Charleston Daily Mail - We all agree that we want a strong economy and good jobs in West Virginia. ReadThe question is would a job still be considered “good” if you risked being fired for taking an hour off work to pick up your sick child from school or for staying home when you have…
OpEds
Sunday Gazette-Mail - The outbreak of enterovirus – a severe respiratory illness -- in West Virginia and the recent cases of Ebola in the United States have made one thing crystal clear: We need public health policies that prevent the spread of disease and infection. One great way to do that is to ensure that…
Charleston Gazette - On Nov. 4, voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would allow the Boy Scouts of America to rent out its Summit Bechtel Reserve in Fayette County to for-profit businesses without jeopardizing its tax-exempt status. While a vote either way won’t have a large impact on the state, it is not…
Charleston Daily Mail - A recent column by Hoppy Kercheval wrongly states that the revolution in shale development was the product of the “free market.” Nothing could be further from the truth. ReadFederal investments and involvement in the development of shale extraction technologies span three decades.In fact, the first successful multi-fracture horizontal drilling play was…
Every couple of years I read a book that dramatically changes the way I view the world. In college, it was Noam Chomsky’s penetrating critique of the mass media in “Manufacturing Consent.” In 2006, it was Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” that made me see corn everywhere and start shopping around the perimeter of our…
Sunday Gazette-Mail - Last week, Gov. Tomblin said he was restoring $260,000 in funding for critical programs serving children and families, funding that he had previously vetoed. This included $30,000 for domestic violence legal services, $80,000 for child abuse prevention from the Children’s Trust Fund, and $150,000 for In-Home Family Education. Read While this is…
Charleston Gazette - On the same day the Governor recently cut programs to prevent child abuse and domestic violence, he held a ceremony signing a bill that would give the Greenbrier Resort up to $25 million in tax credits. Unfortunately, some lawmakers and members of the media failed to see a connection between the two…
The State Journal - When it comes to making good public policy, it is always important to remember that there are two things people really hate: The first is change and the second is the way things are. This is why it is easy to focus on the negative aspects of the recent legislative session…
Scranton Times-Tribute - Has natural gas drilling been the economic game changer that industry leaders promised? Not according to the most reliable analysis. Read A recent study from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that looked at job growth in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale found it to be a very small slice of the overall economy.…
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia share a lot in common, including job markets, highways, rolling hills, watersheds and natural resources. In some places, shale wells in close proximity to each other are in different states. Yet each of our three states has taken a vastly different approach to taxing oil and gas…