After the massive flooding that devastated much of West Virginia in 2016, the Legislature established the Flood Resiliency Fund.

The Flood Resiliency Fund was created so that West Virginia would be prepared to immediately aid people who experienced killer floods in the future, but the Legislature has never put any money in the fund. So, folks in the parts of the state that were victimized by such flooding three weeks ago, cannot access the Flood Resiliency Fund.

During the Legislature’s 2025 Regular Session (completed April 12), Governor Patrick Morrisey included $50 million for the fund in his budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which began four days ago. But the Legislature eliminated that money, when it passed the final version of the budget.

On the House Floor, Delegate Sean Hornbuckle (D-Cabell) offered an amendment to restore that $50 million. It was defeated on a 75-19, but support was bipartisan, with all nine Democrats being joined by 10 Republicans. Of Jefferson County’s four delegates, only Wayne Clark (99th District) voted “yes.”

I surely hope the raging waters of mid-June have caused legislators who voted against flood relief, to rethink their positions. Many homes have been seriously damaged, and some completely destroyed.

The administration of President Donald Trump has moved to cut funding for the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), which provides federal aid to disaster victims. President Trump has indicated that he thinks states should share more of the financial burden for disaster relief.

I oppose the idea of weakening FEMA — natural disasters rarely obey state borders. West Virginia is one of the five poorest states in the Union, and one of those least able to absorb a greater portion of disaster relief costs.

Governor Morrisey has said he’ll call a special session soon to fix the very serious problems with the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA), the health plan for state employees. I urge him to also include in his call to the legislators, a request to finally put money in the Flood Resiliency Fund.

In addition to the $50 million amendment he offered, Delegate Hornbuckle sponsored legislation to put a much larger amount, $250 million, into the Flood Resiliency Fund, during this year’s regular session. I think that figure is much closer to what the fund needs.

When a governor calls a special session of the Legislature, the only items that may be considered are those items placed on the “call” for the session by the governor. Legislators are forbidden to introduce any bill that covers a topic not on the call. This special session is totally the governor’s show — he’s in complete control of the agenda.

The Legislature could call itself into session, and in that case legislators could introduce bills on any subjects they wish. I doubt this will happen, as it has only happened a couple of times in our state’s 162-year history.

Aid for the victims of the mid-June flooding needs to be appropriated by the Legislature soon. And we need to finally begin preparing for future floods.

John Doyle is a 26-year former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. He can be reached at rjohndoyle@comcast.net.