Near-capacity Culture Center audience closes out 21 West Virginia PEIA Task Force public hearings

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Directed by Gov. Jim Justice to find an answer to medical and pharmaceutical costs that are driving up PEIA costs by nearly $50 million a year, the PEIA Task Force closed out a series of 21 public hearings statewide Monday with a final hearing in Charleston.

With a near-capacity audience in the Culture Center Theater, the task force heard some two dozen speakers call for an end to seemingly annual cuts in benefits and/or increases in costs, and to find a dedicated revenue source to cover that annual $50 million shortfall — with many calling for an increase in the severance tax on natural gas.