Blog Posts > Urge Senators Capito and Justice to Protect Programs That Help West Virginians Meet Their Basic Needs
June 5, 2025

Urge Senators Capito and Justice to Protect Programs That Help West Virginians Meet Their Basic Needs

The U.S. Senate will soon consider a sweeping budget reconciliation bill that would enact the deepest cuts in history to Medicaid and SNAP—programs that hundreds of thousands of West Virginians rely on for health care, food, and economic security. 

These cuts would disproportionately impact families, seniors, and children in our state, threatening access to health care, food assistance, and other essential services—all to finance tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. These cuts would harm our economy, cost hard-working West Virginians their jobs, and worsen food and health care deserts in the state. 

Take Action Today: Use our form to contact West Virginia’s U.S. Senators, Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, and tell them to say NO to a budget package that cuts Medicaid, SNAP, and other federal programs that help people meet their basic needs. 

Our elected officials must prioritize the well-being of West Virginians, not corporate interests and tax breaks for billionaires. Good policy takes time- they need to go back to the drawing board and craft a package that doesn’t require everyday West Virginians to bear the cost of tax breaks for the nation’s wealthiest households.  

You can also contact your Senators by phone at the following numbers:

  • Senator Shelly Moore Capito
    • (202)-224-6472
  • Senator Jim Justice
    • (202)-224-3954

Check out our recent videos to learn more about how cuts to SNAP and Medicaid would harm West Virginians.

Read Kelly’s recent blog post to learn more about how Congress’ proposal could impact West Virginians’ access to health insurance. 

Read Kelly’s recent blog post to learn more about the food and health provisions included in the House reconciliation package.

Big Beautiful Bill’s Tax Cuts Overwhelmingly Favor the Wealthiest in West Virginia Even Before Accounting for Tariffs and Benefit Cuts

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a major new tax and spending bill that not only represents the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in history, taking away SNAP and Medicaid benefits from millions of recipients including tens of thousands in West Virginia, but also includes tax provisions that would overwhelmingly favor the richest taxpayers in the state. For working-class West Virginians, the tax cuts in the House bill are extremely modest and are easily offset by the losses of Medicaid coverage and SNAP benefits.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) overwhelmingly benefitted the nation’s highest earners and corporations, making sweeping changes to the federal tax code including reducing individual income tax rates, reducing estate taxes, and cutting the corporate tax rate. While the benefits for corporations were made permanent back in 2017, several substantial provisions were set to expire at the end of 2025 if not extended. The package the U.S. House passed this month dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, would permanently extend those cuts, overwhelmingly benefitting the nation’s wealthiest households.

A new state-by-state analysis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy takes a look at the distribution and impacts of the tax cut provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill in West Virginia.

The top 1 percent of earners in West Virginia would receive a tax cut averaging nearly $50,000 annually, just under the median household income in the state and more than 40 times greater than the average net tax cut received by a middle-income household. Tax cuts going to the top 1 percent of households in the state would total of $450.8 million in net tax cuts in 2026. The middle 20 percent of taxpayers, a group that is 20 times the size of the richest 1 percent, would receive less than half that much, $209.5 million in tax cuts.

While the richest 1 percent of households would each get an annual tax cut that would pay for a new car outright (the average new car price in 2025 is just under $50,000), the average annual tax cut for the bottom 20 percent of households in West Virginia ($120) falls short of even covering one month of a household’s average car payment.

  • The $450.8 million in net tax cuts going to the richest 1 percent of West Virginians exceeds the amount going to the entire bottom 60 percent of taxpayers, about $324 million.
  • The poorest fifth of West Virginians would receive 1 percent of the bill’s net tax cuts in West Virginia in 2026, while the richest fifth of West Virginians would receive 63 percent.
  • The richest 5 percent of West Virginians alone would receive 37 percent of tax cuts in the state.

It’s important to note that the tax changes are not happening alone. Once accounting for the benefit changes to SNAP and Medicaid, households with incomes below $40,000, or about 40 percent of households nationwide, are expected to see a net decrease in their incomes on average.

In addition, the effects of President Trump’s tariff policies offset most of the tax cuts for all but the wealthiest households, making 80 percent of Americans worse off if announced tariffs remain in place. For the bottom 40 percent of Americans, the tariffs impose a cost that is greater than the tax cuts received under the legislation.

By slashing SNAP and Medicaid for tens of thousands of West Virginians to finance tax cuts that overwhelmingly favor the wealthy, the One Big Beautiful Bill turns out to be pretty ugly for West Virginia.

Read Sean’s full blog post.

Don’t Take Food, Health Care Off the Table

In West Virginia, we believe in showing up for one another — whether it’s helping a neighbor change a tire, holding a food drive or pitching in to help clean and rebuild after a flood. It’s who we are. But right now in Congress, some of our elected officials are turning their backs on those very values.

Last month the U.S. House passed a sweeping federal budget package that would rip health care away from tens of thousands of West Virginians and increase grocery costs for many of our state’s families. And what is a budget if not the same mutual aid West Virginians offer one another every day- just on a larger scale?

Both of West Virginia’s representatives, Republicans Carol Miller and Riley Moore, voted in favor of this plan — one that would result in an estimated 65,000 West Virginians losing their health care coverage and tens of thousands more facing new barriers to accessing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps).

Let’s be clear: Voting for the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in history is voting to take away health care and food from our most vulnerable neighbors — kids, seniors, people with disabilities and low-wage workers. 

These cuts are not abstract. They are personal. They are local. And they are real. 

While some members of Congress talk about “fiscal responsibility,” what they’re really doing via this budget package is forcing families to make impossible choices. A mother in Logan County could lose the health coverage she needs to manage her diabetes. A veteran in Beckley could have to decide between groceries and medication. A child in McDowell County might go to bed hungry — not because there wasn’t enough food, but because politicians enacted a policy that made food assistance more difficult to access. 

This isn’t leadership — it’s abandonment. And it’s unacceptable.

Medicaid and SNAP are lifelines for hundreds of thousands of West Virginians. They support not only individuals, but entire communities — keeping health clinics open, helping rural grocers stay in business and helping families afford the cost of groceries and health care. That means federal SNAP and Medicaid dollars benefit everyone in a community, even if they don’t directly participate and, when they are cut, we are all impacted. These programs are also among the most effective tools we have to fight poverty, reduce hunger, improve health outcomes and ensure basic dignity for all.

And yet, our House delegation — elected to represent us — voted proudly for a bill that threatens all of that.

But the fight isn’t over. Now this harmful package heads to the Senate, where our Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, both R-W.Va., will have to decide whether to stand with West Virginians or with an agenda that benefits the few rather than the many. 

We are calling on our Senate delegation to reject this heartless legislation and take the time needed to craft a package that protects the programs that keep West Virginia families alive and well. Sen. Capito has already signaled concerns about parts of the bill. Now is the time for her to listen to her constituents — not wealthy special interests. 

We need our senators to hold the line for West Virginians. 

This isn’t just about budgets. It’s about values. 

West Virginians believe in fairness. We believe that no child should go hungry and no elder should be forced to skip medicine because they can’t afford it. We believe in holding our elected leaders accountable when they forget who they work for. So, if you’re reading this and you believe in protecting health care and food assistance for West Virginians — do something.

Call Sens. Capito and Justice. Write letters. Show up. Make noise. 

Tell them we see what is happening. We remember how our House members voted. And we demand better from our Senate delegation. 

Because Medicaid and SNAP aren’t just policies — they’re promises. And West Virginians don’t break promises.

Read Alex’s full op-ed.

Take Action Today: Use our form to contact West Virginia’s U.S. Senators, Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, and tell them to say NO to a budget package that cuts Medicaid, SNAP, and other federal programs that help people meet their basic needs.

Cabell County Schools and the Consequences of Ineffective Public Education Policies

Public schools across the Mountain State have been working to overcome challenges to high-quality and equitable public education including declining student enrollment, insufficient funding, and diversion of funding and resources to the Hope Scholarship. With little progress made to address these challenges during the regular legislative session, school districts have been forced to resort to staff cuts, school closures and consolidations, and cuts to programming and opportunities for students in order to reduce costs and continue to serve their students and communities at large.

The Cabell County Board of Education recently finalized the budget for next school year, which included a $4.5 million reduction compared to this school year’s budget. The district will reduce spending across several areas including instruction, staffing, student transportation, and food services. District leadership pointed to enrollment loss, the Hope Scholarship, and the expiration of federal pandemic-era relief funding as contributors to the budget cut and noted that without the county’s excess levy–which provides over $24.1 million in funding from local taxes for staff pay and benefits, supplies and technology, and maintenance–the cuts would have been more severe.

Staffing is one area where school districts can more easily reduce costs when funding is at risk compared to other areas like school operations and maintenance. The Cabell County Board of Education approved more than 200 transfers and terminations last month, which will affect teachers across grade levels and subjects, classroom aides, school counselors, bus operators, cooks, custodians, extracurricular positions, and many more. There has been a persistent trend of undermining student support despite the growing mental health needs of students across the country and in West Virginia. This is evident from the cuts to federal grants that support hiring school mental health professionals to the continued cuts to the school mental health workforce in West Virginia and inadequate policy solutions, like HB 3209. In the absence of adequate and equitable funding, school districts across our state will continue to be forced to cut staff and reduce spending, leaving student support staff like school counselors and social workers in jeopardy.

Cabell County currently has 12 elementary schools that each have a counselor; however, following the recent staff cuts, six of these positions will be eliminated next school year. This will leave one counselor to cover two elementary schools rather than each elementary school having a dedicated counselor. Superintendent Hardesty pointed to HB 3209, which passed in the 2025 regular legislative session and allowed for this harmful blow to student support. The original aim of the bill was to increase student support by providing funding and mandated ratios for school counselors. After significant changes, the bill now provides no additional funding or resources to support existing counselors or to hire new counselors. This leaves some school districts, like Cabell County, underresourced and unable to maintain their existing school counselor positions.

The Hope Scholarship is a major contributor to the enrollment and funding loss in Cabell County. During the 2023-2024 school year, Cabell County had the fifth highest number of participants at 289, which was more than double the number from the previous year. The growing use of the Hope Scholarship will likely continue in Cabell County due to the high number of private schools in the area. Cabell County has six private schools and is one of just 10 counties in the state with more than five private schools. Private schools in this county received about $1.2 million in Hope Scholarship funds last school year, a nearly three-fold increase compared to the previous year’s amount of about $428,000.

While proponents of the Hope Scholarship argue that the program supports educational choice and increased opportunities for students, most families that benefit from this program likely already have the financial means and access to pursue education outside of the public school system. The annual tuition at many private schools exceeds the annual award for the Hope Scholarship. The Covenant School in Huntington received more than $400,000 in Hope Scholarship funds last school year, one of the largest amounts received by any school in the state. Tuition at this school is $8,600 per student, which is about $3,300 more than the expected annual award for the Hope Scholarship for the upcoming school year. Further, tuition is due to the school in May, months before participating families even have access to their awarded Hope Scholarship funds.

West Virginia children are entitled to a quality public education system, but with the growing Hope Scholarship, the outdated school funding formula, and the lack of policy solutions to address the challenges that public schools in our state face, the public education system is at risk. To preserve and strengthen our public education system, legislators need to stop the expansion of the Hope Scholarship and implement program guardrails, modernize the school funding formula, and pass legislation that effectively addresses the challenges that public schools face.

Read Tamaya’s full blog post.

Congress’ Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Undo Historic Progress Reducing Overdose Deaths

Provisional data shows that overdose deaths in West Virginia declined by an astonishing 43.5% in the last year. Nationally, overdose deaths fell 27% over the same period, the largest one-year decline ever. While researchers are still analyzing the data, declines in overdose deaths have coincided with increased Medicaid coverage for substance use disorder treatment, with West Virginia leading the way in using Medicaid and the federal dollars it brings into the state to address our people’s needs and improve overdose outcomes. But those gains will be stalled or even reversed if the Medicaid provisions in Congress’ reconciliation package are made law — taking away the most effective tool we have to save lives and help our people recover from tens of thousands of West Virginians. 

Medicaid funding plays a critical role in West Virginia’s efforts to treat substance use disorder and prevent overdose deaths. The Mountain State was the first in the nation to receive approval under the Trump Administration in 2017 to use flexibilities within the Medicaid program to provide substance use treatment. Now, Medicaid is the main source of health coverage for opioid use disorder, covering more than half of all adults receiving medication for opioid use disorder and two-thirds of those receiving outpatient treatment and peer support services.

The Medicaid expansion, the portion of the program that is most directly under threat in the proposal moving through Congress, has given many West Virginians who struggle with addiction their first real opportunity to access the treatment they need. Nearly three-fourths of West Virginians who receive treatment for substance use disorder are covered through the Medicaid expansion, and one study found that, even after controlling for other policies to address substance use disorder, expansion states have seen a much larger reduction in overdose deaths (9.5%) than non-expansion states. 

The Medicaid proposals currently under consideration in Congress would dramatically reduce access to treatment for those who need it most and undermine the historic progress made over the last year. 

They increase paperwork, red tape and out-of-pocket costs that will result in many adults, including those with substance use disorder, losing their health coverage. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates  more than 10 million Americans would be kicked off Medicaid if this package were enacted, with a separate analysis estimating 55,000 here in West Virginia. 

One piece, implementing work reporting requirements, would kick some adults off Medicaid if they do not submit proof showing they are working or qualify for an exemption, even though the vast majority of West Virginians do fall under one of those categories. Work requirements pose a particular challenge for adults with substance use disorder, for whom being in active treatment is often a prerequisite for them to secure work. And while the legislative proposal instructs that adults who are considered medically frail, which includes having a chronic substance use disorder, should be exempt from these requirements, proving one qualifies for an exemption is also a complex multi-step process that often results in eligible people losing coverage. Time spent on reporting compliance takes away from therapy compliance, creating a new barrier to recovery. 

Another component of the legislation would require states to impose cost-sharing on Medicaid expansion adults that could be as high as $35 per service. Research shows that co-pays cause individuals who need care to forgo it. Applying such a disincentive to ongoing treatment for individuals with chronic conditions like substance use disorder would undermine our health goals and could result in backsliding on recovery.

Each of these policies result in people losing their health coverage, not because they fail to meet the requirements, but because the new paperwork and multi-step processes are confusing, burdensome, and difficult to follow. When Arkansas implemented Medicaid work reporting requirements for a short period in 2018, one-quarter of those subject to the new requirements lost their health coverage in the first six months alone, despite the fact that researchers found nearly everyone who lost their coverage was working or should have received an exemption. Regardless, a substantial portion of the population had difficulty navigating the process so complex researchers found that, if left in place, 97% of enrollees would be deemed ineligible over time for failing to meet paperwork requirements. 

Medicaid — and the Medicaid expansion specifically — is the strongest tool in our arsenal to address substance use disorder. Over the last year, those investments have shown significant progress with the largest decline in overdose deaths in history, with West Virginia leading the way. Cuts to Medicaid like those Congress is currently considering would undermine that progress, hurt West Virginia families and cost lives.

Read Kelly’s full op-ed.

Take Action Today: Use our form to contact West Virginia’s U.S. Senators, Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, and tell them to say NO to a budget package that cuts Medicaid, SNAP, and other federal programs that help people meet their basic needs.

West Virginia’s Jobs Numbers Weak as DOGE Cuts Start to Show Up and Tax Cuts Fail to Create Promised Growth

With a recent jobs report from Workforce West Virginia showing the state added only 100 jobs in April, West Virginia’s job growth is lagging behind the country’s in 2025 and over the past 12 months.

For 2025, West Virginia has experienced two months of nonfarm employment growth, and two months of losses, which have essentially evened each other out, with the state netting -100 jobs for the first four months of 2025, for a decline of 0.01 percent. In contrast, the national economy has seen total nonfarm employment growth of 575,000, or an increase of 0.36 percent. The expiration of federal K-12 education funding and DOGE cuts have driven a significant number of job losses in the government sector, while the private sector has failed to see promised growth stemming from the state’s deep personal income tax cuts, leading West Virginia to a weaker economy than the rest of the country.

West Virginia’s jobs market has also trailed the nation over the past 12 months. From April 2024 to April 2025, total nonfarm employment in West Virginia fell by 700 jobs, a decline of 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, total nonfarm employment nationally has increased by 1.88 million jobs, an increase of 1.2 percent.

Not all sectors of West Virginia’s economy are slowing, however. Over the past 12 months, the health care and social assistance sector has added 3,800 jobs, while the construction sector has added 1,900 jobs. Health care has been a bright spot in the state’s economy for a number of years. While total nonfarm employment growth has been flat since 2014, health care and social assistance jobs have steadily grown. With that said, proposed changes to Medicaid being considered in Congress could undermine health care industry growth in the state, leading to deep coverage losses that forfeit federal health care dollars and increase uncompensated care. The changes, if enacted, could result in the loss of 2,100 to 3,000 jobs annually in West Virginia.

In contrast to health care, the leisure and hospitality, government, wholesale trade, and professional and business services sectors all saw job losses of over 1,000 in the past twelve months. The government losses were mainly felt at the local level, where 1,300 jobs have been lost since April 2024. One probable cause of the loss of local jobs is the end of ESSER funding for public schools. Federal government jobs have declined by 300, with most of those losses occurring since January, as DOGE cuts began to impact the state.

And while the state’s unemployment rate has fallen from 4.0 percent to 3.8 percent over the past year, it has fallen more due to workers leaving the labor force than due to finding employment. While the number of unemployed workers has fallen from 31,900 to 29,400, a decline of 2,500, the number of employed workers has fallen by 6,200. Instead of finding work, unemployed workers are leaving the labor force, lowering the unemployment rate, but also lowering the state’s labor force participation rate. Over the past twelve months, the size of the state’s labor force has shrunk by 8,700 workers, and the labor force participation rate has fallen from 55.0 percent to 54.3 percent.

As we continue on into the year, the flat job growth, weakening labor force, and proposed federal program changes like cuts to Medicaid should raise concern for policymakers. Income tax cuts have led to steep declines in state revenue over the past two years, and the state will need strong economic growth to offset those tax cuts in order to meet a number of pressing budgetary needs. And while those tax cuts were promised to put the state on a path to economic growth, that growth hasn’t materialized after two years of tax cuts.

Read Sean’s full blog post.

Court Watch: There is Always Money for Jails and Prisons, but Not for Lawyers

At the end of 2024, Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Maryclaire Akers made a notable request to local lawyers.

In a message circulated by the West Virginia State Bar, Judge Akers described a “crisis” brewing in Kanawha County courtrooms: there were not enough lawyers willing to accept court appointments.

In tens of thousands of cases filed each year, a person has a right to be represented by a lawyer – provided by the state – because that person faces a serious deprivation: the potential loss of their freedom or their family connections or their right to parent.

In circuit courts last year, state prosecutors filed 10,530 criminal charges. An additional 3,534 charges were filed against children alleging a crime or “status offense” – i.e., a behavior prohibited by law because of one’s status as a child (for instance, missing school or smoking). The state initiated 5,472 petitions of abuse and neglect – cases that require courts to assign an attorney for each child, parent, and respondent adult. In the state’s high volume magistrate courts, a whopping 110,875 cases were filed alleging misdemeanor crimes. In each of these cases, a person is entitled to a lawyer.

Most of the time, a person is represented by either public defenders, or by lawyers in private practice who are appointed when public defenders are not available or have a conflict of interest. Both are paid by the state to accept court appointments. The difference is that public defenders are salaried, full-time employees who specialize in the above cases, whereas lawyers in private practice are only compensated for the court appointments they accept.

There is no shortage of lawyers in Kanawha, the state’s largest county. But by the time Judge Akers sent her message in December 2024, the panel of private lawyers available for court appointed case work had dwindled from 63 to 11. For that reason, Judge Akers asked local lawyers to add their names to the list to voluntarily accept court appointments.

Lawyers At-risk of Being Forced to Take On High Stakes Cases

Months earlier, an Eastern Panhandle judge took a different approach to the same problem. In April 2024, Judge Laura Faircloth issued an administrative order for Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan counties. Citing the need to expand the list of court appointed lawyers, the order announced “the judges will continue to appoint attorneys who have requested to be on the panel list first; however, as necessary, any attorney licensed to practice law in West Virginia who practices in Berkeley, Jefferson, or Morgan counties may be appointed to any criminal, postconviction habeas corpus, abuse and neglect, or juvenile delinquency case in the 23rd Judicial Circuit.” (emphasis added)

In other words, even if a lawyer in the Eastern Panhandle has not agreed to represent people in these high stakes cases, the lawyer can be ordered to.

The judge and others may view this representation by conscription as part of a lawyer’s professional duty to the state bar and those in need of an advocate. But lofty ideals and solutions for others are less attractive when we imagine the same solutions applied to our own lives.

Would we want our freedom defended by a lawyer forced to take the case? If our son faced allegations in juvenile court or our sister was threatened with the loss of her children, would we be comfortable with a lawyer whose only qualification was an active law license?

Of course not. We would want an attorney who not only specialized in that area of law but wanted to be there. And yet there are not enough lawyers who have agreed to take on this work.

The people most vulnerable – those in need of a lawyer – are bearing the burden. When court-appointed lawyers are stretched between multiple counties, their clients can go days or weeks without a hearing in a criminal case.

Last September, a man in Barbour county was arrested on an allegation that he violated his criminal case bond by not submitting to a drug test. Despite case law and court rules that require a bond violation hearing “not later than five days“, the court scheduled the hearing in November – 45 days later. A court official explained that the delay was the result of scheduling conflicts exacerbated by the lack of available lawyers. When a hearing was finally held 45 days after arrest, the court ordered the man’s release from jail. But by then, he had spent a month and a half of his life in one of the state’s deadlier jails. Meanwhile, Barbour county taxpayers racked up a jail bill of $2,068.65 to keep this one person behind bars.

Court-appointed Lawyers Insufficiently Compensated

In February, the House of Delegates Committee on the Judiciary heard testimony about a lack of lawyers in the abuse and neglect system. According to one court official, there are fewer than 200 lawyers in the state qualified and willing to represent children in the 5,000+ cases filed each year. Another attorney testified that for these lawyers who are tasked with assessing the best interests of the children, “the burnout is real.”

When asked about solutions, the court official told lawmakers: “Compensation is an issue.”

Thirty-six years ago, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia considered compensation for court-appointed counsel. The court held that “no lawyer in West Virginia may be involuntarily appointed to a case unless the hourly rate of pay is at least $45 per hour for out-of-court work and $65 per hour for in-court work.” At the time of that decision, the rates were slightly higher than those in federal court ($40 per hour for out-of-court and $60 per hour for in-court). But after extensive study, the court concluded the new rates were “the minimum compensation constitutionally permissible.”

If those rates had merely increased at the rate of the consumer price index, they would be $116 for out-of-court work and $167 for in-court work. Instead, the rates are $60 and $80, respectively.

Forcing lawyers to represent vulnerable people at these rates is likely not “constitutionally permissible.” And in places like Kanawha County, where court-appointed lawyers in federal court earn more than double their state counterparts a block away, it is no wonder why lawyers have opted out of this important state work.

In April – for the first time since 2019 – the legislature passed a modest increase in these hourly rates (to $70 and $90 per hour, respectively).

Governor Patrick Morrisey, who claimed sympathy to the legislation’s intent, vetoed with the following explanation: “[T]his bill creates a shortfall in appropriations, without any identified offsets. I want West Virginia to be a national model for fiscal responsibility, and this bill fails to meet that objective.”

Notably, the Governor did not cite “identified offsets” or “fiscal responsibility” when he approved multiple penalty-enhancing bills that will increase state spending on jails and prisons. Seehereherehereherehereherehere, and here. Nor did he express concern with a jail and prison system that consumed $413.8 million of next year’s budget. Or that incarceration spending has risen $128.7 million in just six years.

The Governor’s veto sent a clear message: the state won’t pay to meet its obligation to provide lawyers for its people. But it will always pay for punishment.

Read Sara’s full blog post.

Health Policy, the Social Safety Net, and the 2025 Legislative Session

State lawmakers and Governor Patrick Morrisey touted improving health as a major priority during the 2025 state legislative session. But while several themes emerged that will be highlighted in this piece, legislation that would have significantly moved the needle on health failed to pass. At the same time, many policy proposals are happening at the federal level that could push additional health-related costs and responsibilities onto the state, potentially deeply impacting the state budget, grants available to state agencies, and hundreds of thousands of residents across the state. 

Two bills that advanced through the Senate would have improved infant and maternal health outcomes in West Virginia: SB 292 would have extended access to doula care for Medicaid and PEIA enrollees, while SB 482 would have established expanded access to midwifery by providing Certified Professional Midwives a path to licensure. Both bills represented cost-efficient means of improving birthing outcomes across the state and play an important role in combatting racial and health disparities experienced by families across the state. Doulas and midwives achieve these outcomes by decreasing the number of unnecessary c-section births and low-birthweight births, as well as improving post-birth mental health outcomes and breastfeeding uptake. Both bills passed the Senate unanimously, but did not make it over the finish line in the House. 

Legislators did not introduce as many bills aimed at rolling back Medicaid, SNAP, and other critical programs for working class families this year as they have in recent years, though several did make an appearance. One of these was a bill that would significantly cut the Medicaid program. This bill would have eliminated the Medicaid expansion—or taken West Virginia back to pre-Affordable Care Act levels, taking health care away from 166,000 working-class West Virginians—if the federal match rate for Medicaid dropped at all. Currently, the federal government pays for 90 percent of costs for this population, which has helped states that implemented the program ensure the wellness of their constituents. After broad pushback from advocates, providers, impacted people, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, the bill was moved to the inactive calendar where it died.

Several bills aimed to cut substance use recovery programs despite their efficacy.

Furthermore, there were several bills aimed at curbing access to food, such as requiring photo identification on electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards and mandating the SNAP employment and training (E&T) program, which is currently voluntary. These bills did not pass. While photo identification would be expensive to implement and impossible to enforce, mandatory E&T programs have not improved employment in areas where they have been implemented but decrease food accessibility. 

Lawmakers also introduced and debated several bills seeking to lower vaccine requirements in the state, which is a priority of Governor Patrick Morrissey. West Virginia currently has among the best vaccination rates of any state, largely due to our stringent vaccine requirements. The bill that made it the furthest in the legislative process, Senate Bill 460, would have allowed broad religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations. Others aimed to prohibit mandates or allow philosophical exemptions for public school aged children. These bills did not pass, but the Governor’s office is now in the process of enacting these exemptions via executive order, though it remains to be seen if that is lawful. 

Vaccines play a crucial role in public health by teaching the immune system how to respond to a range of infections and illnesses. When communities are vaccinated, they are less likely to contract and spread diseases such as measles, polio, the flu, and other potentially life-threatening conditions. In 2019, the United States had over 1,200 cases of measles despite being considered eliminated in 2000; the uptick is directly related to fewer vaccinations.

Aligned with national and state trends over the past several years, the Legislature also dedicated much of the session on limiting gender affirming care. These policies included striking down exemptions on gender affirming care for minors, prohibiting public schools from acknowledging a student’s gender identity and from teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation, and legally defining gender as binary. Each of these bills have been signed into law. None of these policies improve health outcomes for trans and queer West Virginians. In fact, limiting trans West Virginians’ ability to express themselves and their gender identity could lead to poorer health and life outcomes, as they increase their likelihood of experiencing anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns. 

Despite many of the threats to the safety net dying as sine die approached, the fight is not over. The federal government is seeking deep cuts to safety net programs, particularly Medicaid, over the next decade, potentially removing access to health care and food for millions of families across the nation. 

Legislators and impacted communities alike must push back against harmful cuts to the safety net as there will be major implications for the state budget and services available.

Read Rhonda’s full blog post.

WVCBP Becomes Official Member of the National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers (NCIT)

The WVCBP is excited to share that we have become one of the first official members of the National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers! 

NCIT is an advocacy movement committed to ensuring that every expectant parent, infant, toddler, and their families have what they need to thrive. As members, we are committed to advancing promising prenatal-to-three policies to create and expand systems of care and support for families—reaching every parent and child. We know that when we support babies in their earliest years, they grow into healthy kids who are confident, empathetic, and ready for school and life—and our communities, workforce, and economy become stronger and more productive. 

You can learn more about NCIT here.

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