is to it and we got to really watch and, you know,
27:07hope and pray for some blessings of some real rain because we really need to rain.
27:15All right. Thank you, John Mark. Let's now take a question from Stephen Adams with Ogden News.
27:23Yeah, Steve Adams of Ogden Newspapers here. I was going to ask about the pleasant power thing,
27:28but that's been done. So, that 4% trigger, how official is that number? Because you all aren't
27:38really supposed to, like, figure out that number to August and I know it's based partially
27:43on the inflation rate that could certainly change by August as well. So, I mean, do you see much
27:50fluctuation in that trigger percentage or do you all feel pretty solid it's going to stay at 4%?
27:55Thank you. From what I'm told, Stephen, the inflation rate is published and the trigger
28:05is 4%. So, you know, for what I know and unless someone's made a mistake or whatever, for what I
28:13know, we're at 4%. And the only other thing, Stephen, that I would add is just this is,
28:21you know, what I'm asking for is don't stop at 4%. I mean, for crying out loud, let's bump this
28:29thing another five. We can do it. The approximate cost is going to be somewhere from, you know,
28:39as low as maybe $115 million to as high as maybe $150 million, but I don't know that exact number
28:48yet, but I'm betting it is probably going to be $130 or $135 million. So, what I would do,
28:55I would do this, you know, as just a breath of additional caution, you know, in every way. What
29:02I would do is I would either take that $130 or $135, whatever it is, and I would take $130 or
29:11$135 out of the surplus dollars we have now and add it to our income tax reserve fund that's
29:20sitting there at 400 and some odd million dollars and earning interest every day and everything and
29:27put even some more money in. And if that's not enough and you really wanted to be even more,
29:32you know, comfortable, then double it. Put $270 million in it. And with what you've already
29:39earned in interest, you'd be right at $700 million in a reserve fund that if things,
29:46if we stubbed our toes somewhere down the road, my goodness gracious sakes, we have every ounce
29:52of protection you could ever, ever, ever want. Now, with that, well, why? Then why would someone
29:59like Eric Tarr try to be shooting this down? Why would they try to be doing that? And I can tell
30:07you the answer, and the answer is so simple, as simple could possibly be, and that is just this.
30:14They have their own pet projects, and they absolutely want to put away as many dollars
30:23as they possibly can and do these pet projects that I've refused to do. Now, Stephen, it's as
30:32simple as mud to me. First and foremost, we all know the more people, the more people that the
30:41lower, I'm sorry, the lower we take our personal income tax, the more people will come, the more
30:48opportunity will come. We know that, for crying out loud. Every state in the world knows that.
30:56You know, now we know that. The next thing is just this, is we know from all the experts and
31:03revenue and everything that are here, we know we can do this. Well, then why don't we do it?
31:10Why in the world don't we do it? You know, it's the people's money. It's not our money, and we know
31:17inflation is eating our lunch right now because of the Biden administration. We know that, don't we?
31:25Why don't we do it? I mean, and if we want to turn our back on the voters, and we want to do
31:33that right now, more power to them. You know, from the standpoint of me doing something that
31:40politically is good for me, I don't need to do that. Stephen, I'm going to win. I don't need to
31:45do that. And I'm not only going to win, I'm going to win big, big, big. I don't need this for me.
31:52Stephen, absolutely, I'm just trying to do one thing, and that's help West Virginia,
31:58and really and true at the end of the day, if we want to listen to Eric Tarr,
32:03then tell them to listen to Eric Tarr, crying out loud. You know, you'll see what'll happen.
32:09All right, thank you, Stephen. Let's now go to Brad McElhinney with West Virginia Metro News.
32:15Hi, Governor. I hope you're well. Hey, as a matter of conversation,
32:19are you going to the Republican National Convention next week? You're going to take
32:22your dog? What do you think you might talk about? Tell me a little about that. But hey,
32:27here's my actual question, the more formal question. Hundreds of tracts owned by the
32:34justice companies are up for auction this week in Raleigh, Monroe, and McDowell counties because
32:41of unpaid property taxes that would normally go to support services like schools. Can you provide an
32:46explanation about what's going on with those unpaid taxes? Thank you. Brad, I really and truly
32:59don't even know why we continue to take your questions. You know, at the end of the day,
33:08it's it's like a constant barrage over my family stuff. And at the end of the day,
33:17it seems to always get worked out. You know, and my job is to be your governor. That's my job.
33:27And that's what I do. That's what I do all the time. Now, Brad, if you want to continue
33:33on this absolute mission from God to attack our family's businesses and everything,
33:39to be perfectly honest, as honest as I know how to be, I don't know one thing about the question
33:46that you've asked about. And I can tell that to God above right now, right now, to God above,
33:53absolutely with all in me. I don't know anything about that, Brad. You know, and in all honesty,
33:59every single time, it seems like that Jay and Jill seem to absolutely rise to the to the forefront,
34:10and they have problems just like any business in the land. They have opted out due to and to
34:16employ 1000s of people. I think they do a pretty good job. You know, I say this not egotistically,
34:25but I just say this and what my heart would tell you, that Brad, if I'd never been your governor,
34:30and all I'd have been doing every day would have been concentrating on those businesses,
34:34it probably been a whole lot easier on our family. But I chose not to do that. I chose to do exactly
34:43what our forefathers did, step up and serve. And that's what I'm going to continue to do.
34:50And so with all that being said, Brad, I just I just wish to goodness that that you would report
34:56something that was really the big stuff. You know, how much reporting did you do over something that
35:03literally, everybody thought the sky is falling, the sky is falling, the worst, it's the worst,
35:08the worst, the Carter Bank issue. The Carter Bank issue, absolutely was a gigantic issue.
35:16And it took a lot, a lot, a lot of work by a lot, a lot, a lot of folks. It went on for a year.
35:22And I told you over and over and over what the outcome would be. And lo and behold,
35:29is exactly what the outcome would be. Everything's good in the neighborhood. You know, we were
35:36selling the Greenbrier, we were selling a sporting club, we were doing this, we're doing that and
35:40everything else and everything. And I said, everybody calm down. Everybody just calm down.
35:46And Brad, what did you do? You ran every day and every day and every day, because you're relishing
35:51this. I don't get it. I don't get it. You know, and at the end of the day, I think we what we
35:57should be doing is just naturally if we have a big time problem. I would I would tell you reported
36:04all day long. I don't run from that in any way. You know, but I don't know why you you seem to be
36:11on a mission from God to try to just dig up something and and dig up some level of dirt
36:17and everything when we've got all this goodness that we've had. It's we should we should celebrate
36:24and we should absolutely be moving forward. Thank you. Governor back to you.
36:29Thank you.
36:33Okay.
36:39You know what my feelings are surely you do from the standpoint of the personal income tax.
36:45More than anything, I guess, you know, I want your prayers for this DOH worker and the fellow
36:51that was involved in the you know, in the accident with the truck as well. You know, West Virginia is
36:58showing and it's been been showing now for years, but great, great growth. I want to keep the
37:04momentum going. You know, it's really important. Someone asked, maybe it was Brad, you know,
37:12that asked about, you know, am I going to the convention I am, you know, and that's where
37:16we'll leave it at this time. But I think that's all I've got, you know, and, and, and, and on the,
37:25you know, the work that we decided to do at the Pleasance power plant, you know,
37:32may not work out that the hydrogen may, may not be at our fingertips right now may work out that
37:39we change the world. But absolutely, we are running a power plant there with 200 people in jobs.
37:47And we're absolutely helping our coal miners to be able to mine coal. And we're making electricity
37:52that for God's sakes to live and we desperately need, especially when it's 99 degrees outside,
38:00and we got people really hurting. So we're going to continue to keep trying to do the right thing.
38:05Thank y'all.