By LACIE PIERSON The Herald-Dispatch CHARLESTON, W.Va. — With six days before a critical deadline, the West Virginia Senate Finance Committee still is ruminating a major tax reform bill. Senate Bill 335 cleared the Select Committee on Tax Reform earlier this month, and it remains under the consideration of members of[Read More…]
Month: March 2017
WV House committee sends watered-down voter ID bill to floor
By JAKE ZUCKERMAN Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The House Judiciary Committee sent a bare-bones, edited version of a new voter-identification law to the chamber floor Thursday for consideration by the full West Virginia House of Delegates. The original bill would have required state-issued photo identification to vote, making West[Read More…]
WV House passes drug-testing bill
By RUSTY MARKS The State Journal CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill Thursday, March 23 that would allow private employers to require drug-testing of workers. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Delegate John Shott, R-Mercer, said the program outlined under House Bill 2857, called[Read More…]
WV Senate Education Committee OKs school vaccination exemptions
By JAKE ZUCKERMAN Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill allowing for exemptions for students from receiving vaccinations before enrolling in public schools narrowly cleared the West Virginia Senate Education Committee on Thursday. The body has spent its last several sessions hearing testimony from doctors regarding the efficacy and safety[Read More…]
WV Senate amends Tourism funding bill to include bond sales
By PHIL KABLER Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice’s plan to reorganize the state Division of Tourism will be up for a passage vote in the Senate Friday — but with an amendment approved Thursday that could effectively hold funding for all state tourism advertising hostage. In Senate Bill[Read More…]
Raleigh delegate gives weekly budget speech
By ANDREA LANNOM The Register-Herald CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Delegate Mick Bates said he knows an easy way to balance the budget without tax increases or crippling cuts. Taking out a stack of papers he said was the budget bill, Bates balanced the papers on top of his head. After Thursday’s[Read More…]
Hopemont bill overhauled
By DAVID BEARD The Dominion Post CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The bill to sell Hopemont Hospital in Terra Alta was overhauled March 23 to make provisions for staff and patients. House Finance took up a new version of HB 3102. It orders Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) to sell[Read More…]
Preston commission talks Hopemont options
By KATHY PLUM The Dominion Post CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Preston County Commission is asking the state to consider an alternative use for Hopemont Hospital, if it stops using it as a long-term care facility. In Charleston on March 21 for Preston and Monongalia County Day at the legislature, the[Read More…]
Steven Paine to serve again as WV Superintendent of Schools
Staff reports The State Journal CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Board of Education voted unanimously March 23 to appoint Steven Paine as the state’s next Superintendent of Schools. Paine will begin serving Monday, March 27 at a salary of $230,000 per year, the same as his predecessor, Michael Martirano,[Read More…]
Vice President Pence to visit Putnam County Saturday
By ALI SCHMITZ Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to be in Putnam County Saturday afternoon, according to the Putnam County sheriff and a federal flight plan. The flight restriction released by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is in effect from 3:45 p.m. to 8:15[Read More…]
