West Virginia House amends bill aimed at helping small businesses | News, Sports, Jobs

House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, right, said Friday a bill creating the West Virginia First Small Business Growth Program would help the state compete to keep small businesses from jumping to neighboring states for better economic development incentives. (Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography)

CHARLESTON — The West Virginia House of Delegates amended a bill Friday championed by Senate President Randy Smith, melding it with the House Republican majority’s Jobs First – Opportunity Everywhere economic development agenda.
Senate Bill 1, the Small Business Growth Act, passed the House Friday morning in an 87-3 vote with nine members absent or not voting. The bill heads back to the Senate to concur with the changes made to the bill by the House, setting up SB 1 to be the first bill this session sent to the desk of Gov. Patrick Morrisey.
SB 1 establishes the West Virginia First Small Business Growth Program, under which specialized growth funds collect capital from investors to provide financing to eligible small businesses that maintain the majority of their operations and workforce within the state. In exchange for these investments, growth investors receive non-refundable tax credits that can be applied against their state tax liabilities starting in 2029.
“This tax credit program that’s in this bill applies to companies that employ less than 250 employees, 60% of the workforce has to be West Virginia-based, or you can move 60% of your workforce into West Virginia,” explained House Judiciary Committee Chairman JB Akers, R-Kanawha.
“A lot of the economic development bills we see are geared towards attracting new businesses to the state, and we’re all for that,” Akers continued. “This bill is focused on existing West Virginia businesses. This is a promise that we have made that we’re going to start focusing as much of our attention as possible on existing West Virginia businesses, and this bill provides them with the capitalization they need to grow.”
To ensure compliance, the Department of Commerce will oversee the application process.
The bill mandates that funds meet specific benchmarks for job creation and capital retention. If a fund fails to maintain its investment levels or violates program rules, the state reserves the right to recapture the issued tax credits.
House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, said the program will be helpful in West Virginia’s border counties that have to compete with incentives offered by neighboring states.
“We’re competing for those people that live in our valley to locate their businesses on one side of the river or the other. A lot of us work on both sides of the river,” Criss said. “Finally, in the financial structure of our state, we are going to have the opportunity to help small businesses.”
SB 1 was amended Thursday to include provisions that were in a similar piece of legislation. House Bill 4003, creating the West Virginia First Small Business Growth Act, was one of several bills under the House Republican caucus’ Jobs First – Opportunity Everywhere economic agenda first announced in December.
SB 1 first came over from the Senate on Feb. 6, where the bill passed 27-6 with one absent. Senate President Smith, R-Preston, is the lead sponsor of the bill. He first talked about introducing a bill aimed solely at small businesses during the annual Charleston Regional Chamber of Commerce Issues and Eggs event on Jan. 13, the day before the start of the 2026 legislative session.
“I want to focus on small business on the Senate side,” he said. “I’m all for trying to bring in the big players. … But I feel being (a) small business owner, over the years we’ve kind of neglected the small businesses.”
SB 1 had bipartisan support in the House Friday, with members of both parties speaking in favor of the bill.
“What we’re doing here today is we are looking at people who currently do not have the means to be able to further themselves in a business setting, and we’re acknowledging that they do not have access and so as a body we’re going to create that,” said House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell. “I appreciate that and urge acceptance.”
“I personally have been working with an individual for almost two years now to help him obtain grants and money to get his small business up and running,” said Del. Charles Sheedy, R-Marshall. “He is supporting his wife and family now with his small business. He wants to expand. This will enable him to expand without having to seek any further grants or take any small business loans. This is just history-making legislation, in my opinion, for the State of West Virginia.”
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com