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Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House passes amended Senate municipal elections bill and returns it to Senate
Apr. 7—dbeard @ MORGANTOWN — The House of Delegates on Monday passed and sent back to the Senate the bill to align municipal election dates with statewide primary and general elections. The bill is SB 50, amended by the House on Friday to require municipalities to align their local elections by July 1, 2028. The Senate had set the deadline at July 1, 2032, to give municipalities time to change their election date ordinances or put a charter amendment to that effect before the city's voters, and to account for redistricting following the 2030 census. Apart from the redistricting issue, the West Virginia Municipal League had told Senate Judiciary in February that the soonest the bill should take effect was July 1, 2029, to give cities time to hold charter elections. On the House floor on Monday, Delegate Larry Kump, R-Berkeley, noted that the Senate will need to agree to the House amendment, but praised the bill for what it hopes to accomplish. "Prolonged persistence pays, " he said. The bill will get rid of the obscure, good-old-boy election dates created to keep those boys in power. It will increase voter participation and turnout and reduce the burden on taxpayers. In his district, he said, Martinsburg and Hedgesville both have off dates. Martinsburg has 20, 000 residents but only 200-300 vote. Hedgesville has 300 residents but only 20 vote. When he was elected to the House in 2010, he said, he sponsored a bill to change the dates, but it died. One question that's arisen and hasn't been definitively answered is: Would this state law change preempt any city charter provisions, whether or not the cities put it up to a vote and the voters approve or defeat it ? As we've reported before, last October, Morgantown City Council voted against giving the choice of election dates to city voters. An ordinance to place that proposed charter change on the city's April 29 ballot failed on first reading. Granville voters chose last November to align their election dates with county dates starting in May 2026. Star City and Westover elections were held in conjunction with the county starting in May 2024. Monday's House vote on SB 50 was 96-2. The Senate could concur with the House amendment, or re-amend it and send it back to the House, or do nothing and let it die. The legislative session ends at midnight Saturday.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Senate takes up bill to ban mail-order abortion medications
Mar. 28—dbeard @ MORGANTOWN — The state Senate will be voting on a bill to ban the prescription and dispensing of abortion medications by mail order. The Judiciary Committee hashed over SB 85 for a couple hours on Thursday, and it saw its first reading on the Senate floor on Saturday. Lead sponsor Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, serves on Judiciary and told her colleagues the intent of the bill: to stop abortifacients being brought into the state to perform illegal abortions. An abortifacient, the bill says, is any chemical or drug prescribed or dispensed with the intent of causing an abortion. It prohibits sending the abortifacient by courier, delivery or mail service to someone in West Virginia, or placing the abortifacient in the stream of commerce. Anyone other than a licensed medical professional who violates this ban would be subject to felony imprisonment for three to 10 years. A medical professional would be subject to loss of license. The bill contains exceptions for physicians and pharmacists engaged in legal activity. Much of the discussion revolved around lack of clarity in the bill. How would manufacturers and other businesses in the supply chain know if the drug was being used for an abortion or for a legitimate purpose under West Virginia law ? How would the state enforce the law on an out-of-state business or provider ? Rucker cited the example of where a person can go online and obtain abortion pills via website or online clinic. There's no review of the woman's medical history or conditions, and no discussion of the risks. "What I'm concerned abut is ensuring that this stops, " she said. Kelly Lemon, a nurse midwife and women's health nurse practitioner, testified against the bill. There are two medications, known together as the abortion pill, used for abortions. One is mifepristone, that blocks the woman's progesterone, stopping the unborn baby from growing. Then the woman takes misoprostol, which causes cramping and bleeding to empty the uterus. Lemon said misoprostol has other medical uses, including treating postpartum hemorrhaging and preventing sepsis following a miscarriage. The bill could have the unintended consequence of blocking access to legitimate uses apart from abortions. Kristan Hawkins, president of the pro-life Students for Life Action, testified for the bill. She also mentioned the Plan C website and the questionable process of obtaining medications. She talked about its questionable presciption and delivery process. While a provider supposedly reviews a request, the order is immediately sent to the checkout page and is shipped the next day. There's no way of knowing if it was really reviewed by a doctor. She cited the case of a Louisiana mother and an New York doctor indicted for providing an abortifacient to the woman's daughter — who didn't want an abortion. But New York's governor cited the state's shield laws as protecting the doctor from prosecution, and the county clerk where the doctor is refusing to file the judgment — more than $100, 000 — against the doctor, according to news reports. While this case will stir more litigation, she said, civil causes of action and penalties could give abortifacient laws some teeth. (The original version of SB 85 permitted civil actions by the mother, but it was removed from the version the committee approved and the reason for that was never discussed.) Hawkins cited research indicating mifepristone can cause injury, infertility and death, is dangerous for ectopic pregnancies and remains active when it goes into wastewater systems following the abortion. By Dr. Nicole Perry Bryce, a Charleston obstetrician and gynecologist, speaking for the West Virginia chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said mifepristone is safer than Tylenol. The FDA provides guidelines for prescribing and shipping abortifacients, she said, and providers should be free to make evidence-based decisions and guide their patients. The committee amended some of the bill's flaws, but rejected one intended to clarify the shipping question. Rucker said it still needs work. They approved it in a voice vote, with Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, providing the sole vote against.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Hospital Association, Mon Health oppose new micro-hospital Certificate of Need bill
Mar. 26—dbeard @ MORGANTOWN — While the governor's bill to repeal the Certificate of Need process died in February, some delegates are making a stab at doing away with CON for what they term micro-hospitals. And as with the prior bill, the West Virginia Hospital Association and Mon Health oppose this one. The House Health Committee held its informational hearing on HB 3487 on Tuesday. It would eliminate from CON requirements construction or acquisition of a small format or micro-hospital owned by a system with one or more existing licensed hospitals in the state. The new facility would have to be located to increase care capacity without jeopardizing any nearby critical access hospitals. It could include up to 25 in-patient beds, up to 25 emergency room beds (there was confusion if the bill meant 25 total or 50 beds total, and the bill sponsor wasn't sure but guessed 50), a CT scanner, an MRI scanner and other services. The cost could not exceed $100 million. Lead sponsor Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson, said this is the third year they've tried to move this bill. The Eastern Panhandle has a bed shortage, with just WVU Medicine's critical access Jefferson Medical Center and WVUM's 160-bed Berkeley Medical Center serving 250, 000 people. "Many of us that live in border states have to go out of state for our services, " he said. In his area, the go to Maryland and Virginia. The bill, he said, would expand local care, bring more providers into the state, and keep money in the state that's going elsewhere. Jim Kaufman, president and CEO of the WVHA, explained their opposition. The effect of the bill, he said, would be to eliminate CON altogether. Under legislation passed two years ago, a company could build a micro-hospital then immediately expand to 1, 000 beds without a CON. The average critical access hospital (located in a rural area either more than 35 miles from the nearest hospital or more than 15 miles in areas with mountainous terrain or only secondary roads ; maintain no more than 25 inpatient beds that can be used for either inpatient or swing-bed services ; and furnish 24-hour emergency care services seven days a week) provides 90 % of its services on an outpatient basis and can expand those services without a CON, he said. The sometimes testy questioning by Eastern Panhandle delegates focused on beds versus services. The delegate maintained that the bill will expand care in the panhandle. Kaufman maintained that systems must make business decisions based on various factors. They could expand services without beds — as WVUM is planning at Jefferson, without affecting federally established critical access status. They could add beds to a critical access hospital and lose the increased Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements in exchange for volume. Or they could — as Mon Health did in Marion and Harrison counties — obtain CONs to build new small-format hospitals. Or they could build another critical access hospital. Part of the decision, he said. Would hinge on the payer makeup — how much money comes from the government and how much from commercial insurance. The panhandle delegates argued that more facilities is better. Kaufman countered that existing facilities have a responsibility to remain economically viable in order to go on offering care. Mon Health comments Asked for thoughts on this bill, David Goldberg, president and CEO of Mon Health System and Davis Health System — Vandalia Health Northern Region, and executive vice president of Vandalia Health, told The Dominion Post, "A small-format hospital — some say micro-hospital — is a hospital. It meets all Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) licensure requirements, state rules and regulations, and life safety standards expected of a hospital. "We have a successful demonstration model with Mon Marion Neighborhood Hospital and the soon-to-be-opened Mon Harrison Neighborhood Hospital, " he said. "Both went through the CON process and faced no opposition or issues in receiving state approval. No one should be exempt from following the state process. Apply and prove the feasibility and need. "We did, demonstrating to both the community we serve and the state the need and the justified rationale for its approval, " Goldberg said. "Mon Marion Neighborhood Hospital is recognized by Becker's Healthcare as the fastest ER in the state and among the top 10 in the country. We have had no infections or hospital-acquired conditions since opening and served 15, 000 ER patients in 2024. We support maintaining the laws as written, and this form of hospital should be held to the same standards as those applied by the federal government for a licensed hospital." WVU Medicine did not wish to comment at this time. HB 3487 on the committee's Thursday agenda for markup and passage for recommendation to the full House. It would need to pass out of the House to the Senate by April 2, Crossover Day, the 50th day of the session. when bills need to leave their house of origin.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House of Delegates sends Mon-Preston road plowing bill to Senate
Mar. 25—dbeard @ MORGANTOWN — A bill to require the Division of Highways to contract for snow removal on secondary roads in Monongalia and Preston counties barely squeaked out of the House of Delegates on Tuesday. Across the Capitol in the Senate, a Holocaust education bill and a pharmacist prescription bill saw tweaks with amendments and will advance to third reading for passage on Wednesday. The roads bill is HB 2960, sponsored by three Mon and two Preston Republicans. It makes the observation, "Snow removal on the secondary roads in Monongalia County and Preston County has not been dependable, providing a hardship on the citizens of West Virginia." It calls on the DOH to establish a two-year pilot program to put put requests for proposals to vendors to provide snow removal on Mon and Preston secondary roads. The DOH will identify the roads to be plowed, the bill says. No contracted vendor is granted any immunity ; and if a vendor provides substandard or unsatisfactory service, the DOH can terminate the contract with 30 days' notice. Finance chair Vernon Criss, R-Wood, objected to the bill, saying it creates an unfunded mandate by requiring the state to spend money without any federal funds available to bolster it. The DOH already has the power to contract for services, he said. "Why pick two counties and not the entire state in this bill ?" Lead sponsor David McCormick said the plowing isn't getting done, and it's not unfunded — the DOH already has the budget to do it. And it's just two counties because it's a pilot. "This program is small on purpose." McCormick said the Jan. 19 fatal accident on the Cheat Lake Bridge on I-68 prompted him to introduce the bill. Maryland has a similar program and it works. He cited one more reason for the bill: low DOH wages for CDL drivers in certain parts of the state. "In our district, they have a terrible manpower shortage. This solves that problem. The vote was 50-48 with two delegates absent. In the what-if world, two more votes against would have tied the tally and killed the bill. Mon County's three Democrats voted for the bill, along with one Kanawha Democrat. The remaining five Democrats, including the one from Marion, voted no. The bill now goes to the Senate. Senate bills SB 54 is the Holocaust bill, lead-sponsored by Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia. It's one long sentence: "All public schools located within this state shall give age-appropriate instruction on the Holocaust, the systematic, planned annihilation of European Jews and other groups by Nazi Germany, a watershed event in the history of humanity, to be taught in a manner that leads to an investigation of human behavior, and an examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person." The bill says the instruction may not be given before grade 6. The language reflects some wrestling last year and this year over some perceived "wokeness " in the original version, including references to "prejudice, racism, and stereotyping " in the original. Bill co-sponsor Sen. Jack Woodrum, R-Summers, offered a successful floor amendment to add to the beginning of the sentence: "In collaboration with and utilizing guidance from the West Virginia Commission on Holocaust Education ..." The commission told The Dominion Post that the addition was crafted by Delegates Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, and Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, to anchor the bill in existing legislation establishing the commission. SB 526 is the Pharmacist Prescribing Authority Act, "to authorize pharmacists to practice the full extent of their education and training to prescribe low-risk medications to patients." The bill had advanced to third reading on March 17 but was kicked over to the Rules Committee where it was rewritten and advanced again to third reading on Tuesday. The Rules amendment allows pharmacists to prescribe drugs — except controlled substances — for conditions that do not require a new diagnosis, have a diagnostic test that is waived under federal guidelines as "simple laboratory examinations and procedures that have an insignificant risk of an erroneous result, " or are patient emergencies in the pharmacist's professional judgment. It allows the pharmacist to notify, within 72 hours, the patient's primary care physician of the test results and the drugs prescribed. Senators also adopted an additional amendment offered by Sen. Patrick Martin, R-Lewis, to limit a prescription supply to 30 days and to require the pharmacist to notify the PCP if more than a 10-day supply is prescribed.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hope Gas Morgantown pipeline suits: Landowners share their stories
Mar. 23—dbeard @ MORGANTOWN — Hope Gas continues to pursue 23 condemnation suits for rights of way for its Morgantown Connector Project. The 30-mile pipeline is intended to increase natural gas supply to Morgantown. Hope filed 31 separate condemnation suits in Monongalia County Circuit Court, and eight of those have been settled and closed. Not all of the remaining landowners are happy with their dealings with Hope and four of them approached The Dominion Post to tell their stories. First, though, we again offered Hope a chance to comment on the progress on the project and the suits. Hope does not comment on active litigation but said, "We do understand the concerns of landowners and continue to work toward voluntary agreements." Hope said, "American energy and infrastructure are important parts of West Virginia's future. This project will build connections allowing north-central West Virginia to access more local energy. Hope's Morgantown Connector is creating much needed system resiliency for the hospitals, businesses, and homes in Morgantown. This project is building critical infrastructure needed for the region's future growth and development. "The project also offers immediate benefits to many people throughout the state, " Hope said. "Hope has a commitment to work with local contractors and suppliers on this project. Many of the dollars spent to build the Morgantown Connector will remain in the Mountain State. The project is also creating hundreds of local family-sustaining jobs for West Virginians and economic development opportunities for the Morgantown area." Hope is asking the court to grant entry and easements in order to undertake construction of the project. There are conditions. The landowner retains full right to own, use, enjoy and occupy the land that does not interfere with or is inconsistent with the rights of way and easements sought. But the landowner "shall not construct or permit to be constructed any house, structure or obstruction on, over or through said right of way that will interfere with the construction, maintenance or operation of the natural gas pipeline or appurtenances constructed therein." In a number of cases, the court is holding Hope's petitions in abeyance pending Hope's provision of proposed fair market valuations of the properties in question. In others, the court found that Hope is a West Virginia public service corporation that provides public services in the state and is authorized to exercise the right of eminent domain "to take private property for the public purpose stated ... upon payment of just compensation." In this last group of cases, the court permits Hope to deposit with the court clerk the amount that Hope estimates as just compensation. The Kerns case Ralph and Mary Jane Kerns have a farm along Sugar Grove Road west of Westover. Hope has deposited a bond in this case. Mary Jane told their story. "Their contract's ridiculous, " she said. "Everything's for Hope. They're going to take our land, whether we want them to or not, that we've worked all of our life for. And at no fair price. ... They tie us up forever, and all we do is pay the taxes on the land that we can't possibly use. ... We've been here since 1968, and our grandfather was here before then." Like others who spoke to The Dominion Post, the Kernses are concerned about the proximity of the line to homes. "The ramifications, God forbid, if this pipeline would explode, because it's a high-pressure one, are catastrophic, and it's all around our family." While they don't care for Hope's offer, she said, "It's not really about the money, it's about taking our rights away." The Six case George Six is one of several family members who have neighboring farms along 7 totaling about 500 acres. They raise livestock on the farms. One day, he said, they saw some flags and learned Hope surveyors were on their land. "They claimed that they had given us notice, but they had not given anyone notice — our neighbors or anyone — and decided that that was OK, just to go ahead and survey through. Well, me being a licensed surveyor, that's not the case. You just don't have that right." So Hope representatives came and talked with them, saying they were planning a pipeline route. They let Hope go ahead, having long experience with pipelines under their land. Hope told them, "Well, once we get our routing done, we'll come back and try and work out some details as to where we go and everything else, which was fine with us." But Hope came back with a lowball offer, he said, and told them, "If you don't like it, we're going to use our right of condemnation." The route was right through the middle of one of their properties that included a stream, Six said, cutting off access. Talks failed and the told the land man never to return. Hope filed its condemnation suit. "We have tried to work a deal with Hope. any way that we could, and have been unsuccessful there." He's sold rights of way for eight times the amount Hope offered, he said. One of his concerns is that the pipeline doesn't serve anybody along its route ; it's just a transmission line. "It's not going to benefit us as landowners." The Sixes are in the timber business, he said. "We'll never have timber on our property. We will never be able to use that section of our property." But they'll keep paying property taxes on it. "Some of the best building sites on the property they're going through, they're going right through the center of it. And we've asked them to just adjust the line and to work with us and all that. [But Hope says ] 'That's where it goes or else.' That's not right. That isn't right." The Tennant case Marion Tennant lives in a hollow just outside Wadestown. We joined Tennant and his neighbor, Danny Thomas, for a tour of his property: the meadow where contractors were placing warning signs and unloading lumber that day for a bridge to cross his creek, and up onto the ridge behind his house where downed timber he'd like to sell, but won't be able too, lay thick along the route. "They just dropped all the trees, " he said. "I'm 71 years old. I've lived here all my life. I grew up here. I wasn't interested in selling. And we didn't sell. They're putting their pipe in. They're going to maintain a 50-foot swath of our property that we have to pay tax on." As with Six, Hope offered him the same low figure, and when he didn't accept, took it off the table for a far lower figure. "Now that's kicking the teeth brother. ... The property's been in my family for almost a hundred years. I wasn't interested in selling when people came to me." Hope's timber cutting, he said, cut off all his access to harvesting it, including his timber on the other side of his ridge. Hope won't even move it to a spot where he can get to it. They just plan to burn it where it lies. "They offered me less than $3, 000 for my timber. I've been informed that I've got one log up there that's worth $3, 000. I can't get to it. I don't have the equipment to get to it." They want him to sign a waiver, he said, so they can come onto his other property and stack it. They will only move it 500 feet. "They've never once came and sat down to negotiate a price. They just come in and said, 'We're going to put a high-pressure gas line through here. It's going to be a transmission line. It's going to feed Morgantown. Morgantown's low on gas." The relationship with Hope got so bad he won't let their representative step off the easement. "You can go on this 75-foot easement here. I can't stop you because you've got that. But the rest of it, I own. Don't step on it. You're trespassing. From there, I'll call the law." As with Six, he was never told Hope was surveying. "We found out through the grapevine why they were surveying. The surveyor showed up and all of a sudden you're seeing ribbons hanging." A coal mine longwall is going under his land and he thought that's what the ribbons were for. We asked Tennant what kind of timber he's losing. He said walnut, oak, cherry, maple, poplar, locust. Trunks 16 inches to 24 inches across. "I've got a list of it." He said, "It's time for me to just buckle down and fight. There's nothing I can do to stop it. And I can be a thorn in their side while it's going on." Case background The Morgantown Connector Project will run a total 30 miles from Wadestown in western Monongalia County eastward to the edge of Morgantown and then northwest to site near Osage. Hope wants to build the pipeline because it is experiencing a decline in supply capacity above its peak-day requirements. Also, Morgantown Energy Associates and other Morgantown-area customers want to increase their supply levels. In order to meet the demand, Hope proposed to enter into a 15-year contract with Columbia Gas for gas to be supplied to a new Hope-Columbia interconnection near Wadestown. The pipeline is estimated to cost $177, 437, 169. Hope estimates that the project will generate about 600 jobs, which will make up about half the project cost. Other major costs are the 30 miles of pipeline and five measurement and regulation stations. The new line would begin at Hope's interconnect with a Columbia Gas line near Wadestown. Using new and existing Hope right of way, it would run 25 miles to the Western edge of Morgantown to connect with other proposed Hope facilities (called Black Night) west of I-79 and Harmony Grove. Hope says about 5.5 miles of that right of way is in northern Marion County. From Black Night, the line would use existing and new third-party rights of way to go five miles northwest of Granville to a station called Mineral northwest of Osage. Hope is not proposing any rate hikes at this time for the pipeline but says it intends to recover costs in future base rate and purchased gas adjustment cases.
