CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Monongalia and Preston County at the West Virginia State Legislature is planned for Thursday, February 2.
Buses will leave at 6 a.m. Thursday in order to make an 8 a.m. buckwheat cake breakfast prepared by Career Technical Education students from Preston County High School.
President and CEO of the Morgantown Area Partnership (MAP), Russ Rogerson, said after breakfast there will be small group interactions with local lawmakers and committees until 12 p.m.
“Our first priority is to make sure we have a great connection with our state legislators and to understand what the goals and objectives of the state, governor’s office, and state legislature are,” Rogerson said.
President and CEO of Visit Mountaineer Country Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Susan Riddle, will attend the event with a very familiar message: roads and road maintenance.
“We need good roads and good traffic flow,” Riddle said. “That is a real challenge for tourism in our area, and it drastically needs to be improved.”
Preston County Commission President, Samantha Stone, not only wants to talk about roads, she wants the governor to do another ride-along. In October of 2019, Governor Justice, Stone, and Commissioner Don Smith toured county roads, which resulted in an influx of new equipment and maintenance work. However, Stone said the West Virginia Department of Highways District 4 is understaffed and unable to meet the maintenance demand of the more than 1,200 miles of county roads.
“I would love for Governor Justice to come back to Preston County for a ride-along again to see the progress that has been made but also the progress that needs to take place.”
Rogerson said issues like tax reform, drugs, addiction and treatment, and issues relating to homelessness are top priorities for the Morgantown area.
“We’ll react accordingly to our membership and our community to ensure our voice is being heard,” Rogerson said.
Riddle wants to hold the line on new rules and how implementing any new tax could chill the industry.
“Such as an amusement tax or such as changing the types and requirements for expenditures of the Hotel Occupancy Tax,” Riddle said. “That would take us 20 years backwards instead of the current momentum in West Virginia for tourism.”
A second small group interaction is planned from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. before buses depart for the return trip to Morgantown at 4 p.m.