WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2024 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced House Bill 5652
By Delegates Howell, W. Clark, Rohrbach, Dittman,
DeVault, Riley, Martin, Criss, Maynor, Householder,
and Mallow [Introduced February 13, 2024; Referred to the Committee on Finance]
Intr HB 2024R3699
1 A BILL to amend and reenact §17-16F-29 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
2 relating to providing a statutory program for loaning financial assistance to local airports for
3 airplane hangar construction in this State.
4 Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 16F. WEST VIRGINIA DIVISION OF MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION
FACILITIES
§17-16F-29. State financial assistance for county, municipal and regional airports.
1 (a) The division, out of any appropriation of funds made by the Legislature or any funds at
2 its disposal, may make funds available by grant or otherwise to counties, municipalities, and
3 regional airport authorities, created under the provisions of chapter 8 of this code for the planning,
4 acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, or operation of airports owned or operated
5 or to be owned or operated by such counties, municipalities, or regional airport authorities.
6 Acceptance of any moneys by any such county, municipality, or regional airport authority, shall
7 constitute consent by the recipient that a reasonable use of such airport may be made, upon
8 request of the division, by the United States, the state, or any of their respective agencies,
9 including the National Guard of West Virginia for State purposes related or incidental to
10 aeronautics. Such financial assistance may be furnished in connection with federal or other
11 financial aid for the same purpose.
12 (b) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the division, out of any
13 appropriation of funds made by the Legislature or any funds at its disposal, may make funds
14 available by loan to counties, municipalities, and regional airport authorities, for the planning,
15 acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, or operation of hangar facilities owned or
16 operated or to be owned or operated by such counties, municipalities, or regional airport
17 authorities.
18 (1) The division shall establish or continue a pilot project program which implements
1
Intr HB 2024R3699
19 standards for eligibility for receiving such loaned funds to airports in the state. These standards
20 shall consider issues related to site readiness, aviation educational advancement, economic
21 impact to the area, market demand for hangar space and other relevant criteria as determined by
22 the division.
23 (1) The division may cooperate with the offices of the West Virginia Economic
24 Development Authority, the Department of Commerce and other state and local agencies to
25 explore all available opportunities for funding such hangar projects.
26 (2) The division may limit the number of participating airports in the pilot project program
27 based on availability of allocated funds.
28 (3) The division shall set the rules and conditions for participating airports based on
29 available funding.
30 (4) On July 1 of each year, the division shall annually provide a full summary report of the
31 status of the loan program to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a statutory framework for lending state funds to
local airports for hangar construction to enhance economic development in the state.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
2
Statutes affected: Introduced Version: 17-16F-29