The Inter-Mountain editorial Public school systems throughout West Virginia will have to do without regional education service agencies if Gov. Jim Justice signs a bill sent to him Saturday night by the Legislature. Or will they? RESAs have served some county school districts well for many years. But the same[Read More…]

By Don Smith Executive Director West Virginia Press Association The West Virginia Press Association hopes you have found the daily “Around the Rotunda,” “Statewide Coverage” and the “WVPA Today’s News” helpful during the 2017 Legislative Session. Our effort focused on giving daily insight into the daily schedule, activity and legislation at the[Read More…]

The Register-Herald of Beckley: Word arrived late Saturday night that a budget deal had been reached between Gov. Jim Justice and Senate President Mitch Carmichael – without the House knowing what was going on behind closed doors. So, trouble ahead? Well, no matter what budget bill this legislature produces, regardless[Read More…]

From The Charleston Gazette-Mail, Daily Mail page:  The public remembers certain attributes about its leaders. Sometimes, all the work done by a chief executive at the federal or state level can be forgotten because of a single error in judgment.  For example, President Richard Nixon is best known for his role[Read More…]

From the Wheeling News-Register: Differences in budget bills approved by the West Virginia House of Delegates and the state Senate last week were not of the kind that can be reconciled with just a few hours of negotiations — at least, not prudently. For example, the House budget at one[Read More…]

From The Exponent Telegram:Going into this year’s legislative session, everyone knew that the challenges facing our great state were unprecedented and daunting, to say the least. To address these challenges would require leadership, vision, compromise and bipartisan cooperation. The first task was to address the state’s budget deficit for the[Read More…]

 From the Bluefield Daily Telegraph: While the coal industry may be showing renewed signs of life here in the mountains of southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia, efforts to diversify our regional economy and create new jobs must continue. A federal measure that has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of[Read More…]

From the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington: One troubling workforce development trend only seems to be getting worse. As employers continue to raise concerns about the work ethic and soft skills of entry-level job candidates and new employees, researchers also are finding that fewer young people have the part-time work experience and[Read More…]

From The Charleston Gazette-Mail, Daily Mail page: There’s another reason legislators shouldn’t choose their voters during redistricting that goes beyond the obvious reason they are choosing their own voters. It pits delegate against delegate in a War of the Roses resulting in retaliatory settling of scores. It also explains Kanawha[Read More…]

By Phil Kabler For the West Virginia Press Association Final hours of the 2017 regular session were marked with drama, including a last-minute blockbuster announcement from Gov. Jim Justice that a deal was near on the budget bill that would avoid major cuts to public education, higher education, and health[Read More…]