This Sunday join others from around the state for a forum and training on Medicaid Expansion. Registration and refreshments begin at 1PM, the event starts at 2PM – 3:30PM. Location: Christ Church United Methodist, 1221 Quarrier Street, East, Charleston. Speakers include Senate President Jeff Kessler.
To find out about whether or not you would qualify for coverage under Medicaid Expansion, click here. To sign a petition urging Governor Tomblin to expand Medicaid coverage, click here.
Medicaid Expansion will:
• give 120,000 uninsured, low-income West Virginians access to health insurance coverage through Medicaid,
• create about 6,200 new jobs throughout West Virginia in 2016, and
• bring in billions of new health care dollars by drawing down federal funding and increasing jobs and economic activity.
Monday, April 8 at the Culture Center in Charleston will be a screening of a documentary on hunger in America, A Place at the Table at 6PM. Immediately following will be a panel discussion featuring film director Lori Silverbush and food expert Dr. Janet Poppendieck. For more information, contact Paul Sheridan at paul.sheridan@wvsenate.gov or 304-357-4490.
The sequestration cuts will have an impact in every West Virginia community, and therefore will hit virtually every nonprofit, including those that do not receive government funding. The National Council of Nonprofits has launched a website to alert nonprofits about the need to capture information about the effects of sequestration and help them collect data to tell their stories about the negative effects of sequestration on real people in local communities across West Virginia and America.
In reaction to lower-than-expected tax revenues, the West Virginia Senate this week passed a bill that would cut $28 million from the current state budget. This is in spite of the state’s rainy day funds which added $100 million in 2012. Read more in Sean’s blog post.
Banning the Box means removing questions on employment applications that ask about felony convictions. Seven states and 43 local governments have adopted this measure. While employers can still do criminal background checks, they would be less likely to automatically disqualify someone before looking at their other credentials. Read more in Ted’s blog post.
West Virginia, along with many other states, is grappling with how to pay the additional $1.3 billion it needs each year to improve and maintain its roads and highways. SB 354 would authorize the Division of Highways to study the alternatives to the gas tax which include the vehicle miles traveled tax. Read more in Ted’s blog post.
The Senate bill that would establish free meals for all West Virginia students made national news. The bill was passed last Friday and would make West Virginia the first state to create such a program.
Responding to calls to make his decision on whether or not to expand Medicaid coverage, Governor Tomblin this week announced that he is waiting for more data on the issue from a study he commissioned. Wednesday’s Charleston Daily Mail story lists the WVCBP as a supporter of Medicaid Expansion.
