West Virginia Watch, Beckley Register-Herald - Gov. Jim Justice gave his eighth and final State of the State address last week, and although there were no dog butts or loads of bullcrap, there was lots to dissect. Let’s take a look at what he said. Read the full article. “Do you realize that if we left here, right this minute,…
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West Virginia MetroNews - Officials considering Gov. Jim Justice’s proposed $5.22 billion general revenue budget will also need to take into account a few variables. Those could have such weight that officials are projecting state revenue will dip slightly over the next several years. Read the full article. One factor is the possibility that West…
Mountain State Spotlight, Beckley Register-Herald - Long before Gov. Jim Justice tossed a couple copies of his proposed spending plan onto the speaker’s podium during Wednesday’s State of the State address, it was pretty well understood it was going to be a “flat budget.” Read the full article. A flat budget is the practice of…
Dominion-Post - As the 2024 legislative session opens today, there are certain words already on lawmakers’ lips: drugs, addiction, substance abuse, fentanyl. Read the full article. And one more: punishment. Over the last few years, as West Virginia has tried to wrangle an out-of-control drug crisis, lawmakers have talked a big game on prevention and…
Mountain State Spotlight - West Virginia health officials say they urgently need nearly $300 million in new funding to help residents who desperately need drug treatment and recovery, protect the state’s children from abuse, and aid those mired in poverty. Read the full article. The health officials laid out their case to Gov. Jim Justice…
WDTV - A class-action lawsuit focuses on conditions in West Virginia prisons, namely an overcrowding issue that has been increasing since 2000. Read the full article. The lawsuit claims that between 2000 and 2009 West Virginia’s prison population more than doubled, the leading growth rate in the nation. And from 2018 to 2022 that got…
WVNS - The executive director of the non-partisan West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy executive director said West Virginia families are in a “crisis” which state lawmakers must address. Read the full article. Kelly Allen, the executive director, said recent data shows children in West Virginia are four times more likely than those in…
West Virginia MetroNews - West Virginia has long had a problem with overcrowding in its jails, and that problem hasn’t gone away. Read the full article. Overcrowding is a through-line in a class action lawsuit about conditions in the jails, a root with other problems branching out. The lawsuit underscores that between 2000 and 2009 West Virginia’s…
Appalachian Times - In a distressing turn of events, the federal government has raised red flags regarding the substantial decline in Medicaid health coverage for children across nine states. West Virginia, grappling with its own concerns, reports a worrying trend, sparking urgent attention to this critical issue affecting the most vulnerable demographic—children. Read the full…
Times West Virginian - Last year, freshman state delegate Mike DeVault, R-Marion County, was eager to get to work in Charleston, but like a high school student fighting sleep after a long night slumbering, the legislative process itself was less than ready to hit the ground running. Read the full article. “When we got there,…