Gov. Jim Justice and members of the West Virginia COVID-19 pandemic response leadership team held another news briefing today to update the public on the state’s latest pandemic response and vaccine distribution efforts.
GOV. JUSTICE: VICTORIES IN COURT PROVE “WE MADE THE RIGHT DECISIONS” IN INITIAL PANDEMIC RESPONSE
During his briefing, Gov. Justice announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently handed the Governor a major victory in a case that challenged his authority to shut down certain businesses and move schools to remote learning during the initial stages of the pandemic in 2020.
“We’ve been through a bunch of these cases where we were being sued over our decisions whether to play sports, close bars and restaurants, and on and on,” Gov. Justice said. “Well the final cases were just dismissed last week.
“We may be one of the only states in the country to win every single one of these cases,” Gov. Justice continued. “What does that tell us? It tells us that we made the right decisions time and time again.”
WEST VIRGINIA BECOMES ONE OF FOUR STATES APPROVED FOR BROADBAND FUNDING THROUGH FEDERAL COVID RELIEF PROGRAM
Also on Wednesday, Gov. Justice announced that West Virginia is one of just four states to receive approval for broadband expansion funding through the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) COVID-19 relief program.
According to the U.S. Treasury, more than $136 million was allocated to West Virginia, with the state being approved to spend the full amount. The funding will help expand high-speed broadband to 20,000 locations, or 10% of locations in the state that lack access to broadband.
The Governor was joined for the announcement Wednesday by West Virginia Department of Economic Development Secretary Mitch Carmichael.
“This is an incredible moment that we should all be so proud of as West Virginians. Governor, you are the one who has made this happen by leading the effort to expand broadband in our state. You stood up and said that this is a priority for West Virginia, you’ve asked for funding from the Legislature, you chartered our Department of Economic Development, and you have given us the authority to go after funds like what we’re announcing today,” Secretary Carmichael said. “The pandemic really highlighted the need for broadband. It was felt in areas like distance learning, so that children could continue their education process from home, as well as for telehealth, so that our citizens could interact with their physicians and other healthcare providers virtually. Broadband is also what makes remote work possible.
“We’re just so thrilled for this day,” Secretary Carmichael added. “We look forward to continuing our progress connecting all West Virginians with world-class broadband delivery services.”
In October last year, Gov. Justice unveiled his Billion-Dollar Broadband Strategy – a comprehensive plan to significantly expand access to broadband across West Virginia, especially in the state’s rural areas. The Governor’s plan is estimated to bring broadband availability to 200,000 more West Virginia homes and businesses.
Over $21.3 million in additional grant funding for broadband projects has already been preliminarily approved through the Governor’s Billion-Dollar Broadband Strategy.
“We’re on our way now,” Gov. Justice said. “We’re doing phenomenal stuff and we don’t want to stop until we touch every home in West Virginia with broadband.”
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