By ANDREA LANNOM The Register-Herald CHARLESTON, W.Va.  — Saying the state has a “health emergency at its fingertips,” Gov. Jim Justice called for switching on the State of Emergency light on top of the Capitol dome because of proposed reductions under legislative leadership’s budget framework. Justice called a press conference[Read More…]

By JESS MANCINI The Parkersburg News and Sentinel PARKERSBURG, W.Va.  — A trade group in West Virginia also believes a tax reform bill will drive customers across borders while a sponsor says counties in states without an income tax outperform their cross-state neighbors. West Virginia Senate Bill 335 creates an[Read More…]

By RUSTY MARKS The State Journal CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Several hundred oil and gas industry executives, workers and supporters met in Charleston on Tuesday, March 21, for a rally on the steps of the state Capitol. “The work that you do should be celebrated,” said Maribeth Anderson, president of the[Read More…]

By CYNTHIA McCLOUD The State Journal The presidents of West Virginia’s largest state-supported universities asked legislators Tuesday not to cut higher education funding when balancing the state’s budget. In a joint statement, Marshall University President Jerome Gilbert and West Virginia University President Gordon Gee said the schools would be forced[Read More…]

By ERIN BECK Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Three lawmakers have agreed to a compromise on a bill that would place new restrictions on adolescent abortions in West Virginia. During a House of Delegates Committee on the Judiciary subcommittee meeting Tuesday, Delegates Barbara Evans Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, Amy Summers, R-Taylor, and[Read More…]

By PHIL KABLER Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. — One portion of Gov. Jim Justice’s $2.7 billion highways construction bonds plan advanced from Senate Finance Committee to the full Senate Tuesday. The committee advanced Justice’s legislation to raise the excise tax on gasoline by 4.5 cents a gallon to 25 cents,[Read More…]

By WENDY HOLDREN The Register-Herald CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The House of Delegates voted Tuesday, 96-3, to require West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Act and other insurance providers to cover breast cancer screenings. House Bill 2471, effective Jan. 1, 2018, if signed into law, requires providers to cover the following: • One[Read More…]

By LACIE PIERSON The Herald-Dispatch CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Senate on Tuesday morning approved 34-0 a bill that would allow teachers and school staff who are certified to carry and administer opioid antagonists in school facilities if they so choose. Under current state law, licensed school nurses are permitted[Read More…]

By JOSELYN KING The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register WHEELING, W.Va.  — Legislation that would discontinue West Virginia’s Greyhound Breeding Fund will be discussed again today as lawmakers seek more answers regarding the bill. Senate Bill 437 is listed again at the top of the Senate Finance Committee’s agenda as members[Read More…]