The Joint Select Committee on Tax Reform will host its first public hearing on Tuesday, October 20 starting at 9:00 AM in the House Chamber at the State Capitol.
West Virginia policy makers are already struggling to maintain funding for important programs. As we mentioned last week, Governor Tomblin recently announced additional across-the-board budget cuts for the current fiscal year. Here’s more in the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram on the impact of these cuts on local communities.
Individuals wishing to speak to the Committee will be given a chance to sign up that day and speak in the afternoon. Groups or agencies will speak during the morning session and were required to preregister.
For more, please visit the Committee’s Facebook page.
Last month, a diverse coalition of organizations that cares about kids, families, seniors and working people, community organizations and local governments released basic principles of fair taxation which we urge legislators to consider as they deliberate changes to the tax code.
Presented each October, the McCreight Lecture affords West Virginians the opportunity to hear nationally respected scholars and public intellectuals on a variety of humanities topics. McCreight Lecturers have included Ken Burns, Joyce Carol Oates, Joseph Ellis, Sylvia Nasar, Henry Louis Gates, Elaine Pagels, Gordon Wood, James McPherson, and Edmund Morris.
This year’s McCreight Lecturer is Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Eric Foner. His 7:30 p.m. lecture this Thursday, October 22 at the University of Charleston is free and open to the public.
The Public Service Commission will hold a public hearing on Monday, October 26th on West Virginia American Water’s proposed 28% rate increase. If you are frustrated by WV American Water’s high rates, poor service and frequent main breaks, the PSC needs to hear from you!
The hearing begins at 6:00 PM at the Public Service Commission (201 Brooks St., Charleston). Plan to be at 5:30 pm.
For more information about the case, see the OurWater blog.
Registration is open for the Summit on Race Matters: Continuing Conversations, taking place in the Alumni Center of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine on November 10 and 11, 2015.
The conference will offer a unique opportunity for people from throughout West Virginia to continue the constructive, in-depth conversations that began last year in Charleston about the complicated history of race relations and racial inequality in the state.
Go here to register or contact Courtney Smith, 304-645-5620.
Please “like” the event on Facebook and spread the word about this exciting and important program.
Stay in touch at RaceMattersWV.net for upcoming events and how you can stay involved in the campaign to end racial inequity in West Virginia.
The event will feature a screening of “Cracking the Codes: Social Determinants of Racial Inequality” by Shakti Butler. Here’s a clip of another World Trust film, Mirrors of Privilege: Make Whiteness Visible, which features stories from white men and women on overcoming issues of unconscious bias and entitlement.
