Construction continued in October on the 1,700-acre site of a Nucor electric arc furnace facility near Apple Grove in Mason County. (File Photo)

CHARLESTON — Del. Mike Pushkin, the chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party, leveled criticism at Gov. Jim Justice and state economic development officials Friday a day after officials agreed with provide North Carolina-based Nucor an additional $75 million in taxpayer dollars for its multi-billion-dollar steel mill in Mason County.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, Pushkin accused Justice and the West Virginia Economic Development Authority of providing a “blank check” to Nucor after the state already provided $315 million to bring the project to the state nearly three years ago.

“To be clear — we’re not opposed to all economic development incentives. West Virginians support smart economic development that creates jobs and strengthens our communities,” said Pushkin, D-Kanawha. “But there’s a big difference between strategic incentives and blank checks.”

The EDA voted Thursday to provide Nucor with $75 million in financial incentives for the purchase of additional property at the Apple Grove site where Nucor is building its electric arc furnace to manufacture steel products. Nucor will also build a barge loading facility for scrap metal near Wheeling.

In exchange, Nucor will make an additional private investment of at least $50 million and employ an additional 100 jobs on top of the 800 employees expected when the facility comes online after 2026. Nucor’s additional investments will take their total investment in the state to more than $3.5 billion.

Pushkin called the additional $75 million in state funding for the Nucor project “unconscionable” given recent news, such as the recent premium increases and out-of-pocket expenses approved by the Public Employee Insurance Agency on state employees, local government participants, and retirees.

“When a company with billions of dollars in cash reserves keeps coming back to the taxpayer trough for more and more handouts, it raises serious concerns about who is really benefiting from these deals,” Pushkin said. “It’s time for the Justice administration to draw a line. West Virginians deserve to know how much is too much — and at what point the return on investment stops justifying the cost to our teachers, public employees, and retirees.”

The Legislature held a special session in 2022 to pass several bills aimed at luring the Nucor project to the state, including bills to take money from the nearly $400 million in surplus tax revenue and funds from other state agencies for the Department of Economic Development. The money being taken from the agencies would be backfilled with available federal COVID-19 dollars.

The transfer of the $400 million in funding allowed the state to offer $315 million in matching funds for the Nucor project, the largest amount the state has ever offered for a project, contingent on Nucor meeting private investment requirements. The $75 million approved Thursday takes state funding to $390 million.

“Governor Justice is handing nearly $400 million of our tax dollars to one of the wealthiest corporations in America while telling public employees they have to dig deeper into their own pockets to pay for health insurance,” Pushkin said. “It’s outrageous, it’s wrong, and it’s a clear statement of who Jim Justice thinks deserves a helping hand — and it’s not working West Virginians.”