During the Interim Committee meetings of the Legislature, the Rule Making Review Committee had a Division of Labor Rule on the agenda for consideration dealing with the Contractor Licensing Board.
This rule would have changed the definition of a contractor and added a definition for speculative sales and leasing. The new definition included language that said a contractor’s license would be necessary for “any construction for an undetermined or unknown or potential buyer or occupant with the expectation of compensation of fee upon the sale of the property”, performed by anyone-including the owner of the property.
We were notified, called several members for input and have good news to report: The rule was taken off the agenda on Sunday and was not put up for passage.
The Pensions Committee heard from Blair Taylor on a breakdown of the Municipal Fire and Police Plans. There was no action taken by the committee although several questions were asked regarding the status of cities who do not have their own pension plans, investments and funding status.
Verizon presented a request to Finance Subcommittee asking for a comprehensive study and reform of the telecommunications tax in WV. State sales taxes as well as local government’s franchise and utility taxes were included in the request. We expect this issue to be addressed during the Session and members should pay close attention to the discussion. The Utility Tax is one of the largest revenue items in municipal budgets.
