hello everyone it's uh September the 11th a day that we will never ever ever forget a day that really and truly no matter where you were whether you were driving or at home with your children or wherever you were I'm sure that when you saw and heard the to the towers coming down and The Bravery of the people on The Airliner that you know fell into the field in Pennsylvania but absolutely those folks kept that plane from another horrific attack on us or whether it was a pentagon or or whatever the attack on America was really profound with all that being said it's been 23 years hasn't it 23 years and it seems like as time goes by we can forget but absolutely we should never forget the images the images in our minds of seeing all those folks leap to their death because they were the fires were unbelievable in their offices we absolutely saw those Towers collapse and we saw First Responders run running to the fire we lost all kinds of them did we not absolutely those families are still hurting today and we should always remember we should always keep those folks in our prayers absolutely with all being said don't forget that don't forget today September the 11th a lot like today Blue Sky an absolutely beautiful day and absolutely with all in US it changed just like that you know a day that we will never ever forget and I plead with you to never forget it never so with all that being said we absolutely need to always say prayers for America for those families for those people we lost for those people that suffered with chronic illnesses for years and years after trying to do everything they could to save people we lost so many we should never ever forget God bless this incredible country it's the Envy of the world and jealousy and envy can absolutely play horrible roles the en eny of the world the beacon we want to always remain just that but with all that being said please please please never forget never ever ever forget I think Randall is going to be with us you know right right now and U at least I thought he was but but I now I see that he's not he's not available and everything but uh so I want to read to you just a little bit here and everything because I'm not terrifically versed on this but uh on September the 11th our country reflects on the heroes and Patriots who Serve and Protect US honoring their sacrifices through acts of service in West Virginia we continue this tradition by supporting projects that engage local volunteers honor veterans and Preserve our history I'm happy to announce that we have distributed three grants for these projects one of the grants is our September 11th day of service Grant which will be honoring you know our amazing veterans it's [Music] $29,500 it's awarded on this day of service and Remembrance to our as SE Cemetery grants for Cemetery preservation across the state and finally $14,597 you know we announced that we're going to have a special session that's going to begin on uh on Monday September the 30th the primary reason for this is just this I promised you didn't I I told you I've always kept my word and I've told you exactly what I think we should do I'm very very hopeful that we can get an additional tax cut to our people at least an additional 5% and I'm and and and and I think really the 5% is just to be perfectly honest if we can't find a little over $ hundred million with all the surpluses and all the things that we got going on and return it to the great people of West Virginia the toby and Edith ediths out there that are fighting this terrible inflation and and and you know it it's just it's unbelievable I mean it's flat unbelievable you know I I I mean all you've got to do all in the world you got to do if you can afford to do it is go through a drive-thru window and absolutely get your order and maybe it's for you and your wife or whomever it may be and all of a sudden it comes back and you are astounded astounded with what stuff cost go to the grocery store go to the grocery store and and and and pick up a pound of bacon you know it is unbelievable what stuff costs right now you know and and and we all believe that it's driven by Energy prices in lots of ways well for crying out you know why don't we have a national energy policy why are we not leading the world in energy why do we not have the cheapest of the cheapest to the cheapest right here and it blows me away but with all that being said we need to give back to our people now's our time to step up and give back and nobody will ever convince me in 10 million years that if we absolutely continue on an aggressive Pathway to getting rid of of our personal income tax more and more and more goodness will come to West Virginia you know you got people out there that says well let's wait let's wait another six months or whatever it may be look you know I'm only here I'm only here for another three or four months but I want to run through the Finish Line we could just Coast coast along and say yeah look what good we did we had the biggest tax cut in history 21% to all you folks out there 21 and a qu% and then we got a another 4% when we triggered yay yay yay why do more and absolutely I'm going to run through the finish line and I'm going to fight for you each and every day if this if this blows up and everything it's not on me it's really and truly on our legislature they need to step up and help right now and I think that they will I really do you know I put in some stuff in regard to child care you know and uh and and you know we haven't finalized everything we're working with the leadership and uh but we'll start on September the 30th and and uh if it blows up well it blows up but I'm going to try with all in me and that's what I've done since day one that's what I'm going to continue to do you know Chelsea Ruby's with us but secretary Ruby has done an unbelievable job in regard to tourism the numbers are flat out off the chart can you imagine in in in TW I'm sorry in 2023 last year we had over 75 million visitors that uh explored the beauty of West Virginia and uh it is unflat believable 75 million visitors last year that contributed 8.7 billion do in total economic impact so Chelsea has done a fabulous job you know we've worked arm in-arm and and absolutely I I couldn't be more proud of her and uh it's been it's been a real partnership and uh she's a superstar in every way and uh what what's going on in West Virginia as far as tourism is off the chart and uh you know we started and we were we were kind of in the dumps or really in the dumps and and you see what's happened and so Chelsea come on and and uh and and tell us all the good stuff and we're really really proud of you good morning Governor thanks for having me yesterday was an exciting day we had over 400 industry members here in Charleston for the Governor's conference on tourism was the biggest crowd we've ever had we have over hundred new members so new people in this industry who are opening hotels attractions working for convention visitors bureaus while they were here we went through new economic impact data so we had Adam saxs who was the president of Tourism economics which is a division of Oxford economics who was here and went through those numbers and Governor if you'll allow me I want to walk through some of the highlights of that report the report's on our website but there's some incredible data in it so the first one is that there were 75 million people who visited the tourism industry in West Virginia last year and those folks aren't just congregated in certain regions we saw growth in all nine of our travel regions those 75 million people contributed directly spent more than 6 billion dollar it was actually 6.3 billion last year so what we're seeing is we have more people coming in and they're spending more money the the industry itself generated more than a billion dollars in taxes it was the first year we've tapped a billion and if you think about that in terms of what that's doing for our economy here in West Virginia it's an incredible number it's also supporting jobs all across the state so we're up to over 60,000 jobs and those 60,000 jobs are paying more than 2 billion annually in earnings so if you look at what is the overall impact so you take the 6.3 billion in direct spending and you take the jobs and the spending from the people who work in that industry the overall impact to the state is 8.7 billion this is the highest in the state's history and this is a number that we're really really proud of so that's lots of big numbers and I know every industry has numbers so I like to boil that down and put that into context so if you look at those numbers what it equates to is $17 million a day spent in West Virginia on average so 365 days a year there are visitors traveling all across the state and they spend 17 million if you take that 2.1 billion in annual earnings and you and you divide it up among all the households in West Virginia that's about $2,900 per household so these are good paying jobs and they're contributing significantly to our economy if you think about all the jobs in West Virginia and then you think about the ones supported by the tourism industry we find that one in 15 jobs in the state is supported by the industry so those are all great numbers for West Virginia and contribute significantly to West Virginia's economy but I also want to put in context of the larger United States economy so in the tourism industry We compare everything back to 2019 we all look at pre pandemic how were we doing right before the pandemic and Governor as you remember 2019 was our highest ever year on record so if you look at West Virginia's spending today and compare it to 2019 we are up 23% if you look at the United States as a whole and compare it to 2019 the US is only up 9% so to put that in perspective we're outpacing the US rate of growth by nearly 2 and a half times the other thing that I'll do to put it in perspective is go back and look at the numbers when Governor Justice took office the annual traveler spending direct spending no economic impacts nothing the actual dollars being spent in this state annually are now nearly two billion more than they were when we started so those are some pretty impressive numbers because of this last night we also recognized Governor Justice with a Lifetime Achievement Award the West Virginia tourism industry has never had a champion for tourism like Governor Justice the governor has supported the industry like no one ever has before the governor has invested in the industry like never before and he's delivered for the industry so even though he has a thousand things to do as he said um in his opening remarks he stays really involved with this he knows every ad that's going out he's constantly looking at performance helping me manage that and monitor that so I want to thank the governor for this um I want to thank him for helping lead us in the direction and taking West Virginia to a level that we never even dreamed of so it was an honor last night to give him that Lifetime Achievement Award and Governor again I want to say thank you I don't think the industry ever imagined the changes that were on the horizon and as you said last night to them I think we're just getting started so thank you thank you thank you well Chelsea bring tears to my eyes because uh what an incredible run we've had and uh we want to keep it going in West Virginia we're really proud and uh and you know it's been it's been like I said it's been a great partnership with you and all your folks and what leadership you've brought to the tables off the chart and uh I could not possibly be more proud of you than and all those and uh and the bottom line is just how how absolutely how we've awakened a potential giant that we should have known so often we should have known that what we had and uh and we just wouldn't give it up that's all is to it you know it was uh it was either DOA or surely in tough shape at the hospital or or or you know or forgotten you know but uh we have awakened this unbelievable potential this unbelievable goodness that absolutely showing off our state and uh and bringing so much happiness and goodness to so many I mean you just think 60,000 people working in tourism absolutely the 75 million ve visitors and billions and billions of dollars flowing in and it can only get better and so uh great work I'm really proud of all of you and and God bless each and every one of you we've had we've had a lot of fun and let's let's keep going we still got a little bit of time left let's keep on going but uh thank you again okay we've got uh secretary Bailey uh with us today and James is going to tell us some good stuff that U Chef Paul is is is working on in West Virginia you know prep to serve Appalachia you know is is um is is a really really really neat thing that we're getting ready to do uh but it's a a fine dining certification program right here in West Virginia and and uh secretary Bailey come and tell us tell us more about this James Justice uh it's an honor to uh tell everybody today about uh what you mentioned the prep to serve Appalachia program which is a partnership between the Department of Commerce uh West Virginia health and West Virginia's very own Chef Paul Smith uh Chef Paul is going to serve as the lead instructor for this program uh he was recently uh named as a distinguished West Virginia uh by Governor Justice uh and is a ACC claimed culinary expert with Decades of experience and uh recently became West Virginia's first ever award recipient of the James Beard award uh we are doing it uh the program will feature an accelerat thre Monon fine dining worker certification program it's designed to train West Virginia for front of house and food prep positions in fine dining restaurants uh it will feature 10 West Virginia every quarter so 40 per year being trained directly from Chef Paul uh where this is being done with West Virginia health right uh we're also allowing participants uh while they're participating in the program uh to receive free medical dental Behavioral Health recovery and Pharmacy Services uh to ensure uh success in the program it will provide true wraparound Services uh the classes are being conducted here in Charleston at West Virginia health rights fully equipped uh teaching uh kitchens uh again as I said it's a three-month program the first month of this program will be uh two will include meeting two days a week and receiving direct uh direct uh lessons from Chef Paul in the classroom uh in the classroom atmosphere and then months two and three will feature on the job placement uh with uh direct uh Real World Experience training uh participants will be compensated uh depending on where they are uh located uh and they will have uh as they go through this process and as they even after they finish participants will have followup meetings with Chef Paul and West Virginia health right to ensure uh that their professional growth and uh success is uh is on track uh the classes will begin in October anyone can apply uh we do feel that it's uh particularly could be beneficial to those who are on their uh recovery Journey uh it's a terrific opportunity to help build a new uh career uh one that will provide fulfillment and professional growth uh there is absolutely no cost to participate uh we are funding this through a grant from WorkForce West Virginia uh and all the wraparound medical and Behavioral Health Services are being provided uh through uh West Virginia health right uh I want to take an opportunity to uh highlight a couple things first foremost to thank Governor Justice for making this possible uh this is a just a small example of the kind of directive we've all received from him which is to do everything we can to prepare the workforce that we need uh Workforce availability is one of the largest uh hurdles for restaurants particularly you know these independent uh more fine dining restaurants uh throughout the state uh so this is a way to both help individuals and help those small businesses and we couldn't do it without Governor Justice's support I also want to highlight West Virginia health right for making uh this all happen West Virginia health right uh they are an organization based here in Charleston that provides free comprehensive Healthcare to low-income um uninsured and underinsured adults in West Virginia Angie settle runs West Virginia health right and does a terrific job uh they now provide uh their services to more than 43,000 patients uh across 34 counties uh all people who are underinsured uh or underinsured and uh with their services combined reach $25 million annually uh they really provide the Gap uh services to the Gap For the Working Poor for the folks who you may not qualify for the um for uh the medical services for uh folks who are in poverty and also don't have full health insurance coverage so they do a terrific job and this is just another uh service that they're providing that'll be beneficial throughout the community so I want to thank them and thank Governor Justice for making this all happen thank you James thank you and uh thank you for the great job you've done and and you continue to do and uh again we're very very very proud um Kathy is with commun in schools today with their friends with Paul's program they're at uh Petersburg elementary school and then they're going to go from there to Davis Thomas Elementary Middle School uh they have two dogs that they're placing one is by by the name of Joey and the other one Prim and uh and and these are a total now of 44 I'm sorry 34 dogs that have been placed in the schools I've said it 10 million times but uh this program has been a real winner uh it's communities and schools in West Virginia is a different animal maybe than the national program but uh but we have really helped a lot a lot a lot of kids and and it is instrumental in our schools in every way and uh you know I'm really really proud of Kathy Kathy's worked really hard on this and they're friends with Paul's program is just a an extension of communities and schools and what a job they've done you we got to be really really proud last thing I have is uh not good this is really sad in every way but uh you know we had a a coal miner Jerry Chapman you know who was um injured I guess last Friday and he's passed away now and uh you know it's just it's just terrible I mean you know a lot of you don't know much about the coal mines but uh I sure do and I I see how hard these people work and I see the conditions that they work in and we try to make it as safe as we can possibly make it all the time and uh and and absolutely try to make it as dust free as we possibly can all the time and uh but it's tough stuff I mean that's all is to it and these people have uh not only powered the nation but they've built a nation they built the world and what I what I say about that is just this you know with metallurgical coal you got to have metallurgical coal to make steel uh you know for the most part and all across the world you know uh West Virginia Miners have supplied that metallurgical coal and they've supplied the thermal coal that's absolutely Runner Nation you know and and so uh please don't forget them in my book they hero Chen every day I mean every single day and uh and you know so for uh Gary Chapman's family and him I think we should always keep them in prayer and uh Kathy and I surely do so and like I said it uh it flat hits home with me all the time because uh you know I I grew up in the mining industry and and know it very well and uh and very very proud of what all of us have done in the mining industry especially our Miners and all the good work that they do so keep Gary Chapman and his family in your prayers please do so that's all I've got for right now all right thank you Governor we'll now take questions from members of the media first up today is Beth Sergeant with the Gazette mail hello Governor thanks for taking my question it's Beth from The Gazette mail hey um my question is I just wanted to clarify on addressing Child Care during the special session um you've talked about the child care tax credit um is that the same that uh are you going to propose the same child care tax credit that you proposed during the regular session um have there been any modifications made to it um can you just uh shed some light on that thank you be the same one and uh you know I think we just kind of ran out of time and I hope to goodness we can get this across the Finish Line This doesn't seem like much of nothing to get across the finish line and uh and and you know right behind that I you know I'm I'm I'm I'm going to propose also you know that uh there's a little tweak you know that I'm going to propose with it it's basically uh the creation of uh of a new grant program and everything and uh through Workforce that be on you know based on Performance Based and U and so you know you'll have to kind of wait and see what that's all about and everything but uh but we we we do have a dilemma in this nation in regard to child care we all know it and uh and and you know we we've got to find a way to be able to help our Working Families if we can right now we can and uh and so let's let's try to help I mean for crying out loud we got to have young people we got to have families with kids and everything you know that are in the state and uh and and doing a lot of good work and so I think Child Care is a real issue and we got to try to do something about it thank you Beth we'll now take question from Charles young with WV news young with W news um just kind of following up on Beth's question um governor do you plan to release drafts of this legislation prior to the 30th to give the rank and file lawmakers time to familiarize your themselves with these proposals thank you Charles we're working with the legislature sure to goodness we can get that done and get it out you know uh you know it just uh uh you know I I surely you know my answer ought to be yes and and is yes you know I hope to goodness we can get that out and the sooner the better thank you Charles next up is Mark Curtis with nextar media uh good morning governor and uh staffers and fellow reporters uh I want to follow up on the fare question to Governor the the house Democrats held a news conference yesterday in parkerburg um saying that the the bill you're going to propose the same one uh is a good starting point but it just doesn't fund enough um they noted that a family max out on a federal Child Care Credit gets about $450 per child per year and that you're going to do 50% of that so that adds another 225 bucks so we're looking at $675 uh subsidy for child care or tax credit for child care um when childcare is averaging 120 or $150 to $200 a week so it's basically these tax credits would pay for about three weeks of child care and they want more funding they want you to to up up the Annie at the same time the center on budget and policy notes they have a new study out saying West Virginia has the lowest subsidy for child care in our six state region we uh have a per capita um payment of about $5 per person in the state to help Child Care whereas Pennsylvania has the highest in the region at $22 so what can be done is there a way especially with the Surplus dollars to put more money into what you're proposing unch Child Care Mark that's what I just said just a second ago you know the uh we do need to put some more money in you know uh but we got to get it across the Finish Line don't we with the legislature you know the the that's where we ran into snaf as far as just the simple just a simple tax credit you know for the folks we didn't get that passed you know but but what I've got is is you know the creation of a new grant program and and we're putting some additional dollars in that and uh and you know you know Mark the bottom line the whole thing is you know you're preaching to the choir with me I know there's a problem with healthc care our nation knows there's a problem with child care rather and uh and and so with all that being said you know the the choices are real simple either do something about it or you don't you know I mean it's just it's just as simple as that to me it's the same thing with our tax break we can say well let's let's just defer it and kick it on down the road and everything why why would we do that are we are we are we doing that so somebody after me can take credit are we doing that because we have special projects that we want to keep the money and and and and then put it into our pet projects I mean what are we doing this for I mean at the end of the day I'm here and I'm telling you wholeheartedly we need to reward our people with a bigger tax break right now inflation's eating us alive we've got the money with this it's it's sound and solid as it can be do it why wait why wait you know the next thing is as far as the child care I mean Mark you're preaching to the choir you know I'm trying to create you know a a grant program that we can absolutely help you know based on performance base and going through work force and everything to where we just don't waste the money and throw the money away you know we know what the situation is on a national basis you know but there's lots of different way lots of different you know things going on here and everything that we need to to deal with but at the end of the day you're preaching to the choir with me we got a problem in child care we need to do something about it we have an absolute opportunity to be able to reward our people with a bigger tax cut we need to do something about it and why wait why wait you know I mean all I can do is try thank you Mark next up is Brianna Haney with West Virginia Public Broadcasting hello Governor um providing a tax break for families whose children are already in child care will help help those families um but it won't have help families that don't um currently have access to child care because there are not enough spots are there any other bills aside from the child tax credit um that you will ask the legislature to consider um to open up more child care spots in the state and if so what would those proposals look like you know it and please forgive me but but some times you know the the questions are muffled and and it's difficult for me to to to hear real well but I've I've tried to I've triy to tell you you know three different times now of exactly where I stand you know if if we come back with uh you know an alternative that would create additional child care facilities or whatever within the state or opportunities or whatever like that sure we'll look at it and everything and and I'll probably look at it very favorably you know U you know the whole Child Care issue without any question is a complex problem there's no question about that and there's a lot of different ways to look at it but the way not to look at it is you know don't stick it in a hole and bury it and say well we'll get to it later on I mean you got people that are really hurting you know kids back in school right now people don't really know where to turn you know issues about people you know the possibility of people would like to move to to West Virginia and and we're you know behind the curve or whatever like that you know I I just don't see any reason to uh Kick the Can down the road and put this in a hole and and think it's going to get better when we dig it up the next time thank you Brianna next up is stepen Allen Adams with Ogden news yeah Steve Stephen Adams a newspapers here uh obviously you keep referring to the available Surplus I think close to $600 million when you also factor in unappropriated monies uh currently sitting in current fisal year budget but I get the feeling talking to lawmakers and some of the public statements have been said that they are more comfortable with doing a possible 5% tax cut if an equal amount you know that 115 million uh is cut from State spending to make that happen so uh rather than using Surplus one-time dollars considering to the next budget lawmakers are going to have to factor in this 5% uh would you be willing and interested in paying for this tax cut by cutting State spending a Comm measured amount thank you Stephen absolutely absolutely if they can come to me with with something that they would propose that we you know that would that basically cut things and everything we'll look at it we'll look at it you know uh we've been talking about this since the summer you know and uh you know I don't you I I just uh you know Stephen we we've been at this a long time and literally what we're talking about you know Stephen let's and and and I I'm going to miss this a little bit but we put $400 million in in basically the emergency fund it's a rainy day fund you know in regard to our personal income tax it's earning interest and we probably now got I don't know $430 million in there you know I would be willing to to put some more money in there if we wanted to put some more money in there Stephen I mean for crying out loud we're talking about a little over a $100 million here you know if we take it out of surplus dollars this year we put more money in in the income tax Reserve fund or whatever it may be or we come up with something that we can actually you know say well we cut you know we cut back on this and we and we gave a 5% tax break to our people you know so we got it all covered whatever the situation may be I mean we've been at this for a long long long time you know we just can't can't afford you know to just keep kicking the can down the road and and and and not acting now and and if and if that's what what we want to do then that's on somebody else that's not on me I'm trying with all in me and everything to do exactly what I think we should do and it's the reason we're here we're here for Toby and Edith we're not here for gym Justice we're not here for a pet project we're not here to see you know who who can get more Fame as far as politically or whatever it may be we're here for Toby and Edith period that's all there is to it you know from my standpoint Toby and Edith are really hurting with this inflation stuff and we can do this and and we'll never even know we did it it but but it will send a great signal to the world and uh this is crazy this is absolutely ridiculous that's all it's do thank you Stephen next up is Mike El Leath with w y hello Governor thank you for taking my question um I want to ask you about the Welch Community Hospital potentially closing its operating room in December the McDow County Commission says it's been in contact with your office about the issue and that your office has instructed the hospital to continue to provide those Services um I just wanted to ask what's the state doing to make sure that that operating room stays open and and what other issues is the hospital experiencing that the state's working to address thank you listen you know you know me I don't I don't know any way to tell you anything other than just to tell to you just like it is um my secretary got so far out over his skis it was unbelievable came out with this announcement and everything you know as soon as I got worded about this I said there's no way there is no way this ain't going to Happ on my watch there's no way I mean I I go by the Welch Hospital from time to time when I'm with my son on a weekend or something like that all the time and it's a good hospital and it is so needed in that area and say we're going to just stop surgeries and whatever so we can save a few bucks down in in an area that we really need to be trying to help in every way are you kidding me are you kidding me you know we need to invest in our rural hospitals and we need to really we need there the backbone of our communities you know do you think in all honesty Jim Justice is going to do this on Jim Justice's watch in McDow County absolutely are you kidding me you know it's a real screw up you know by by our secretary and uh I I don't know I don't know how in the world we came up with that but nevertheless uh we're not doing it we're not doing that I mean everybody you know stand down there's no way it's going to happen on my watch I'll promise you that thank you Micah next up is Tom susman with wov radio Governor thank you for taking my question I was at a meeting last night of probably 100 150 Farmers up at the Jackson County Regional livestock market they've been packed they've been impacted by the drought some of the conservation districts are out of money I know you've declared a state of emergency but my question is are there plans to place meaningful Financial drought assistance funding on the September 30th special session call for farmers and producers um they had significant issues last night and just wanted to see what the administration's plans were in that regard well first let me say this you know uh when I graduated from Marshall and had my MBA of all things and I ended up becoming a farmer in 1977 we started our farming operation and we grew and grew and grew and at one point in time we were the biggest cash grain Farmers meaning that we we were growing a crop corn wheat and soybeans the biggest the biggest east of the Mississippi River at one time you know uh we absolutely are in tune with what's going on agriculturally across this state and it this dry weather has been detrimental and and devastating in every way absolutely I I get it I get it wholeheartedly you know uh we're trying to do what we can to help you know with all that being said can we do more probably so are we working on it are we working on it with the commissioner and and and and folks to be able to try to do what we can do and do more are there National programs that you know through FSA or or or or whatever you know that uh that are out there all across the board right now of course there are you know but uh but it is a real problem and uh without any question you know our Farmers you know are hurting and we all should know that and uh and and I know it ever so well and we're trying to figure out what we can do to help and what we've already done is is is good stuff but uh evidently we need to do more Tom thank you Governor back to you well let me review real quick I you know the without question you know I I want us to just first of all I don't want us to forget J Gary Chapman and his family and uh and and but at the same time it's 911 it's 911 and we saw a tragedy like we can't imagine we saw an attack on our homeland an attack on America like you can't imagine it's 23 years ago and it's easy to forget or it's easy maybe to think it can't happen again but it can and absolutely we we need to remember all those all those we lost all those that ran to the fire you know U all those that suffered years and years and years with with illnesses you know from running to the fire so with all that being said uh don't ever forget don't ever forget you know we celebrated incredible incredible numbers as far as tourism and a lot of good stuff today don't forget Gary Chapman and don't forget 911 God bless each and every one of you