CHARLESTON, W.Va. — “Randy’s Dream” now has a much more specific set of ideas behind the idea that we might be able to fix some of the state’s secondary and tertiary roads without dipping into any road bond money.
Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker County, announced his dream of “fixing the darn roads” last week on the Senate floor.
This week, Smith said there are two simple ways to pay to ramp up road maintenance throughout the state — particularly in Preston County, where he claims he receives more complaints over road calls than the other seven counties he represents combined.
“My plan is pretty basic,” he said Thursday on MetroNews “Talkline” With Hoppy Kercheval. “Immediately take $200 million from the Rainy Day Fund and ear tag it directly for secondary roads.”
Gov. Jim Justice had expressed in the past a possibility that road bond money could be used to address the state’s already existing infrastructure issues, but Smith thinks differently.
“We’ve got all this money going into new bridges, new roads, but we’re not doing anything for secondary roads,” he said.
Additionally, Smith wants to see a very specific tax increase.
“I’m going to advocate adding a one percent severance tax to natural gas for the next five years,” Smith said. “Cause a lot of our road problems in the northern part of our state is being caused by the gas development, which they expect to last about five years. I feel they need to get some skin in the game and put some money toward just to help fix the problem.”
Part of solving the crisis, Smith said, is addressing the workforce issues — namely that it’s a lot easier to leave the DOH and go work for the oil and gas industry.
“You can stay at the Department of Highways and make 11 or 12 dollars driving a truck or you can go to the gas industry and make 25 or 30 dollars an hour,” Smith said. “You can’t blame a person for trying to improve there self. I’d be going to the gas industry too if I was raising a family.”
Senate District 14, which includes parts of Monongalia, Barbour, Grant, Hardy, Mineral, Preston, Taylor, and Tucker counties, features a number of major highways, but Smith said Preston County is the source of most road complaints — by a large margin — to his office.
“District 4 is where the core of the problem is,” he said. “Preston County, by far, is the worst. And Mon County is right there with it, but Preston County has over 1,200 miles of roads.”
District 4 includes Preston, Taylor, and Monongalia — three counties Smith at least partially represents — along with Harrison, Marion, and Doddridge counties.
“We’re in emergency,” Smith said. “That’s what the Rainy Day fund is. I don’t like taking money out of the Rainy Day Fund.”
That’s exactly, though, what Smith will propose. He will unveil the plan on the Senate floor Thursday.