Even before the 2016 gubernatorial race begins in earnest, Senate President Bill Cole (R – Mercer) has already received substantial contributions from oil and gas interests in West Virginia. He has been endorsed by a super PAC that has so far raised $70,600 ($10,000 from oil and gas interests), and he has been backed by…
WVCBP in the News
Huntington Herald-Dispatch - The West Virginia House of Delegates has approved a bill that would establish a three-year pilot program to drug screen and test certain applicants for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, commonly referred to as TANF. ReadThe House voted 91-8 Wednesday to approve Senate Bill 6, which would require officials with…
Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram - As fiscal conservatives and social advocates, we're as angry as the majority of people when we hear of welfare recipients who abuse the system, taking advantage of what should be a hand up and exploiting it for an unintended use. ReadWith that being said, it would seem that drug testing welfare recipients…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Over objections from social workers, anti-poverty advocates and psychologists, a push to mandate drug testing for welfare recipients is racing toward final passage in the West Virginia Legislature. ReadState lawmakers are backing legislation (SB 6) that would require drug tests for about 4,000 adults who apply for cash assistance through the Temporary…
Beckley Register-Herald -West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy analyst Sean O'Leary said Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's approach was "fairly balanced" and for the first time in years offered a revenue increase, instead of just budget cuts. Read"We've significantly cut almost every other area of the budget outside of Medicaid," O'Leary said. "Every major department…
Beckley Register-Herald - Several speakers at a public hearing in the House of Delegates Chamber Friday morning said drug testing welfare recipients is a bad idea because of basic privacy rights issues and the likely low number of positive tests. ReadACLU legal director Jamie Lynn Crofts said drug testing of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families…
West Virginia Metro News - Opponents of a bill that would require drug testing of welfare recipients say it's a measure that targets the poor. Read"Investing in substance abuse treatment is an efficient use of taxpayer dollars, but expensive and unnecessary policies that are based more on stereotype and punishing the poor rather than on…
WDTV - Friday morning at a public hearing before the House Judiciary Committee many spoke out against a bill that passed in the Senate around a month ago. Read/Watch That bill is Senate Bill Six, which would require drug testing for some welfare recipients. The bill spells out a program that when there's "reasonable suspicion"…
WDTV - Many of you tell us over and over again you're upset with some of the road conditions in our state. Read/Watch Now lawmakers are working to try to get those roads fixed, but it could come at the expense of higher sales taxes. One of the pieces of Senate Bill 555 would increase…
Charleston Gazette-Mail, Transport Topics - Legislation to increase highways funding by more than $290 million a year — primarily through increasing the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent — is headed to a West Virginia House of Delegates that has proven adverse to tax hikes. ReadHowever, Mike Clowser, of the state Contractors…