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Upcoming Legislative session topic of Town Hall meeting

By Toni Milbourne - For the Chronicle | Dec 17, 2021

Delegate John Doyle (WV-D) speaks to his constituents in the War Memorial Building on Tuesday night. Toni Milbourne

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Delegate John Doyle (D-WV) welcomed constituents to the War Memorial Building Tuesday evening to discuss the upcoming Legislative session.

In opening remarks, Doyle shared that he has officially filed to run for the Jefferson County Commission in the upcoming election; however, he stressed that the Town Hall meeting was dedicated to dealing with Legislative issues alone. Doyle stayed true to that path, as he steered questions and comments consistently toward legislative topics.

Doyle began by saying he felt there were at least two issues that will be prominent in the upcoming session. One of those is the abortion issue as the U.S. Supreme Court hears significant cases, and a move is on to potentially overturn Roe v. Wade.

“It will be debated a lot,” Doyle said.

A second issue that will be focused on will be the repeal of the state income tax, which is something he said Gov. Jim Justice hopes to do.

“I will fight this with every fiber of my being,” Doyle told the nearly two dozen individuals gathered.

According to Doyle, taking away such a significant portion of the general budget would require it to be replaced with other sources of revenue. One potential source, he said, would be an increase to sales tax.

“An even trade would mean the sales tax would increase to 18 percent,” Doyle said. “It would be unfair to those in the state and would knock the dickens out of the tourism industry.”

He said other possible scenarios after elimination of the income tax would be to not fund things in the budget, such as schools or law enforcement. Or, he added, some propose, including Republican Eric Householder, that a planned elimination over 10 years would allow for a natural growth in the budget to cover any losses. Doyle expressed he does not believe that natural growth would be successful.

The topic of solar energy was another he raised, noting there is a bill proposed to make a state law, exempting solar farms from local zoning.

“I disagree with running to the state when you don’t agree with the local rules,” Doyle said, adding that Jefferson County, which was told it was impossible to rewrite zoning ordinances without changing the county comprehensive plan, is now working to change things in the correct process.

According to Doyle, JCC President Steve Stolipher is the one who approached him with the proposed solar law.

“It may be unnecessary, if they go through the correct process,” Doyle said.

Questions arose from the audience, regarding Rockwool and the possibility of more heavy industry entering the county. Some in the room voiced concerns that the insulation company is only operating during nighttime hours. Doyle said he was not aware of any change in the company’s hours.

He did comment, however, that he has spoken to representatives at the state Economic Development Office, regarding avoiding additional heavy industry coming to Jefferson County.

“I told them they need to keep heavy industry out of Jefferson County,” Doyle said. “They didn’t say I was wrong.”

He mentioned that the chance to stop Rockwool was lost when, during the last election, Republicans won significant seats, including Tricia Jackson for Jefferson County Commission, Wayne Clark as Delegate and Patricia Rucker as State Senator.

“They were all supporters of Rockwool,” Doyle said, adding he did not believe the Rockwool issue helped them win their seats, but rather that a nationwide trend for the Republican party was instrumental in those victories.

“We do need to watch Rockwool and make sure they don’t pollute,” Doyle said.