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Editorial

Legislature’s math isn’t adding up

The House of Delegates Finance Committee advanced a $4.6 billion budget Wednesday, but it doesn’t account for upcoming changes to PEIA nor a compromise on tax cuts. Earlier in the week, Senate passed a compromise tax cut plan (SB 424), as well as a budget proposal (SB 150) that accounts for proposed changes the House budget does not. As the Senate bills are more comprehensive, we will focus on them instead. That said, the SB 424 and SB 150 are likely to change before the end of the regular session — and we hope they do, because the math isn’t quite adding up. The Senate’s ...

The Good, the Bad and the Stupid 7: In memoriam

In this special edition of “The Good, the Bad and the Stupid,” we will honor a number of bills that could have improved West Virginia for the better but  are now officially dead. All the bills we mentioned Wednesday saw no movement on cross-over day, and all have died in committee. (Though a House version of SB 158, setting 18 as the minimum age for marriage, did survive.) We would like to thank Delegate Shawn Fluharty (D-Ohio) for his valiant attempts to have Raylee’s Law amended into the expanded Hope Scholarship bill. Unfortunately, the amendment was voted down. Here ...

Double whammy for SNAP recipients

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients will suffer one blow this month when they get their March benefits, which will no longer include the pandemic-era increase despite still astronomical food prices. But they may suffer a second blow this summer if the West Virginia Legislature follows through on its mandatory employment and training requirement. A work requirement, or job training requirement, is not a bad idea.  But it has to be done correctly in order to be a boon, not a burden. And the Legislature is not doing it correctly. HB 3484 states, in part, ...

A note on Dilbert comics

As many of you may already know, Scott Adams, creator of the comic Dilbert, recently made several racially insensitive comments, including referring to Black people as “a hate group.” As of Monday, March 6, The Dominion Post will no longer feature Dilbert in our daily or Sunday comics pages. We will finish out this week, largely because the Sunday comics pages (done by a third party) have already been delivered. We will start fresh with the new week. We are pleased to announce that Curtis by Ray Billingsley will join our Monday through Saturday comics page (in addition to ...

Where have all the good bills gone?

In a previous editorial, we referenced a number of “good” bills languishing in committee as the Legislature devotes its time to a variety of culture war and otherwise unnecessary bills. Well, today is cross-over day at the Capitol, so we’d like to highlight some bills we think would greatly benefit the state but will die if they don’t pass their chamber of origin by the day’s end. ○ HB 3016, ordering the Department of Agriculture to “establish a two-year program to provide residents of food desert communities with access to fresh and affordable produce. In establishing ...

Our teacher problem isn’t the teachers

Last week, West Virginia University announced its Teachers Ascend into West Virginia program. Which is exactly what it sounds like: Ascend, but this time geared specifically toward teachers — minus the remote work, or so we assume. WVU Today (DP-02-20-23) quotes Donna Hoylman Peduto: “We hope to position West Virginia as a competitive place to live and teach by offering rewarding experiences in our schools and communities.” That’s going to be easier said than done, as it seems Teachers Ascend will be battling the West Virginia Legislature along the way. In the last few ...