Senate committee OKs substitute to create Corridor H Advanced Energy Economic Corridor Authority Council

The Senate Economic Development Committee on an unrecorded voice vote agreed to a committee substitute for Senate Bill 869 to create the Corridor H Advanced Energy Economic Corridor Authority Council and voted to report the bill to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass, with referral to the Committee on Finance.

The committee substitute would continue the Robert C. Byrd Corridor H Highway Authority and expand it into a 26-member corridor authority charged with facilitating economic expansion and job creation along the I-73/I-74 corridor in southern West Virginia. The authority would include 21 voting members—three appointed by each county commission in the seven counties through which the corridor runs—and five nonvoting ex officio members representing state agencies including the Department of Highways, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Economic Development, and Region 7 and Region 8 planning and development councils.

The substitute sets three-year terms for voting members with the initial appointments staggered for one, two and three years; members may be reappointed and serve until successors are named. Members would receive reimbursement for expenses but no compensation. The authority would have broad powers, including setting goals, seeking public–private partnerships, pursuing interstate partnerships, developing a memorandum of understanding with the Appalachian Regional Commission on economic development and infrastructure, acquiring and disposing of property, entering contracts, and accepting gifts and funds. The legislation requires the authority to submit an annual report to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance on or before Dec. 1 each year describing its activities.

Counsel summarized the membership and funding responsibilities when asked who would pay members’ expenses, saying, “It would be, well, as far as the ex officio members are concerned, it would be the agencies that they represent. And then for the 21 voting members, it would be the county commissions that appoint those members.”

The bill’s sponsor, identified in the transcript as the senator from Upshur, framed the measure as long‑standing local priority: “But this is very important for our area of the state. It's the development that's occurring presently and that will come, with completion of the road.”

Chairman confirmed that committee members who are appointed to the authority would be required to participate in votes on the bill, saying, “You're a member of a class and will be required to vote.” The committee agreed to the substitute and then voted to report SB 869 to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass and that it first be referred to the Committee on Finance. The transcript records the result as the ayes carrying the motion; a numeric roll call was not provided in the hearing record.

The bill now moves to the full Senate and, per the committee motion, is to be sent first to the Committee on Finance for consideration.