Speaking to state lawmakers Wednesday for a final time before he assumes a new role in the U.S. Senate, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice touted his administration’s accomplishments in education, roads and tourism, among others, and promised to continue the nation’s fossil fuel industry.
“All the surpluses, all the gains, all the tourism, all the roads, all the, all the. You know what we did, we did this together,” Justice told lawmakers. “And you should be very proud. Every last one of all of y’all. Every single last one of you. You restored and gave West Virginia pride and hope. You did. You should never forget that.”
Repeating a saying from his father, Justice told lawmakers it has been “a real honor flying with you. It really has. I absolutely would wish you the best in every way.”
Justice gave his comments before a joint session of the state Legislature in the House of Delegates following swearing-in ceremonies by both bodies.
Justice, who served two terms as the state’s chief executive, was elected in November to the U.S. Senate. He’ll be sworn into the new role Jan. 13, the day of Governor-elect Patrick Morrisey’s inauguration.
Justice spoke of turning the state’s deficits into surpluses and touted his $2.8 billion infrastructure program, “Roads to Prosperity,” which rebuilt and maintained roads and bridges across the state.
He admonished the state to always celebrate Oct. 7, the anniversary of when voters approved the issuance of $1.6 billion for the program, as a day the state “pivoted and took off.”
“Don’t ever, ever not celebrate Oct. 7, because on that day, this whole state took a big turn of where we had been and where we had been for decades,” he said. “Absolutely right then and there, we took off.”
Justice also touted cutting taxes “over and over” and encouraged lawmakers to continue to work toward eliminating the state’s income tax. Lawmakers last fall approved a bill that cut the tax by 2%, eliminating about $46 million a year in state revenue. The governor had initially asked the Legislature to cut the tax by 5%, but he amended his request.
“I would tell you, don’t lose the mission,” he said. “The faster you can get rid of your personal income tax in West Virginia, this place will flood with people and opportunity over and over and over. You absolutely please keep your mission.”
Justice was first elected West Virginia’s governor in 2016 as a Democrat. The next year, while on stage in Huntington with his friend, then and president-elect Donald Trump, Justice announced he would register as a Republican and leave the Democratic Party.
Justice said the state has “done a bunch of really good stuff” for education in the state in his time as governor, including giving families the choice of private schooling and homeschooling through the state’s education savings account program Hope Scholarship and expanding the Community In Schools and therapy dog programs.
“We have flipped the script in many ways with our schools, but we got a lot more to do,” he said. “There’s no question we got a lot more to do, and we can improve over and over and over. But the things we’ve done as far as choice, the things we’ve done, as far as the [School Building Authority] the things we have absolutely been able to do because of the fact that we’re economically so sound, it’s unbelievable. We’ve done good stuff, and you should really be proud of that.”
Justice said tourists spent $9 billion in West Virginia in 2024 as the state “became frogs that were proud of our own pond.”
He also bragged that the state “stood rock solid for life.” In 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe V. Wade, lawmakers approved an abortion ban with narrow exceptions. He touted the state’s support of guns, appointment of conservative judges and “not turning a blind eye to the border crisis.”
Justice repeated praise for Trump, saying that lawmakers, for the most part, should “love and respect him,” and said that energy is important for the country’s future.
Justice, whose family owns several coal companies, has been appointed to the Senate’s committee on Energy and Natural Resources, among others. Justice said energy will be the key to growing the country’s revenue. He said he supports Trump’s plan to “take a meat ax” to spending waste in Washington.
“The only way civilization has gone forward is that we’re standing and sitting on natural gas reserves, coal reserves,” Justice said. “Absolutely all the alternatives, whether they be solar or wind or whatever, I say, embrace them all, but for God’s sakes a living, don’t be dumb enough to absolutely turn your back on our fossil fuels. Our fossil fuels are critical to us like you can’t imagine.”
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Today on MetroNews This Morning:
–The West Virginia Bar is looking at a resolution to reaffirm the independence of the Judiciary Branch of Government
–Kibar Americas is working on potentially restarting operations at the old Novelis plant in Fairmont
–Berkeley County voters will decide on a school bond next month
–In Sports: WVU’s men and Marshall’s women end the season with championships
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Listen to “Sports Best Left to SSAC” on Spreaker.
Average. Not a star. Not one to ride the pine either.
That’s not a knock – just an honest description of my time as a high school student-athlete. Never the fastest. Never the guy you called on in the clutch. But also, never one to quit or to do anything halfway.
And truth be told, most of us live right there in the middle of the athletic bell curve.
It was clear early on – clear to anyone watching, and especially clear to me – college athletics, much less the pros, wasn’t the future. But the lessons – the real value – those took root.
Persistence… when hustle is more abundant than talent and moving forward means hitting brick walls.
Leadership… getting the best out of others, even when they don’t always want to give it.
Teamwork… learning your success depends on more than just you. Helping others reach their goals brings you closer to your own.
Smarts… finding an edge when others rely on raw ability that you don’t have.
Failure… learning to lose with grace – and maybe more importantly – losing the fear of it altogether.
But somewhere along the way, those goals have become more like a consolation prize than first prize itself.
That’s why what the legislature just did matters.
After some back and forth, lawmakers returned control of high school sports to the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (SSAC). The governor signed the bill, and rightly so, even if he wanted a clearer picture of the emergency rules first.
Plainly, the people closest to high school sports are the best ones to govern it.
Parents move? Let the kid play. No reason to stand in the way of opportunity.
But transferring just to chase a better team, a better program? That may be understandable, but it’s not always beneficial. And sometimes, it comes at the expense of the very lessons sports are meant to teach. What we – the adults – should value more than winning.
Because life isn’t simple.
And these young men and women need the chance to face adversity. A chance to work through it and to grow from it. One day, real life is coming and it doesn’t ease you into the game. It hits like a Mack truck.
Many kids, often the ones who don’t play because of one struggle or another, are forced to face life well before childhood is over. Another commentary for another time, but what those children wouldn’t give for the escape of sports or the coping mechanism it provides – the relief of a game and time with friends sometimes capped with victory or not. All over when a buzzer sounds bringing the reality of life once again with the challenges of abuse, addiction or hunger.
Absent realities from the conversation in the past few years.
Indulge a story that comes to mind.
A pastor once had a son – gifted, naturally athletic. The kind of talent that could’ve taken him far.
But the boy didn’t want to play. He’d toss a ball around for fun, sure, but his real interest was elsewhere. He felt called to something bigger. Like his father, he had a gift for words — a powerful voice, a sharper pen. While others practiced on fields and courts, he wrote sermons and practiced oratory.
A coach once asked the father, “Why aren’t you raising him to be an athlete? He’s got the talent others don’t have.”
The father’s answer was simple, but perhaps remarkable for these times.
“I’m not raising him to play ball. I’m raising him to be a man.”
And for that young man, the path to becoming one wasn’t on a field or a court. It was in a pulpit. Dad knew that.
The path won’t be the same for everyone. Some will learn life’s lessons in sports, clubs or volunteering. Others, still, will find them elsewhere.
But the point is this: the goal isn’t a championship or playing at the next level. The odds don’t lend themselves to that. It’s raising young people into capable, grounded adults.
That’s what was missing from this long-running transfer debate.
And now – with the SSAC back in charge – there’s at least a better chance we focus more on that than we do now.
The Oklahoma Sooners battle the West Virginia Mountaineers in the College Basketball Crown championship game on Sunday. Oklahoma defeated Baylor 82-69, while West Virginia downed Creighton 87-70 in the semifinals on Saturday. The Sooners (21-15), who tied for 11th in the Southeastern Conference with Auburn at 7-11, have won eight of their last nine games. The Mountaineers (20-14), who tied for seventh in the Big 12 Conference at 9-9, have won three of their last four games.
Tip-off from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is set for 5:30 p.m. ET. Oklahoma leads the all-time series 18-10, including a 77-63 win in their last meeting on Jan. 17, 2024. Oklahoma is a 3.5-point favorite in the latest Oklahoma vs. West Virginia odds, while the over/under for total points scored is 137.5.
Before making any Oklahoma vs. West Virginia picks, you NEED to see the basketball predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every college basketball game 10,000 times. It entered the 2026 Final Four on a sizzling 11-1 run on its top-rated over/under college basketball picks dating back to last season, and is on a 28-22 run on top-rated CBB side picks.
The model has simulated West Virginia vs. Oklahoma 10,000 times and the results are in. The model is going Over on the total, and it also says one side of the spread hits in over 50% of simulations!
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