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Read. Follow. Verify.West Virginia Bill Establishes Severance Tax Credits for Highway Improvements and Coal Facility Investments
Last action · January 14, 2026: To Transportation and InfrastructureSponsors: Rupie Phillips and 1 other
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What This Bill Proposed
West Virginia Senate Bill 79 creates a new tax credit against the state for eligible taxpayers who invest in certified road and highway infrastructure improvements or coal production and processing facilities, effective for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.
Taxpayers subject to West Virginia es can offset up to 20 percent of their annual tax liability using investments in eligible coal facilities or certified road projects, with a strict statewide cap of $100,000 on approved road improvement expenditures.
- The West Virginia Legislature is the state's bicameral lawmaking body responsible for enacting statutes and tax policy. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Eligible taxpayers subject to severance tax
Taxpayers making qualified investments in road infrastructure or coal facilities become eligible to claim tax credits to offset up to 20 percent of their annual severance tax liability.
Coal production and processing businesses
Businesses investing in coal facility equipment, preparation plants, and infrastructure can qualify for tax credits based on the useful life of the placed-in-service property.
Transportation Secretary
The Secretary is required to review applications, certify road infrastructure improvement projects, and track total approved expenditures up to the $100,000 limit.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What investments qualify for the new West Virginia tax credit?
What is the maximum amount of road infrastructure credits that can be approved?
How long can a taxpayer carry forward unused tax credits?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in Senate committee.
Procedural history
4 actions- Jan 14, 2026SenateCommitteeTo Transportation and Infrastructure
- Jan 14, 2026SenateIntroducedIntroduced in Senate
- Jan 14, 2026SenateCommitteeTo Transportation and Infrastructure then Finance
- Jan 14, 2026SenateIntroducedFiled for introduction
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Introduction of Dual-Purpose Tax Credit
The bill links road and highway infrastructure improvements directly with coal production and processing facility investments under a single unified tax credit framework.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.wvlegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 65)
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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