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West Virginia Chamber - 2020 Position Papers
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce is the Voice of Business in West Virginia. Chamber members can be found in all fifty-five counties, and employ over half of West Virginia's workforce. Through constant engagement with our members, the Chamber's committees, working groups, and staff have crafted the following position papers for the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
2019 Judicial Compensation Commission
Should the West Virginia Legislature adopt the 2019 Judicial Compensation Commission's recommendations pertaining to judicial pay increases in West Virginia?
Pay for Supreme Court justices, circuit judges and family court judges in West Virginia has been unchanged since 2011, nearly a decade. Pay for magistrates was amended in 2013, with the last increases taking place for some magistrates in 2017.
To help guide its decisions on judicial pay, the West Virginia Legislature created the Judicial Compensation Commission (Commission) in 2016 to serve as an independent organization in making analytical-based recommendations on the appropriate salary levels of judges in West Virginia.
In 2019, the Commission found that the salaries of state supreme court justices and circuit judges in West Virginia each ranked 53rd when compared to their peers in the rest of the nation. When adjusted for cost-of-living, West Virginia's judicial pay ranks 47th in the nation. The current salaries of judicial offices in West Virginia are as follows:
Supreme Court Justices: $136,000
Circuit Judge: $126,000
Family Court Judge: $94,500
Magistrate: $57,500
To address the lower-than-average pay of judges in West Virginia, the 2019 report of the Commission recommended pay increases to be passed by the West Virginia Legislature. If fully implemented, the Commission's recommended raises would lead to Supreme Court Justices and Circuit Court judges ranking 37th and 36th respectively in the nation.
The Chamber's Position
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce supports ensuring competitive salaries for members of state's judiciary. The Chamber would note that the last pay raises for many in the judiciary took place nearly a decade ago, and that judges must be compensated in a manner that makes pay competitive with other fields in the legal profession. Having competent, fair and impartial judges is a cornerstone of democracy, and properly compensating them for their work is necessary to ensure that potential jurists are not dissuaded from service by the ability to make a higher salary elsewhere.
Attracting and Retaining Young Workers to West Virginia
A comprehensive plan to attract young workers must be put in place in order for West Virginia to take maximum advantage of the state's economic potential.
West Virginia's civilian labor force participation rate is 53.8%. This means that out of all working-age West Virginians who are eligible for employment, just slightly over half are in the workforce. While this rate is up from a thirty-year low in 2015, it remains the lowest in the nation. It should be noted that the civilian labor force counts both people who are employed and people who are unemployed and actively seeking employment.
West Virginia's low labor force participation rate is now leading to another issue – a lack of qualified people in the workforce who can fill available jobs. In 2009, at the height of the Recession, West Virginia had 4.2 unemployed people for every job opening. In 2019, there was one unemployed person for every job opening. In the past four years, West Virginia has added over 30,000 jobs, helping to put more people back to work and get more people to re-enter the labor force. Going forward, West Virginia must attract and retain young workers in order to encourage additional economic development and job creation.
West Virginia has taken some positive steps towards attracting and retaining young workers. The Legislature passed Senate Bill 1 in 2019, which provides last-dollar-in funding for students to attend career and technical college in the state. This program is still it its infancy, but all signs are pointing towards it being a success and helping to provide students with the necessary skills for good-paying jobs. This program should be monitored and consideration should be given to expansion if it continues to be successful.
West Virginia should consider providing tax relief to workers who are saddled with student loans. According to Business Insider, the average West Virginia student-loan borrower owes over $30,000. Given that these loans frequently carry interest rates of 6%-7% or higher, they can take several years or decades to pay off, and typically burden younger workers who are recent college-graduates. Providing tax relief to responsible student-loan debt holders would be a major incentive to remain and work in West Virginia.
Lastly, K-12 public education improvement must remain a top priority for policymakers, students, parents and teachers. Ensuring that our children are equipped to succeed in the global marketplace regardless of their economic situation or background is essential to a developing economy. The West Virginia Chamber supports a wide array of measures that will help West Virginia students compete with their national and international peers.
Broadband Internet Service
In our ever expanding digital world, broadband access has become a vital necessity for households and businesses alike. Broadband access has rapidly evolved into a critical infrastructure component. In recognition of this shift, many States have implemented broadband initiatives to remain competitive in attracting and retaining jobs. These broadband policy efforts have come to the forefront of State government efforts focused on economic development and job creation. It is abundantly clear that affordable, high speed broadband access is now a dominant consideration for the business community, their employees, their customers, and their supply chains.
Since the advent of the Broadband Internet era in 2000, telecommunications providers have collectively invested nearly $4 billion in building a fiber optic middle mile and last mile infrastructure for commercial and residential broadband services in West Virginia. This investment has resulted in a dramatic expansion of broadband availability in the state, however, there are many rural communities that still do not have access to broadband service at speeds that meet or exceed the new FCC definition. The majority of these communities are sparsely populated and geographically removed from more populated areas of the State. Due to these factors, private sector investment in these markets is unlikely because opportunities to receive a return on their investment are very limited, if they exist at all.
Broadband services are clearly essential to economic development, healthcare, education, business and daily life in the 21st Century. While broadband providers have and are continuing to make substantial investments in improving and expanding the availability of services in the state, broadband investments in the most rural portions of our state will remain an economic challenge because of the high cost of deployment and low customer density. The Chamber supports any state policy that will incentivize the private sector to invest in unserved and underserved markets throughout the State. For example, the State should consider the use of tax credits for the provision of new broadband service in underserved and unserved markets, as well as the creation of a loan guarantee program, which will assist smaller companies by providing access to capital so that they can invest in these same geographic areas.
The Chamber also believes that any plan approved by the Legislature should be focused on creating incentives for private providers to invest their resources in broadband service extensions, and that any scarce state resources which might be devoted to broadband projects for unserved areas should operate through an open and competitive process.
Comprehensive Legal Reform
West Virginia has made significant progress in the past few years in adopting meaningful civil justice reform legislation. Many of the laws that made West Virginia stand out in a negative light have been resolved by the decisive actions of the 82nd, 83rd and 84th West Virginia Legislatures.
Thanks to the reforms that have been undertaken, legal experts both inside West Virginia and throughout the nation recognize that steps are being taken to ensure West Virginia will become a place with fair and consistent laws.
Despite the progress, some additional reforms must be passed to continue the goal of bringing West Virginia into step with the rest of the nation. Legislation that is still needed includes: medical monitoring, collateral source rule, phantom damages, fair mediation system, and seatbelt use admissibility.
These reforms are needed in order to continue towards the goal of "Making West Virginia Irresistible to Business."
Provided are the components necessary to enact additional legal reforms that will eliminate risks and impediments on West Virginia employers and revitalize the state so it truly can grow its economy.
Full and Thorough Appeals - The West Virginia Chamber believes an appeal of right is fundamental to equal justice and due process. This includes an appellate process that provides a full and thorough review of cases that warrant appeal.
Collateral source - Allow courts to consider amounts that plaintiffs have received as compensation from other, non-family sources to cover costs in determining damages. When juries are trying to determine how much economic loss a plaintiff has suffered for compensation, they should consider all sources, which offset that economic loss in determining a just verdict and avoid unfair double-dipping by jury award winners.
Phantom Damages - Allow plaintiffs to recover only the amounts actually incurred for medical services, rather than the full sticker price that is listed before negotiations are completed.
Online Case Management System - Continue the implementation of a statewide and uniform online system for case management of all circuit and family courts in West Virginia.
Fair Mediation - Mediations are very successful in resolving civil cases without the expense of a trial. Some circuit court judges who will preside over a trial, however, opt to mediate the case themselves rather than assign it to a different judge or mediator. This can have a chilling effect on the ability of parties' to speak candidly about issues. Legislation should be passed to require a mediator to be different than the judge would potentially preside over a trial.
Seatbelt Admissibility - West Virginia law requires the use of a seatbelt in a moving vehicle. Failure to comply with this law can lead to increased risk of injury or death in the event of an accident. Legislation should be adopted that allows evidence of whether or not a seatbelt was worn to be admissible into court, thereby allowing a judge and/or jury to weigh all aspects of a case./li>
Medical monitoring - In 1999, the West Virginia Supreme Court established a new cause of action, which allows an individual who has been exposed to a proven hazardous substance to recover damages for future medical monitoring when the individual has no physical injuries. This new cause of action exposes many of West Virginia's businesses to potential liability even though there is no actual injury associated with the exposure. The Legislature should enact legislation to correct the Court's decision.
This list of recommended provisions is offered as a series of additional legal reforms which would further bring West Virginia into the mainstream of other states in terms of rules and laws governing court proceedings.
The business case for employee diversity is real. Diversity in the workplace is beneficial. People with different backgrounds bring different perspectives and create a more robust, stimulating, and vibrant environment from which everyone can learn and grow. In turn, the expanded base of knowledge leads to more creativity and innovation in the workplace. A diversity of opinions naturally leads to higher quality decisions and improved performance.
West Virginia Chamber of Commerce members employ more than one-half of the state's workforce, giving the Chamber a large and influential voice to articulate workforce needs and preparedness. We are a solutions oriented, member supported organization that gives voice to the needs and concerns of our state's employers. Our members understand the struggles of finding qualified applicants for well-paying jobs.
There are numerous types of diversity within our culture, including gender, race, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation and gender identity. Numerous studies confirm the economic reality that diversity and non-discrimination policies are good for business. Companies embracing diversity know that inclusive working environments are good for business. Studies show that employers with non-discrimination policies enjoy greater productivity and lower turnover in their workforces.
Demographic research shows that West Virginia ranks exceptionally low in terms of the racial diversity of our population. According to the 2014 U.S. Census, West Virginia's total population is 92.5% white, 3.6% black, 1.5% Latino / Hispanic, and 0.8% Asian. West Virginia's population is, to a large extent, racially homogenous.
In addition to issues of racial diversity, employers also recognize the importance of other types of diversity among their employees, such as sexual orientation and gender identity. More than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies now include sexual orientation in their workplace nondiscrimination policies, and 61 percent of such companies prohibit discrimination based on gender identity.
We need full participation and inclusion of all groups in order to move West Virginia forward. Our ability to attract new jobs and the job creators, particularly Fortune 500 companies who require diversity within their workforce, is greatly impaired without a strong commitment to diversity.
West Virginia businesses should take full advantage of the opportunities that a diverse workforce represents, and our policy makers should embrace policies that support a diverse and robust workforce in West Virginia. As the U.S. population becomes increasingly more diverse, so too will our state's workforce in West Virginia. West Virginia's job creators should embrace diversity and capitalize on the resulting benefits.
West Virginia must be able to attract and retain investment and talent from all backgrounds. The Chamber has long supported diversity in our state and in our workplaces. Many of our Chamber members already have existing personnel policies in effect which promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The Chamber also respects the strongly-held faith based views of different religious groups in West Virginia. The Chamber will not support legislation which promotes or allows discrimination, nor which sends the wrong message regarding economic development and job growth in West Virginia. Any "religious freedom" type of legislation must contain a balancing test between religious liberties and government interests, and must operate in a manner which protects the religious liberties of individuals without also infringing on the rights of others in a discriminatory manner. The Chamber will oppose legislation which creates or authorizes new causes of action against employers. Such legal actions would place our state's employers at a competitive disadvantage with other states.
West Virginia's public education system must continuously strive to ensure students can achieve the results necessary to compete in the global marketplace.
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce believes that the children of West Virginia deserve a public school system that is the envy of the nation. Our schools must produce educated, versatile, creative problem solvers and responsible, well informed citizens. Our children must be equipped to succeed in the global marketplace regardless of their economic station or background.
West Virginia Chamber of Commerce members employ more than one-half of the state's workforce, giving the Chamber a large and influential voice to articulate workforce needs and preparedness. Our members understand the struggles of finding qualified applicants for well-paying jobs. Chamber members know that educated and skilled citizens make good workers and help to build robust communities.
When we fail to educate all children, the outcome is predictable: elementary school students with poor skills become middle school students with poor skills, and eventually become high school students without the ability to succeed in post-secondary education or to compete in today's economy. Through the 3rd Grade, children learn to read. After the 3rd grade, children read to learn. If they do not meet this critical benchmark, children continue falling further and further behind and will not be prepared for life after school.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest continuing and nationally representative educational assessment of American students in all 50 states. This assessment is administered every two years and measures student achievement in the critical subjects of math and reading in both the 4th and 8th grades. In the 2019 NAEP assessment, the percentage of West Virginia students who are considered "at-or-above proficient" rank the state 44th in fourth-grade reading, 45th in eighth-grade reading, 48th in fourth-grade math, and 47th in eighth-grade math. In measuring the important metric of being able to read in order to learn when a child is in the 4th grade, only 30.3%, less than one-third, of 4th graders in West Virginia are considered proficient in reading.
The 2019 WV Balanced Scorecard that was released by the West Virginia Department of Education, which tracks all public schools' English Language Arts and Mathematics performance, shows that much work remains. According to the state's own assessments, out of 116 public high schools, 10 meet the standard for English Language Arts and none meet the standard for Math.
Yet from a spending perspective, public education accounts for over 43 percent of the state's General Revenue Budget (FY 2020). According to the National Education Association (NEA), West Virginia has the 21st highest total spending per pupil in the nation (2019). West Virginia spends $12,613 per pupil. The national average for per pupil spending is $12,602. Despite the state's significant investment in education that keeps up with national norms, student achievement in West Virginia continues to lag behind the rest of the country.
The Chamber supports efforts to improve the academic achievement of every student in West Virginia. These recommendations provide a framework for a system that allows for more authority and accountability at the local level. The West Virginia Legislature and the West Virginia Department of Education must work together to remove existing impediments that constitute the over-regulation of our education system while guaranteeing benchmarks that raise the bar for West Virginia students to compete successfully with their international peers.
The Chamber supports an accountability system for schools that is easy to understand and allows for a measurement of year-to-year progress. Accountability systems that are based on academic growth will increase transparency, parental engagement and public pressure to improve. Accountability systems are contributing to improved school performance in other states.
West Virginia must begin to implement a culture of constant improvement in our public school system. Such a move will help our state become and remain competitive in attracting investment and jobs to West Virginia. This mindset is also needed to combat what is frequently perceived by employers seeking to hire recent graduates as a culture of "mediocrity is OK" in our public school system.
Transparency in our public education system is critical. A 2012 audit found that West Virginia is one of the most highly-centralized and the most insulated from voter control or input in the country. Requiring an easy-to-use, detailed online portal that allows the tracking of education funds down to the classroom level will enable parents, teachers and policy-makers the ability to explore how their tax dollars are being spent and offer creative solutions on maximizing the efficiency of the state's investment in education.
Highly qualified principals and teachers are of great importance to helping students improve academic achievement. Professional development and leadership training should be continuously modernized to ensure that those in the classroom have the necessary resources and support to help our children. Teachers must also be respected as professionals, and given the flexibility to customize teaching methods to better fit the needs of each student.
The Chamber believes that innovation works in both business and in education. Public charter schools would allow for truly innovative schools where non-traditional operators, such as a group of educators, parents or directors could lead a school or a cluster of feeder schools to recreate itself from the ground up with new ways to best educate its kids. The freedom to operate a low-performing school differently and to move away from the "one size fits all" paradigm will create the best opportunity for students to reach their potential. West Virginia recently joined forty-four states and the District of Columbia in allowing public charter schools, even though no more than three can be created every three years. Every effort should be made to assist in the creation of public charter schools in our state to allow innovative teaching methods where best practices can be learned and applied to traditional schools.
Additional control should be given to local boards of education to better meet the local realities they face. This control should extend to more flexibility in setting the school calendar, and locality pay to ensure that highly qualified teachers can be attracted and retained.
Personnel policies within the public education system must be modernized, and principals should be given more responsibility and accountability to ensure they have an effective team in place to lead their schools.
Schools and local businesses should be encouraged to closely partner with each other. The employer community in West Virginia supports public education and can provide additional resources and support that are not traditionally available to schools. This is not limited to financial support and can extend to internship and mentorship programs to benefit students.
A continued focus must remain on meeting students' emotional needs, especially those dealing with family challenges such as drug abuse, homelessness or unemployment. West Virginia should also continue expansion of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Community Eligibility Provision to ensure every student receives breakfast and lunch – regardless of their family's ability to pay.
These policy and legislative recommendations represent part of the Chamber's long-term commitment to the multifaceted effort to transform our education system in West Virginia. We believe that all West Virginia students should be held to high expectations, with the belief that they can and will achieve success. The West Virginia school system should promote a culture of rigor that makes 'getting an education' a serious pursuit which leads to success in life.
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce is comprised of our state's leading businesses. We are a solutions-oriented, member supported organization that gives voice to the needs and concerns of our state's employers. The Chamber is committed to working with state and local officials, teachers, principals and caring citizens to assure the best for our 21st Century students.
Municipal Annexation by Minor Boundary Adjustment
Municipalities in West Virginia are attempting to use "minor boundary adjustments" to annex additional territory into their limits without direct consent of the affected individuals and businesses.
Annexation is a process by which municipalities can expand their boundaries. Reasons for annexing territory can vary and include the ability to provide services to additional areas, or to increase a municipality's tax base. West Virginia law permits municipalities to annex additional territory by three general methods:
1. Holding an election whereby the voters of the territory to be annexed can approve or disapprove.
2. Allowing a majority of the voters or freeholders of an area to petition for annexation.
3. Using a minor boundary adjustment, which is subject to the approval of the county commission of the county in which the area to be annexed exists.
Of the three annexation methods in West Virginia, the third – minor boundary adjustments – is generally the most controversial. Under this method, individuals and businesses in an area being considered for annexation do not have the direct ability to approve or disapprove of the plan by voting. This method has been recently attempted by numerous municipalities across West Virginia, with some plans attempting to expand the area in a city by nearly 40%, far surpassing what most would consider to be "minor."
Businesses thrive on predictability and stability. When employers decide to locate in a particular area, they do so with an understanding of built in costs such as taxes, user fees, etc. If a business suddenly finds itself in the incorporated limits of a municipality, it could conceivably see a major increase in operating costs. For many small businesses, this can be the difference between that business succeeding or failing.
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce is not opposed to municipalities annexing additional territory for valid reasons. Annexation, however, should be done in a collaborative manner that obtains the consent of individuals and businesses in the area that would be affected. Attempting to force annexation of an area by circumventing the voter-approved options and using a "minor boundary adjustment" removes due process for businesses and citizens and generally leads to disruption and unintended consequences.
The West Virginia Chamber supports legislative solutions that would more narrowly define "minor boundary adjustment" in state code, or require voter approval for any annexation efforts.
Opioid Addiction Crisis
West Virginia is ground zero for the opioid addiction crisis. Among the many health challenges facing America, none has hit our state harder than opioid addiction. The impact of the opioid crisis on West Virginians is staggering, with an estimated 952 overdose deaths reported in 2018. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Virginia has the highest overdose rate in the nation, and the overdose rate in 2018 was approximately 52.7 per 100,000 people. In addition to the human cost, of significance is the toll it has taken on the state's economic growth and development.
In West Virginia, the opioid crisis has contributed to a workforce participation challenge that undermines the competitiveness of existing businesses while creating barriers for new investments. For existing businesses, unfilled vacancies represent lost productivity that makes competing in the regional, national and global economies more difficult. Meanwhile, companies are hesitant to invest in areas where they may not be able to attract and retain the skilled and drug-free workforce they need to operate efficiently.
West Virginia has welcomed many new business investments this year, creating over 17,000 new jobs for the state. But many employers are growing concerned about the lack of qualified workers to fill new jobs. Many Chamber members say drug abuse is a key contributor to that problem. Many people actively looking for work cannot pass the drug tests required for employment, and those who do have jobs are exiting the workforce due to untreated, or undertreated, addictions.
When work is not an option, individuals turn to government programs, such as Medicaid, for support. This transition from gainful work to reliance on public assistance creates a cyclical problem with disastrous, long-term consequences for taxpayers and the economy. According to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the total economic cost to the nation of the opioid epidemic is over $500 billion per year. Giving patient's access to effective addiction treatments with a goal of truly ending their addiction is our best chance at getting people back to work and improving our economy.
Addiction continues to threaten opportunities for economic growth – a cyclical problem that will only become more difficult to break in the years to come.
At a time when job openings and investments in West Virginia are growing, we must provide the healthy, productive workforce needed to grow the economy. To do that, treatment, with the goal of full recovery, must be a top priority for our state.
Because every person is different, health care providers and the public must be aware of all evidence-based, FDA approved treatment options. This includes counseling and medication assisted treatments proven to be effective at managing and, hopefully, ending addiction.
Providers must be prepared to develop treatment plans that consider each patient's individual needs, which may require new education and training. At the same time, patients must have barrier-free access to the treatment they need to recover and return to healthy, productive lives.
Business leaders, health care providers and public officials must work together to address the opioid crisis by ensuring unfettered access to and education around all FDA approved opioid addiction treatments. Only by getting more individuals on the path to recovery will West Virginia truly thrive and reach its full potential.
Tangible Personal Property Taxes on Business Inventories, Manufacturing Machinery & Equipment
Taxation of Tangible Personal Property
The Chamber has recommended in the past and continues to recommend that the West Virginia Constitution be amended to allow the Legislature to, by general law, exempt some or all tangible personal property from ad valorem property taxation and, should such legislation be enacted, for the Legislature to provide one or more means by which additional revenues or revenue sources are made available to the local levying bodies to cover the cost of the personal property tax exemption.
An obstacle to capital investment and reinvestment is the property tax on machinery and equipment and other tangible personal property. Business decision makers will ask why should the capital investment be made in West Virginia when the investment can be made across the border in Ohio or Pennsylvania, or in one of a host of other states, that do not tax tangible personal property for property tax purposes or only nominally tax such property.
There is common agreement among stakeholders that the West Virginia Constitution must be amended before some or all tangible personal property can be exempt from ad valorem property taxation. However, the practical reality is that amending the Constitution is easier said than done. The ensuing pages of this paper discuss some of the reasons why it will be difficult to amend the Constitution. Understanding these challenges also provides opportunities to find solutions to this problem.
Local Concerns
Representatives of local levying bodies have insisted that before they will support a constitutional amendment, they want to know exactly how the lost revenue will be replaced. While most, if not all, of the local levying bodies have this concern, it is of greater concern to levying bodies in those counties that rely more heavily on taxes levied on tangible personal property to balance their budgets. While application of the state aid formula can, in part, insulate county boards of education from this concern, the state aid formula considers only regular property tax levy collections and does not consider voter-approved excess levies and general obligation bond levies. Consequently, all local levying bodies have this concern to one degree or another.
Scope of Fiscal Problem
The scope of the fiscal problem for local levying bodies is demonstrated by data in the State Tax Department's recently released Classified Assessed Valuations Taxes Levied for the 2018 Tax Year. This report shows that the statewide aggregate of state and local property taxes levied on real property was $949,315,860, while the aggregate tax on personal property was $523,982,657. However, just as real property taxes are not evenly distributed among the 55 counties, neither are taxes on tangible personal property equally distributed among the 55 counties.
More specifically, in 9 of the 55 counties, the amount of taxes levied on tangible personal property exceeded the amount of taxes levied on real property in the particular county. And, in 3 additional counties, the taxes levied on tangible personal property approach 50% of total taxes levied on all property in those counties. The following chart prepared from the State Tax Department's study supports these statements.
***Click Printable Version Below to View Table***
Additionally, in Cabell, Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Marshall, Monongalia and Wetzel Counties, the taxes levied on personal property exceeded $20 million, in each county; and taxes levied on personal property exceeded $57 million in Kanawha County.
Solving the Fiscal Problem Requires Two Solutions
The primary issue for local governments has two parts. First, what will be the source(s) of the additional revenue and, second, how will the additional revenue be distributed in order to hold the local levying bodies harmless? While the first part of the primary issue is challenging, the second part of the issue is even more daunting because some counties have more tangible personal property than other counties. Simply put, distribution of the make-up revenue on a per capita basis cannot achieve the desired result. Even if the cap on real property tax levies were increased, which we are not suggesting be done, that would not achieve the desired result either, because there is no correlation between the value of real property in a county and the value of tangible personal property in the same county. Moreover, in tax year 2018, property taxes levied on real property aggregated $949,315,860, which suggests that the levy rates on real property would need to increase by more than double to generate the amount of replacement revenue needed -- $523,982,657.
Secondary issues of the local levying bodies include, but are not limited to, generating replacement dollars to pay annual debt service on general obligation bonds and replacing excess levy dollars which are used by county boards of education to fund items outside the state aid formula, including, but not limited to, providing additional compensation for teachers and school service personnel and capital improvements. County commissions and municipalities frequently use voter-approved excess levies to fund fire service, emergency ambulance service, additional police personnel and other community improvements. They too have voter-approved general obligation bonds outstanding.
Summary of Issue
In summary, there are no easy answers to this $523 million problem. What we do know is that the states with robust economies do not impose property taxes on business tangible personal property. We also know that personal property taxes affect where and when capital investment is made. This is a consideration in the location of new businesses in West Virginia. It is also a consideration when an existing business decides to modernize or expand in West Virginia. Finally, we also know that to fundamentally change West Virginia's economy from one dependent on fossil fuels to a new, diverse economy something needs to be done about the taxation of business tangible personal property.
The Chamber believes that the evidence is clear and overwhelming that Tangible Personal Property taxes are a drag on the State's economy and the competitiveness of its businesses. The Chamber urges that the Tangible Personal Property tax issue be kept alive and that further proposals to potentially eliminate the tax or lessen its impact be identified. The Chamber maintains that any solution must be statewide in scope – not piecemeal among levying bodies and/or types of taxpayers.
The West Virginia Legislature should enact state tax policies which are perceived as fair, which are easy and cost effective to administer, generate sufficient revenue for the efficient and effective administration of required services, and which promote job creation and economic growth
We applaud the West Virginia Legislature's ongoing efforts to review the State's existing tax system. The Chamber desires a tax system meeting the following objectives:
Perceived as fair
Easy and cost effective to administer
Supplies sufficient revenues for the efficient and effective administration of required services
Lower and flatter
Taxes things that harm public health
Eliminates the tax on tangible personal property
Promotes job creation and economic growth
Tax reform should be done carefully and responsibly and not in an effort to create winners and losers, but in an overall fiscally responsible manner, comprehensively reviewing each aspect of West Virginia's tax structure, creating a flatter and broader system overall with lower marginal rates, encouraging economic growth and investment, and fully recognizing the myriad of intended and unintended consequences and implications of any changes to West Virginia's tax system. To assist in that effort, the Chamber provides some areas where we believe change may be warranted and additional scrutiny is necessary where West Virginia is out of line with a majority of states in its approach to a particular tax or tax policy.
State Tax Climate Overall
In the Tax Foundation's recently released 2020 State Business Tax Climate Index, West Virginia ranked as having the 23rd most competitive tax code overall in the nation. (This compares favorably with the states which are contiguous to West Virginia: Pennsylvania 29th, Ohio 38th, Virginia 25th, Kentucky 24th, and Maryland 43rd.) Significantly, West Virginia ranked 15th in Corporate Tax Rank, 18th in Sales Tax Rank, and 17th in Property Tax Rank.
While the State's overall tax system generally appears competitive, it does place a higher reliance on businesses for tax revenue than our neighboring states and the nation in general. According to a 2018 report by Ernst & Young LLP in Conjunction with the Council on State Taxation and the State Tax Research Institute, in West Virginia, business tax revenues account for 49.3% of state and local tax revenues. While West Virginia ranks in the bottom half of states with regard to this over-contribution of businesses toward total state tax revenue, the contrast is even starker with regard to businesses' contribution to local tax revenue. With $4 of every $5 collected in local taxes being paid by businesses instead of individuals, West Virginia is the highest state in the country in terms of the amount of local taxes being paid by the business community.
Insurance Premium Tax Rate
West Virginia has some of the highest insurance premium tax rates in the nation. Taxes levied on insurance premiums in West Virginia generate nearly $178,000,000 per year in revenue, which is distributed to the General Revenue Fund, Municipal Pensions, Volunteer Fire Departments, the State Fire Marshal, and the WV Teachers Retirement System.
The tax rate on Property & Casualty insurance premiums in West Virginia is the highest in the nation at 4.55% (4% tax + 0.55% surcharge = 4.55%). The national average for state premium taxes on property & casualty policies is 2.15%. The most common tax rate nationally is 2.0%. The premium tax rates for property & casualty policies in our surrounding states are Kentucky at 2.0%, Maryland at 2.0%, Ohio at 1.4%, Pennsylvania at 2.0%, and Virginia at 2.25%.
For fire insurance policies in West Virginia, our premium tax rate of 5.05% is among the highest in the nation (4 % tax + 0.55% surcharge + 0.5% fire marshal = 5.05%). The national average for state premium taxes on fire insurance policies is 2.7%. The most common tax rate nationally is 2.0%. The tax rates for fire policies in our surrounding states are Kentucky at 2.75%, Maryland at 2.0%, Ohio at 2.15%, Pennsylvania at 2.0%, and Virginia at 3.25%.
Retaliatory taxes are additional taxes levied on insurance companies that are domiciled outside of the taxing state in order to burden those "out-of-state" insurers in exactly the same way that the out-of-state insurer's state of domicile would burden an insurer from the taxing state. It is intended to "level the playing field" by deterring a state from imposing excessive taxes on non-domiciled insurance companies. Since WV's premium taxes are higher than most states, WV's domestic ("in-state") insurers are taxed at the higher WV premium tax rate for premium written "out of state" or in states other than WV. This is a significant financial drag on any WV domestic insurance company that wishes to grow and write business outside of the state. In the current climate, to be rate competitive with premiums written outside WV, the WV domestic must overcome the premium tax differential (often 2% or more) either by charging a higher rate, accepting reduced profits, reducing expenses or reducing losses compared to the competition in those states. The financial incentive for an insurance carrier is to be domesticated in a low premium tax state due to 'Retaliatory taxes'.
Tobacco Taxes
Effective July 1, 2016, the tax rates for tobacco products in West Virginia are as follows:
Cigarettes -- $1.20 per pack
Cigars and smokeless products -- 12% of wholesale price
E-tobacco liquids -- 7.5 cents per milliliter
While West Virginia has the second highest rate of smoking deaths in the nation and some of the highest death rates due to cancer, heart disease and other smoking related illnesses, our tobacco tax still remains lower than the national average, and is lower than several of our surrounding states. The average national cigarette tax rate in 2019 was $1.73 per pack. West Virginia's cigarette tax rate at $1.20 per pack ranks as the 33rd lowest in the nation. Cigarette tax rates in surrounding states are Pennsylvania at $2.60 per pack, Maryland at $2.00, Ohio at $1.60, Kentucky at $1.10, and Virginia at $0.30.
The West Virginia Chamber supports the elimination of the ad valorem property taxes on tangible personal property and, in particular, the tax on inventory and manufacturing machinery and equipment. This isn't just a manufacturing industry issue. All West Virginia businesses pay personal property taxes on the value of furnishings, fixtures, equipment and supplies each year. Retailers and most wholesalers additionally pay property taxes on the value of their inventories as of the July 1 assessment date. This particular tax, probably more than others, hurts our West Virginia businesses, fails to promote growth, stifles expansion, discourages job creation, and creates a competitive disadvantage for West Virginia. Its continued existence is a tremendous impediment to economic development. Businesses wishing to locate a new operation obviously consider a state's tax structure during their due diligence process and our unfavorable comparison to other states on this particular tax is a factor keeping additional businesses from locating here.
Consideration should be given to elimination of this tax because it causes West Virginia businesses to pay taxes on the same machinery and equipment year after year, while discouraging them from upgrading or modernizing their facilities. It discourages West Virginia businesses from expanding or purchasing additional inventory while incentivizing them to move it across the border into another state. The personal property tax is a disincentive to new businesses locating in this state when they compare our tax with other states and can just as easily locate in a state that doesn't impose this costly and burdensome tax (for example, our neighboring states of Ohio and Pennsylvania). It causes businesses to continue using outdated machinery and equipment (which could be less safe and efficient) rather than upgrading to the newest available technology. It discourages businesses from keeping on hand the inventory they need or that their customers want. It imposes a huge administrative burden, not only on business owners who must report each item of tangible personal property that the business owns as of the July 1 assessment date, but also on state and county assessing officers who must then determine the value of each item of tangible personal property reported each year.
Our local counties and municipalities rely heavily on property tax revenues. Before this tax could be eliminated, the State and local governments would need to identify additional sources of tax revenues to offset revenues lost by its repeal. Further, there are significant State constitutional issues that would have to be addressed as part of this repeal.
Tax Credits to Incentivize Infrastructure Investment and Energy Production
West Virginia has historically placed heavy reliance on severance taxes and, of the states that impose severance taxes, West Virginia currently has one of the highest severance tax rates in the nation. However, due to environmental and other regulatory pressures, as well as low energy prices coupled with limited demand, the State's revenues from severance taxes have seen significant declines in recent years. Consideration might be given to reducing the tax burden placed on those involved with natural resources in light of the retired workers compensation liabilities.
The legislature should consider incentivizing infrastructure investment in broadband and energy production in West Virginia through the use of carefully constructed tax credits, as has been successfully done in other states such as Virginia.
Clarification of Regulations Regarding Municipal B&O Taxes
West Virginia's regulations relative to the imposition of Business & Occupation Taxes at the municipal level have not been revised in several years. The West Virginia State Tax Department should closely examine and update these regulations to ensure they reflect the realities of the modern economy and do not dissuade businesses from engaging in commerce in the state.
FEDERAL ISSUE: Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act
The United States Congress is considering H.R. 1423, the "Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act," which would effectively ban the use and availability of pre-dispute arbitration agreements.
Arbitration is a common dispute resolution method between businesses, employees and consumers that has been in use for nearly a century. Arbitration is a less-costly method of dispute resolution for all parties involved and is fair and effective. Arbitration is also a much speedier process than litigation where the parties must often wait months or years before a judge can schedule a trial. Finally, both parties get to choose a neutral arbitrator from a panel of available arbitrators and they can often select an arbitrator with expertise in the area of law at issue; unlike courts where judges are assigned with little input from the parties and sometimes with no expertise on the law at issue.
The United States Supreme Court has made it clear that where parties have agreed to arbitration to settle disputes, those agreements are binding and will be enforced. In addition, the courts have set forth various protections and obligations that must be followed to protect employees when it involves the arbitration of employment law disputes. Arbitration agreements tend to keep the courts from being flooded with disputes that can otherwise be settled in a fair and less-expensive manner, leaving the courts available to address more serious cases and criminal cases where the US Constitution guarantees the right to a speedy trial.
The FAIR Act that is under consideration by the U.S. Congress would effectively eliminate this form of dispute resolution.
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce opposes the FAIR Act and believes that arbitration should remain as an option for dispute resolution. Arbitration only occurs when all parties previously agree to use that as a method of dispute resolution – if a dispute were to arise in the future. Eliminating this as an option will simply mean that any disputes must be handled in the court system, which will typically take longer and be much more expensive for all parties involved.
FEDERAL ISSUE: United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Should the United States Congress approve the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is an updated trade agreement with Mexico and Canada that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement?
The United States, Mexico and Canada have all been part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for the past twenty-five years. Following his inauguration in 2017, President Donald J. Trump announced that he planned to negotiate with Mexico and Canada on a new trade deal that would ultimately replace NAFTA.
The resulting deal that has been negotiated makes several changes to trade in North America. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the key aspects of the USMCA are that it:
Grows digital trade by creating best-in-class rules to foster U.S. growth in the digital economy for firms of all sectors and sizes. It guarantees the freedom to move data across borders and prohibits the forced localization of data, thereby ensuring continued growth.
Protects intellectual property for the full range of patents, copyrights and related rights, trademarks, designs and trade secrets. It also includes strong enforcement tools to guard against counterfeiting and piracy – promoting continued U.S. innovation that supports and creates well-paying jobs.
Strengthens agriculture trade by establishing modern, science-based sanitary and phytosanitary standards that are the strongest achieved in any trade agreement. It provides transparency and information sharing on measures impacting trade in the products of biotechnology.
International trade is a vital part of West Virginia's growing economy. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), West Virginia exported $8.1 billion goods to the world in 2018, and data from 2016 shows that global exports support approximately 26,000 jobs within the state. Canada, one of the three countries within the USMCA, is West Virginia's largest market for exported goods, representing 16% of the state's total exports.
Data from the USTR shows that 1,047 companies exported goods from West Virginia in 2016, and of those, 805 meet the federal definition of a small business with less than 500 employees. The exportation of goods from West Virginia is also geographically diverse, with the following metro areas of the state having exports greater than $30 million a year: Huntington, Parkersburg, Charleston, Wheeling, Weirton, Morgantown and Beckley.
The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce urges the state's Congressional Delegation and the entire United States Congress to support the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.


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Thanks much for the guide. Comes in handy for just an occasional laptop "tinkerer" like me. Only am doing it out of necessity as I didn't manage my battery life very well on my System76 Galago UltraPro.
It's one awesome laptop, runs daily from 4 to 12 hours without a hiccup . . . (zero issues other than battery, which I suspect is my own fault for leaving it "plugged-in" 95% of the time . . . which I've heard is not good to do when a battery is fully charged. Apparently, one can only get away with that if the Laptop is also powered on , , , but if shut-down and the battery is full . . . pull the plug.
Sorry for rambling . . . thanks again for your helpful post.
Yep, people who leave their laptops plugged in need to take some additional maintenance steps. Once a week you should drain the battery to 50%, let it recharge, then repeat it. This creates a full charge cycle on a weekly basis, without draining the battery to zero.
Draining a Li-ion battery to zero also is not healthy for the battery, because lithium ions decays when they are completely discharged. This is why storing a Li-ion battery at 40% is frequently recommended – not overcharged, but with sufficient charge to keep the lithium at a healthy voltage for several weeks of non-use.


Mark Welton on the field.
Mark Welton sent us this nice picture on Twitter. We asked him about his life and his passion : the sport photography and the FC Elche.
Where are you from and what are you doing in your life ?
Hi there, I'm originally from the North of UK but moved to live in Spain around 28 years ago.
Why did you send us this picture ?
I sent this picture as I thought it would accompany some of the wonderful pictures you have of the worlds football fields.
The pitch is located 40 mtrs below the famous (world heritage site) Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The aqueduct carries the the Llangollen Canal over the River Dee near to Llangollen in North Wales (UK).
I love the shadows the 18 arch iron Aqueduct casts across the lush Welsh grass football pitch. The bridge built in 1802 some 60 years before football started in the UK yet today they live side by side, viewed from pitch level the Aqueduct looks awe inspiring and from above the empty field seems to hold its breath waiting for action.
What is your relation to football ?
I've been around football for over 50 years. I started taking football photographs in the late 1970s, mainly 4th and 3rd division progressing slowly over time to shooting top games and players. Being directly involved in the game is no less exciting as when I first started. I love the gladiatorial nature of the contest, the crowd, noise and smells, football just has it all.
What would you remember of your sport photographer job ?
This question is very easy to answer…the year my club Elche CF won the Spanish 2nd Division title and gained promotion to the Liga.
Most certainly I support both, perhaps Spain a little more than England. If the two should play each other at some point during the competetion which ever team I were to support for sure the other one would win.
Would you consider football as a part of art ?
No I don't think so. To me football is a show `un espectaculo´ a display of constant changing emotions.
I have no real plans other than to keeping enjoying shooting football at whatever level.


text:
Macouba ist eine französische Gemeinde im Übersee-Département Martinique. Sie befindet sich im Norden der Insel und gehört administrativ zum Arrondissement La Trinité. Macouba war bis zu dessen Auflösung 2015 Hauptort (Chef-lieu) des Kantons Macouba.

Bevölkerung
Die Bewohner von Macouba nennen sich "Macoubétins" oder "Macoubétines".

Sehenswürdigkeiten
 Kirche Père Labat

Weblinks

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


D.C. Law Library - § 10–551.04. Transfers.
(a) All functions assigned, authorities delegated, positions, personnel, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds available or to be made available to the Department of Real Estate Services and the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization are transferred to the Department.
(b) All functions assigned, authorities delegated, positions, personnel, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds available or to be made available for capital construction and real property management functions of other subordinate executive branch agencies, except for the District Department of Transportation, as the Mayor considers necessary to effectuate this chapter, are transferred to the Department.
(c) All functions assigned, authorities delegated, positions, personnel, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds available or to be made available to the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development for its asset management program, including the DC USA Garage, are transferred to the Department; provided, that with respect to funds which are deposited or held in special purpose revenue funds and fund the asset management program, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Department to pay for the asset management program, including the DC USA Garage, from such special purpose revenue funds.
The 2012 amendment by D.C. Law 19-171 substituted "this subtitle" for "this act" [translated as "this chapter"] in (b).
For temporary (90 day) addition, see § 1005 of Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-93, June 29, 2011, 58 DCR 5599).


Beavers gnaw trees with their strong teeth and powerful jaws to bring them down. They use the wood to build dome-shaped lodges and dams.
Beavers create massive log, branch, and mud structures to block streams and turn fields and forests into the large ponds.
They have valves in their ears and nose that close when they swim underwater.
The beaver's tail is large and shaped like a paddle. The black scaly tail is used for balance on land and works like a boat rudder to steer the beaver when swimming.
Beavers live and work in extended families of monogamous parents, young kits, and the yearlings born the previous spring.
Given the bad press that they typically get, beavers are too often viewed as a destructive -- albeit physically charming -- menace. To put exaggerated media hype about landscape damages in perspective, beavers need to be recognized as wetland architects and credited with creating and maintaining that essential habitat. Though not deliberate, they accomplish this feat as a side effect of the dams they construct to stop flowing water near their chosen lodge sites. Some creatures actually depend upon beavers' habitat transformations for shelter. Pileated woodpeckers, for example, benefit by having more potential places for their cavity nests when redirected water floods treed areas. Countless species of amphibians, reptiles, fish, and invertebrates benefit, as well.
Most people are surprised by the size of an adult beaver. Though they are cousins to mice and squirrels, beavers are North America's largest rodents, typically weighing 50 or more pounds. Somewhat awkward on land, they are adapted for living mostly in water. Their bulky bodies are designed to keep them warm in cold water. Webbed feet propel them easily underwater, and small forelimbs enable them to carry branches back to their lodge.
Much like water birds, beavers spend a significant amount of time grooming to maintain their streamlined, waterproof condition. They use their flat tails in several ways: slapped on the water, they warn other beavers of danger; turned while swimming, they serve as rudders; and propped behind beaver standing to gnaw trees, they provide added balance.
Beavers' ears and nostrils close while they are swimming, and their eyes have clear membranes so they can see while swimming. Beavers do not have keen vision, though; for safety, they rely more on hearing---both in and out of the water. Their sense of smell helps confirm sounds and sights. Flaps on the sides of their mouths enable them to chew and carry branches with their mouths while underwater.
Sadly, trappers have hunted beavers for their beautiful chestnut to dark brown fur for more than 300 years. Trapping was at its heaviest in the 1800s. Thereafter, efforts were made to restore beaver populations, but they may never rebuild their earlier numbers.
The Great Lakes states and southern Canada are the heart of beaver country. In these areas, beaver lodges may reach heights of 10 feet above water and widths of as much as 50 feet at the base. Beavers have adapted to habitats as far north as the Arctic Circle and as far south as the Valley Wild Wildlife Sanctuary in Louisiana and Gulf of Mexico, and from the desert Southwest as far east as the Maine north woods. Basically, anywhere both water and trees can be found, beavers may take up residence. Their flexibility stems from their unusual ability to modify their environment to meet their needs, particularly the ability to alter water levels. Lakes, creeks, and slow-moving rivers are the ideal sites for beavers, but some will settle for human-made ponds, irrigation ditches, or drainage ditches, as long as there is nearby vegetation to eat.
Though beavers are notorious for their ability to cut down trees, they are merely trying to fulfill their need for food and material to build their dams and lodges. Typically, their lodges are built or overhauled in late summer or early fall. While small trees come down with a few well-placed chomps, beavers sometimes work for multiple days or even weeks to fell larger trees. If there are not enough nearby trees to build a lodge, beavers will establish a bankside den.
Dams are beavers' main means of controlling water levels. They try to block or slow the flow of a stream or river to create a stable water level for the colony site. As the water level rises, streamside vegetation is flooded. Food is then more accessible and the beavers are able to build a lodge that will not be washed away. They also create networks of canals, channels, and plunge holes to provide for safer movement to feeding areas.
In truth, beavers are only reclaiming floodplains their ancestors once occupied. Perhaps it would be better for all if we left some of these places to nature. When that is not a workable option, it is possible to preempt or counter beaver activity effectively without removing or harming the beavers. Any of a variety of devices called beaver "bafflers" or "levelers" can be used to control water level, and wire guards, fences, and repellants can be used to protect trees. In fact, HSUS consultant Skip Lyle, with help from other staffers, has constructed his Beaver Deceiver™ devices in communities across the country---from Washington State to suburban Washington, D.C.---and even as far away as Poland!
With the loss of wetlands an ecological concern of national importance, we should allow beavers to play their natural role in reestablishing and maintaining wetland habitat wherever possible. As a matter of strategy, the human effort and expense that would otherwise be required to accomplish these goals could then be directed toward humanely excluding beaver activities in specific areas that we choose to manage for our own uses. Finding that balance will benefit humans, beavers, and the web of life they help support.
Together with several other nonprofits and individual donors, the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust helped the Unexpected Wildlife Refuge (UWF) purchase additional land that provides prime beaver habitat in New Jersey's Pine Barrens. The land adjoins a parcel already under the protection of the UWF, sharing more than 1,000 linear feet of Main Lake Branch, downstream from Miller Pond. The UWF now protects 610 acres of undisturbed land in the area, permanently providing sanctuary for all indigenous animals.
If your land is home to American beavers, please keep in mind the important role beavers play in reestablishing and maintaining wetlands.


A fab wrap skirt featuring a high waist and a flowy feel. And yaas! Black shade and a flower inspired graphic print <3 Tie a bow and you're good to go!
In a size 38 the waist width is 79 cm and the length is 72 cm. The model is 175 cm and is wearing a size 38.


text:
Trigonorhinus griseus is a species of fungus weevil in the Anthribidae family of beetles. It is found in Central America and North America.

References

Further reading

Anthribidae
Articles created by Qbugbot
Beetles described in 1876


At long last, Windows 10 has arrived and you must be seeing a lot of people migrating to it. However, if you still haven't upgraded to the most recent operating system by Windows, then this means that you aren't hasty and want to see if all the problems are sorted out. You made the right choice by sticking to the older version as Windows 10 is not the safest platform to be on at the moment. There are still a few issues that need to be addressed, some of which are outlined below.
Microsoft Windows has never been known for its privacy. It was never a safe haven for the users, as the hackers managed to breach its security on regular basis. The things haven't panned out differently in Windows 10 either. There have been a couple of incidents already where security was breached and some of the users were hacked. The new and improved Device Guard works rather well, but it needs time before general public can graciously accept and use it. As of now, there's no telling when an attack might commence on Windows 10 and all of your personal data gets lost or stolen. Due to this reason, it is advised that you don't make the transition to the latest Windows operating system just yet.
Microsoft has been marketing its apps store a lot lately, and there will certainly be some people who may have fallen into the trap and moved on to Windows 10 in hope of utilizing the best of apps. However, the reality is completely opposite. Windows Store is still a wasteland and don't offer much to the users. This is why you often see Microsoft advertising apps that aren't on the wish list of a lot of users. If you are thinking of migrating to Windows 10 because you think you will be getting your hands on thousands of universal apps, then just drop the idea and stick to what you've got.
Two of the biggest additions brought to Windows 10 are Mail and Edge. However, both of these apps are in testing phase at the moment and don't offer anything new to the users. You can easily use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox as both of these browsers are stable and rich in features. Edge, on the other hand, doesn't even come close. Same is the case with Mail. It's not ready right now as some of the integral features are missing. Apart from these two apps, there is other stuff in Windows 10 that is going under different tests and will only be made available to the users when it's ready. This can be tomorrow or two years from now, so it's better to stick with the operating system whom you know about.
Windows 10 is currently in its infancy stage, which means a lot is changing and a lot will change as more and more updates are released. This means that the functions you are using right now might completely be changed or even deleted. Furthermore, the updates are forced on you. Even if you don't want them, they are still going to take place. This becomes annoying really fast.
There's no questioning the fact that Windows 10 has brought some awesome new stuff to the table, but another fact is that it isn't ready at the moment. The problems discussed are a proof of that. If you still think that you will be able to pull through, then go for the latest operating system by all means.


A lot of information is available about planning backup and restore strategies, as well as using the BACKUP and RESTORE commands. Although most DBAs are familiar with these commands' standard options, many don't realize that some of the lesser-known options can be really useful. With that in mind, I'll introduce you to some of these infrequently used options and explain how they can benefit you.
I'm going to assume that you're familiar with concepts such as backups, restores, data and log files, and transactions. If you want a refresher, take a look at the training videos on backup internals and restore internals that I recorded for Microsoft last year.
One of my wife's favorite sayings is, "You don't have a backup until you've restored it." I have to agree. Verifying backup integrity is something that's woefully neglected by the DBA community. When helping out with corruption cases on various forums, I'm often told that the backups are also corrupt.
It's a little-known fact that you don't have to actually restore a backup to make sure it isn't corrupt in some way. SQL Server 2005 introduced page checksums as a way of allowing SQL Server to detect whether data file pages have been corrupted when outside of SQL Server's control (most commonly by the hardware or software comprising the I/O subsystem). Page checksums are enabled by default for databases created on SQL Server 2005 and later. You need to enable them when upgrading databases from an earlier version.
The page checksum is checked whenever a data file page is read into memory for processing. This doesn't mean that all corruptions will be detected, however. Many workloads don't regularly read all allocated pages in the database, except for consistency checks and full backups. Consistency checks cause page checksums to be checked. However, by default, full and differential backups don't cause page checksums to be checked.
You need to use the BACKUP command with the CHECKSUM option to make sure page checksums are checked. This option is extremely useful, because it notifies you when your backup has corruption in it. Furthermore, if a page corruption is found, the backup will fail (again by default) with a message similar to that in Figure 1. When you use this option, the backup process will also calculate a checksum over the entire backup and store it in the backup header.
Alternatively, some DBAs use the RESTORE command with the VERIFYONLY option to check the integrity of a backup. Unfortunately, this approach only looks at the backup header and not the data in the backup. You need to use the RESTORE command with both the CHECKSUM and VERIFYONLY options. Only then will the restore process recheck all the page checksums and recheck the checksum for the entire backup. Note that you can't verify the page checksums of a backup that didn't use the CHECKSUM option when the backup was performed.
Using the CHECKSUM option during backups and performing backup verification should be a regular part of testing your backup strategy—except if you actually restore your backups to test them. The extra CPU usage from generating the page checksums is miniscule and shouldn't increase the backup operation's duration. You can quickly ascertain whether backup checksums are being used by looking at the has_backup_checksums column in the backupset table in msdb or in the HasBackupChecksums field in the output from the RESTORE HEADERONLY command for any single backup. Check out my blog post for more information and examples.
When a disaster occurs, the first reaction of a DBA is often to fail over to a redundant system or start restoring from backups. As soon as an in-place restore operation is started, the possibility of backing up the very last portion of the transaction log disappears forever. This kind of backup is known as a tail-of-the-log or tail-log backup because the portion of the log that hasn't been backed up is known as the log tail.
Unless you're using synchronous database mirroring or some form of synchronous SAN replication, restoring a tail-of-the-log backup is the only way to get the absolute minimum amount of data loss following a disaster. Tail-of-the-log backups are always possible in the full or bulk-logged recovery model, with one exception: when a minimally logged operation has occurred since the last log backup and the data files are damaged or missing. In that case, because the log backup would require also reading the data file extents changed by the minimally logged operation, a tail-of-the-log backup isn't possible. This means that any time there are user transactions that can't be lost, you should avoid the bulk-logged recovery model, because you might encounter a situation in which the log backup isn't possible, which means you've lost data.
If you try performing a tail-of-the-log backup and the data files are missing or damaged, you'll get an error message similar to the one that Figure 2 shows. In that case, you can use the NO_TRUNCATE option with the BACKUP statement, which will allow the log backup to proceed. This works because the database metadata that tracks backups is mirrored in the file header page of the log file. Even if the entire SQL Server instance is unavailable, you can take the surviving log file to another SQL Server instance, attach the log file to that instance, then perform a tail-of-the-log backup. I explain how to perform normal and instance-unavailable tail-of-the-log backups in my blog post "Disaster 101: Backing up the Tail of the Log".
Note that in SQL Server 2005 and later, a database that has a log tail that hasn't been backed up can't be overwritten by a restore operation unless you use the REPLACE option. This is a great feature for preventing accidental data loss.
It reduces the time that the extra I/O workload (and potentially CPU workload for compressed backups) is present on the system.
It reduces the potential for the transaction log file to have to grow to accommodate the transaction log generated while a backup operation is running, especially for long-running full database backups.
The easiest way to improve backup performance is to allow the backup operation to parallelize, which is known as backup striping. By default, there's a single data reader thread for each drive letter or mount point being read from and a single data writer thread for each backup device being written to. In general, having more reader and writer threads should improve performance up to the point where the I/O subsystem becomes a bottleneck either for reads or writes. This saturation point will vary, depending your system. The SQL Server Customer Advisory Team (SQLCAT) article "Tuning the Performance of Backup Compression in SQL Server 2008" contains a comprehensive discussion of backup striping, along with a wealth of test data and graphs showing the gains possible.
A more advanced way to improve backup performance is to manually specify the number of backup I/O buffers to use (with the BUFFERCOUNT option) and the size of each buffer (with the MAXTRANSFERSIZE option). Again, the best combination of these options is going to vary by system, but significant gains can be made. Care must be taken when modifying these values, because the amount of virtual address space required (in addition to that used by the buffer pool) will be BUFFERCOUNT ´ MAXTRANSFERSIZE, which can lead to out-of-memory errors on 32-bit systems.
There is obviously a trade-off here, which Jonathan Kehayias covers in-depth in his blog posts at "An XEvent a Day (17 of 31)" and "An XEvent a Day (18 of 31)". He includes links to even more material from Microsoft Customer Service and Support (CSS).
One of the usual goals of a restore operation is to restore as little as possible to reduce the amount of downtime required. With the advent of piecemeal restores, this became much easier. Online piecemeal restores help even more. The phrase piecemeal restore means restoring only a subset of the database, such as a single-page restore (using the PAGE option) or a single-file restore (using the FILE option). Online piecemeal restores allow restoring a portion of a database while the rest of the database is online. Partial database availability makes online piecemeal restores possible.
One feature I see few people using is single-page restore. With the exception of database-wide allocation bitmaps and unique pages such as file header and boot pages (the same restrictions that limit automatic page repair with database mirroring), all pages can be single-page restored as long as there's a way to bring the restored page up to the current time. This means you must have transaction log backups available. Some pages (like those storing table metadata) might fail with an online restore but succeed with an offline restore.
If your consistency checks tell you that you have a single corrupt page (or even a small number of corrupt pages), it will be far faster to restore them using page restores than to restore the file or file group that they're part of. You can read more about page restores in the SQL Server Books Online (BOL) topic "Performing Page Restores" and in my MSDN blog "Fixing damaged pages using page restore or manual inserts".
Sometimes it might be necessary to restore an entire very large database (VLDB), but even then you can reduce the amount of time it takes to bring that database online by architecting for partial database availability and using online piecemeal restores. In this case, you're restoring just a portion of the database and bringing it online so that you don't have to wait for the entire database to be restored.
Introduced in SQL Server 2005, partial database availability and online piecemeal restores are available only in the Enterprise Edition. Partial database availability is the technology that lets you have parts of the database offline and continue processing using the online portions. Online piecemeal restores let you restore the offline parts while keeping the database online.
For example, suppose a VLDB storing current and historical sales data is destroyed. If the VLDB has a single data file, restoring the database to a point that the sales application can work properly requires restoring the entire VLDB. However, if the VLDB has been architected to store different portions of data in different file groups (e.g., current sales in one file group, 2010 sales in another, 2009 in another, and so on), the database can be partially restored and brought online without requiring all the data to be restored. This involves restoring the PRIMARY file group using the PARTIAL option, then restoring the current sales file group, after which the database can be brought online. Later, online piecemeal restores can be performed to restore the other file groups containing historical data. As you can imagine, this can lead to some huge savings in application downtime.
You can read more about partial database availability in the SQL Server BOL topic "Performing Piecemeal Restores". I provide a sample script for this type of restore in the SQL Server Questions Answered blog "Using Partial Database Availability for Targeted Restores".
Occasionally you might need to restore a database to a particular point in time that isn't the most recent time possible. A sample scenario is when someone has deleted some data and you need to restore the database from a log backup created right before that deletion. If you know the time the deletion occurred, you can simply use the STOPAT option to specify that the log restore shouldn't proceed past the time specified.
If you don't know when the problem occurred, you can perform an operation I call "inching through the log." This restore operation uses both the STOPAT and STANDBY options to progress through the log by a small amount each time to see whether you've reached the correct point. The webcast "Part 10: Recovering from Human Error (Level 200)" walks through this scenario (as well as a few more).
You can then use this known point when restoring a database. If you want to restore the database up to and including the marked transaction, you use the STOPATMARK option. If you want to restore the database up to but not including the marked transaction, you use the STOPBEFOREMARK option.
To use either option, you need to know the name of the log mark. If you haven't manually recorded them, they're stored in the logmarkhistory table in msdb—which is one more reason to make sure you have backups of the msdb database. If you lose the information in the logmarkhistory table, it's difficult to find the log mark names manually. You'd have to use a third-party tool or use undocumented log and log backup commands.
If you used the same log mark name multiple times, you need to tell SQL Server which one you want to stop at with the AFTER option. Otherwise, it will stop at the first log mark matching the name specified in the RESTORE statement.
Typically, marked transactions aren't used when only a single database is involved. However, it's the only reliable way of being able to restore multiple databases to the same transactionally consistent point, either on one instance or multiple instances. If all the databases are on a single instance, the log mark will be automatically inserted into the transaction log for each database. For databases on remote instances, a distributed transaction must be used to force the log mark into each transaction log. Details of this procedure are in the SQL Server BOL topic "Using Marked Transactions (Full Recovery Model)".
Restoring all necessary databases to the same point can be done by specifying the same log mark name (and AFTER , if necessary) for each database's restore sequence. You can read more about using marked transactions during a restore in the SQL Server BOL topic "Recovering to a Marked Transaction".
One the RESTORE command's least-known options is WITH RESTART, which lets you restart an interrupted restore operation. Periodically, a restore operation writes a checkpoint file that describes the point to which the restore has progressed. Checkpoint files (which have nothing to do with regular database checkpoints) are written to the \InstanceName\MSSQL\Backup folder.
If the checkpoint file exists and you use the WITH RESTART option, whatever steps have already been completed will be skipped. If you use the WITH RESTART option and there isn't a checkpoint file, you'll receive a message similar to the one in Figure 3.
This option is really meant for large backups that span several tapes; it lets you restart a restore operation without having to go back to the first tape. However, it can also be useful for restoring disk-based backups. For instance, if your restore operation successfully created and zeroed the data and log files but was interrupted before copying could be completed, the WITH RESTART option will prevent the restore from having to go through the earlier operations again, saving precious time.
I'm often asked which of the lesser-known BACKUP and RESTORE options is the most beneficial. You can get tremendous performance gains by using the BUFFERCOUNT and MAXTRANSFERSIZE options to tailor the I/O buffers. Using the PAGE and PARTIAL options to perform single-page and piecemeal restores can dramatically reduce downtime when disaster strikes. However, if I had to select only one option, I'd single out using the NO_TRUNCATE option to perform tail-of-the-log backups. It's the only way to ensure that you can recover right up to the point of the disaster if the data files are unavailable.
I hope that you're now curious about some of these lesser-known BACKUP and RESTORE options. Investigating them further could be advantageous to you and your company.


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I'll cover each of them in detail below.
NFS File Cloning is more or less the NFS analog of the Block VAAI feature Hardware-Assisted Copy — with one fairly significant difference.
Without VAAI, an ESXi server replicating a VM or performing a Storage vMotion operation acts the same regardless of whether it's using VMFS or NFS: the ESXi server reads the data from storage, then writes it back to storage — essentially making the server into a "middle man" for the operation, using server resources (CPU, RAM, bandwidth) and affecting other storage traffic.
Similar to VMFS's Hardware Assisted Copy, NFS File Cloning eliminates this middle man, however, NFS File Cloning takes things one step further.
To block storage, blocks are just blocks. It's the ESXi server, not the array, that's making the distinction between different blocks, deciding the placement of the files within the VMFS filesystem.
NFS storage, on the other hand, is "file-aware" if you'll indulge my creating that phrase. This allows an NFS storage array — not just the server — to take actions at the file level within the file system.
So, when you have a vSphere 5 ESXi server with NFS File Cloning enabaled (and VMware enables the feature by default) connected to an NFS datastore on a supported array that also has the feature enabled, copy operations can happen very quickly.
NFS File Cloning allows the ESXi server to call the array's built-in file replication facility. On some arrays this might simply create a copy of the file without having to send the data off the array. On others, this will call the array's native snapshot solution.
On the EMC VNX (the NFS array I'm most familiar with), an NFS File Cloning call will cause the VNX to create a writeable snapshot of the VMDK file that the ESXi server wanted copied. From the server's point of view, a complete copy of the file was created nearly instantaneously — and the only space it takes up will be any blocks within the file that are changed to be different than the original file they were copied from.
All in all, NFS File Cloning provides huge performance benefits when creating VMs from templates, and can bring with it a great deal of space efficiency.
Prior to vSphere 5, ESXi servers weren't able to get as much information about what was going on deep inside an NFS filesystem — certainly far less information then they could get from a VMFS filesystem. This makes a lot of sense if you think about it — VMware created VMFS — of course they know what's going on inside it.
What this means is that, without VAAI v2, the ESXi server only gets the most basic information about a file from storage. If a file is listed as a 100GB file, ESXi treats it like a 100GB file. All space calculations, capacity planning, anything else vSphere or any of its tools might use file information for — all will treat that file as 100GB.
It is, in fact, entirely possible on modern storage devices, that this "100GB" file is, in reality, only occupying 5GB of physical space on the NFS datastore.
Without VAAI v2, vSphere will treat that 5GB as if it were 100GB, effectively wasting 95GB of potentially-usable space.
With NFS Extended Stats enabled, the ESXi server gets full insight into the inner workings of the NFS filesystem. It will know to tell the application that has up to 100GB to use, and to tell capacity planning tools that the file is 5GB.
NFS datastores, on VAAI-supported NFS arrays can become incredibly space-efficient.
Prior to vSphere 5, there was no way for anyone using an NFS datastore to create the NFS equivalent of an "eager-zeroed think" VMDK file.
Eager-zeroed think VMDKs tend to be the go-to for VMs with high I/O performance requirements, but this just wasn't an option for NFS.
Additionally, Microsoft Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) requires the physical reservation of the entire space. So, in vSphere 4.1, WSFC was incompatible with NFS datastores.
In vSphere 5, with NFS Reserve Space enabled, when using a supported NFS array, vSphere now has the option to reserve the entire space for the VMDK files.
It's all about VMware giving customers more options.
I hope you've found my write-up of the VAAI v2 features helpful. Hopefully it's explained the tangible benefits of the various features.
If you'd like the "short version" of this information, about a week ago I posted the presentation that I gave in the EMC booth at VMworld 2011 in Copenhagen. It's available in two versions: straight PowerPower file (with speaker notes) or a recording of the presentation (complete with the melodious tones of my voice narrating).
This entry was posted in VMware and tagged Storage, VAAI, VMware, vSphere, vSphere5. Bookmark the permalink.
Firstly can you configure if the NFS Full Copy VAAI primitive creates a snapshot or a 'full fat' copy? I'm a Netapp user and I know that running off a snapshot long term has it's downsides.
It's also worth pointing on the Windows Failover clusters still only support FC so even though you can eager-thick provision NFS it doesn't mean they're feasible on NFS.
Maybe I've missed something obvious, but I'm unable to find anything in the vSphere documentation that mentions configuring how the NFS Full Copy primitive handles the copy. Since the NFS VAAI features require the installation of vendor-specific plug-ins to work, my best guess is that the answer to your question will depend on the particular vendor's implementation, but I'll continue digging and see what else I can turn up.
I'd been unaware of WSFC's FC-only limitation — thanks for pointing it out. I'll need to find a better use case example for the Reserve Space feature.
My guess is that on NetApp WAFL would perform a file level FlexClone and certainly not a full copy.
Yes, the intent is that the underlying storage would perform the file-level snapshot rather than create a full copy.
However, as of the time of this writing (I just checked), if you look in the VMware Compatibility Guides, NetApp is not listed as currently supporting the NFS File Cloning feature. I'm sure their support for it will be coming soon, but today VMware with NetApp would not do that FlexClone in this case.
Actually, NetApp has been doing this for quite sometime now :). They released a vCenter plugin called Virtual Storage Console. It provides many features that these "new" VAAI NFS constructs now provide. For example, I've been able to get visibility into both my VMFS and NFS datastores with this plug-in. I can see deduplication savings, snapshot space, etc.
This plug-in also has a feature that allows me to create space efficient clones of my virtual machines and automatically import them into a VDI broker. The really cool thing is that if I'm using NFS datastores this plug-in will use NetApp's native File Level FlexClone to efficiently create the virtual machines.
So, NetApp does do these features, including File Level Flexclone today – you just need the NetApp Virtual Storage Console plug-in for vCenter Server – which is free. The new VAAI constructs for NFS will just make it native to ESXi.
Several storage vendors have vCenter plugins now. I think it's great that VMware made vCenter extensible like that and awesome that vendors are taking advantage of it. Giving the VMware admin great visibility into storage — and the ability to provision and manage storage — from within vCenter is huge.
The Rapid Cloning functionality and auto-registering with your VDI broker isn't exclusive to NetApp's VSC — EMC's Virtual Storage Integrator's Fast Clone capability allows this, too.
Where you're mistaken is saying that this is "the same" as support for native NFS VAAI File Cloning. It isn't. Doing it via the plugin "goes around" ESXi. Don't mis-read me — I'm not saying having the features in the plugin is a Bad Thing. Providing more options for customers and administrators is pretty much always better.
I hear you, just think you may have misunderstood me. I realize the NFS VAAI feature set is not the ame thing as the NetApp plug-in. What I was trying to say is that the result is the same thing. Both will offload the cloning capability to the storage array to alleviate the vmkernel from having to provide that functionality.
The NFS VAAI capability has vmkernel pass the task off, while the NetApp plug-in handles it from the start – in the end it's the same outcome.
Now, it's great that VMware now includes this functionality, among other new cool VAAI constructs, but most storage arrays that support VAAI already have vCenter plug-ins that handle a lot of these tasks. I'm just stating that if you own a NetApp (or EMC, Dell, etc) you've likely installed the vCenter plug-in for your array and had the functionality that the NFS VAAI feature provides.
The NetApp VSC already provides NFS file cloning (File Level Flexclone) and NFS extended stats (VSC Monitoring). The only thing that NFS VAAI will provide that the VSC doesn't is the NFS Reserve Space.
I can't tell if you're dissembling or if the distinction's too subtle, but I'm going to take a stab at it.
Yes, the VSC provides file cloning and NFS extended stats. No, this does not give you the same thing as native NFS VAAI support of those features. Native NFS VAAI support is way better.
The VSC will only use file-level FlexClone for those VMDKs the user explicitly tells it to. Native NFS VAAI File Cloning would automatically call file-level FlexClone for any file replication. Obviously better.
The VSC will let you get the same information that native VAAI NFS Extended Stats, but only when the user explicitly goes looking for them. Native VAAI NFS Extended Stats would automatically provide that information to any program that queries vCenter and/or ESXi. Again, obviously better.
It's great that the plug-in helps to provide extra functionality, but it isn't, and won't ever be, an actual replacement for the native support of the advanced storage features directly from ESXi.
LOL. I don't think I was trying to be difficult, but I guess you just want the last word on it :-). I'm not arguing that vendor plug-ins are obviously better than the NFS VAAI constructs. I simply pointed out that these plug-ins such as the NetApp VSC obviously gave this functionality for quite sometime now. I did say that the end result of both VAAI and VSC for tasks such as vm cloning, and NFS stats is the same – in both instances the task is offloaded to the storage array, freeing up valuable cpu and network resources from the vmkernel.
I could query the NetApp from any program and receive NFS extended stats too, so that's besides the point. I disagree that the plug-ins will never be a replacement for the native support of advanced storage features directly from ESXi. Not only do these plug-ins like the VSC supply the same functionality as the NFS VAAI constructs, but they do a lot more. Plus, the plug-ins are from the actual storage vendors themselves! I think I'd trust that the storage vendor would be able to provide me with the best integration against their own storage. Last I looked I don't think I can right-click a datastore and initiate deduplication – as a baked in advanced storage feature directly from ESXi. As new storage features are introduced these plug-ins will always be ahead of what VMware can natively supply. VMware does a great job playing the catch up game, but they do what they do best and storage vendors do what storage vendors do best.
The Cisco 1000V is a superior product to the vSphere VDS is it not? A Checkpoint or Palo Alto virtual security appliance is going to be more robust than what vShield can offer. Vendor partners will always be able to offer better products than what vSphere can natively offer. So, I'll agree that there may be a little more flexibility in how I'll be able to do some things with NFS VAAI, but I can still easily do all those things and get better native storage integration with these storage plug-ins.
I wasn't trying to get the last word (I don't suffer from a desire for that greater than, oh, you know, everyone's…), I just wasn't interested in a circular discussion.
Now, however, you've raised a really interesting point that I hadn't thought of, one that's worth discussing and speculating on.
You're right — VMware's use of advanced storage features will always lag behind the storage vendors' development of those new features — and storage vendors' use of advanced VM features and VM management features will always lag behind VMware's development of those new features.
On the one hand, providing multiple ways to accomplish the same thing benefits the customers by giving them more choice. On the other hand, too many choices can get confusing.
What can we (you, me, VMware, the storage vendors (and network and security vendors)) do to reduce and minimize that feature-lag (in all directions)? That would be an even better benefit to everyone's customers.
NetApp is supporting VAAI for NFS (including file-level (flex)-cloning) since ONTAP 8.1 in cMode.
You're correct. At the time I wrote the original post, only EMC VNX provided support for VAAI-NFS.
As of the time of this comment, it's now EMC VNX, EMC VNXe, and NetApp FAS running Data ONTAP 8.1 in Cluster-Mode.
Meanwhile NetApp ONTAP 8.1.1 in 7Mode is supporting VAAI for NFS too. It uses single file cloning which is basically the reverse of dedupe. It is not only fast, but also safes tons of space while it is scaling for very large deployments.
Not according to the published VMware Compatibility Guide.
As of the time I'm typing this comment, VAAI-NAS is supported on NetApp only on ONTAP 8.1 in Cluster-Mode, not in 7-Mode.
One thing this latest discussion doesn't touch on us the benefit of VAAI when scripting. The VSC is fine if you want to use a GUI but won't offer any functionality to API requests. We provision most of our VMs via some in house PowerCLI scripts so VAAI would definitely be an improvement. Likewise anyone who uses Orchestrator, vCD or other third party apps etc. I like the VSC, but I don't considerate it on a par with VAAI. It does of course offer features that VAAI doesn't, so it's horses for courses.
I fully agree with you. VAAI for NFS support is here on NetApp. You can use ONTAP 8.1.1 to take advantage of it.
Beside of it, you could use NetApp Powershell cmdlets (over 1000 cmdlets available today) to get the job done directly on the controller. Also, VSC is having an API if you prefer that. You'll find the details in the documentation.
Many storage vendors provide libraries of PowerShell commandlets for use with their arrays, so NetApp's not alone there.
I think Ed's point is more that if you have the VAAI support, your scripts would automagically get the benefits of VAAI without having to use vendor-specific commands, commandlets, or scripts.
In fact 8.1.1 is available for download as an RC an will very soon be GA. I have customers who run it successfully today. The VAAI NFS Plugin can very easily deployed by VSC 4.0.
You are referring to Chuck's blog – well I really propose that people start to focus on their technology only, rather than trying to be an expert for everyone else products, especially if they are never playing around in the lab by themselfes. His recent blog post is full of flaws and wrong assumptions. This got to an level where I as an engineer stop paying attention to it.


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