Mid-Ohio Valley lawmakers discuss key issues W.Va. is facing
CHARLESTON – While most of the headlines have been about the budget and money, health care, education, energy and drug addiction are among other issues local lawmakers are addressing during the 2017 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature.
From bills to help Wirt County get a nursing care facility to including civics lessons in schools statewide to increasing penalties for people convicted of dealing drugs to the establishment of drug treatment programs to help people break the cycle of drug addiction to dealing with a large projected deficit in the state budget, lawmakers have been drawing up bills and signing on to co-sponsor bills drawn up by their colleagues.
State Sen. Donna Boley, R-Pleasants, said she is working up two bills. One is to allow a for-profit organization to buy the nursing care facility constructed near Coplin Health Systems in Elizabeth.
After years of working to get a skilled nursing home facility in Wirt County, construction started on the facility in late 2014. However, last May it underwent an on-site review by the Health Services and Resources Administration and it was determined they couldn’t move forward with the nursing care facility.
They opted instead to add behavioral counseling; dental, optometry, occupational, physical and speech therapy services; and an on-site pharmacy for patients in addition to primary care, acute care, X-ray and laboratory services they already offer.
Boley’s bill says if a for-profit organization comes in and establishes operations there, they cannot sell it for at least 10 years, ensuring Wirt County would have the facility for the foreseeable future.
“The people of Wirt County have waited for that facility for over 30 years,” Boley said.
She said there is a buyer ready to purchase the property and they needed some of the legal issues resolved that would allow them to move forward.
Boley is also working on a bill to get more civics taught in the classroom. Her bill would have students tested on the same criteria as people taking the U.S. Citizenship test with passing being 60 out of 100.
The budget continues to be at the forefront of a lot of lawmakers’ attention with Gov. Jim Justice proposing tax increases to make up some of the millions of dollars in deficit the state is expecting.
Boley said there was not much support in the state Senate for tax increases. Lawmakers might look at increasing some taxes, but there is no agreement on what those would be.
Boley said efforts are underway to have a budget drawn up in 30 days. She believes there are still places where they can cut and other places where they can save.
Delegate Ray Hollen, R-9th, of Wirt County, has sponsored a bill to help with the Wirt County Nursing Care Facility. HB 2496 is to “exempt for profit organizations designated by a county to develop and operate a nursing home bed facility with no more than thirty-six beds in any county in West Virginia that currently is without a skilled nursing facility from obtaining a certificate of need.”
There are many people in Wirt County who have to send loved ones to facilities out of the area and it is hard for many family members to make the trip. Having a facility in Wirt County puts families closer to their loved ones, Hollen said.
“It enables people in long-term care to be closer to home and so their families don’t have to travel a long distance to be with them,” he said.
Having such facilities would also be a job creator for different areas, including Wirt County. The bill was sent to the House Health and Human Resources Committee on Feb. 16 Hollen co-sponsored a similar bill, HB 2459, that clarifies certain requirements of the certificate of need process.
Hollen also sponsored HB 2003 which makes it a felony offense for a drug delivery that results in the death of another person and providing a felony criminal penalty. Under the bill, someone found guilty of delivering drugs that results in a death could face 10-40 years in prison. The bill was recently sent to the House Committee on Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse.
Hollen also sponsored HB 2507 which would require permanent State Police detachments in counties served by an average of fewer than one and one-half full time law-enforcement officers for each one thousand county residents, based upon the most recent census. The bill was a response to State Police Detachments in Wirt and other rural counties closing recently.
“This bill would cover a lot of rural communities,” Hollen said.
The bill was recently sent to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security.
Hollen is working on other bills to help small businesses get established and help with the marketing so they can be able to create jobs.
Delegate Frank Deem, R-Wood, had a bill drafted requiring at-will employees get no less than two days notice and no less than two days to vacate their office upon termination in a change of administration. That happened in January and some of those employees were loyal for many years, he said.
“It’s not fair,” Deem said.
Delegate John Kelly, R-10th, of Wood County, is working on bills that would increase the salaries of teachers (HB 2211), a bill to regulate the use of step therapy protocols (HB 2300), making it a criminal offense to disturb the peace (HB 2535), increase the amount of income earned by a person receiving a municipal disability pension (HB 2537), and establishing guidelines for increases of tuition and fees at community and technical colleges (HB 2557).
He has also been watching bills in the Senate dealing with energy issues.
“We have been very busy,” Kelly said of working on bills and passing various readings. He has stayed until 9 or 10 p.m. some evenings as committees have worked through bills.
Kelly sponsored HB 2428 which calls for the creation of 600 long-term treatment beds statewide with 100 being slated for Wood County to deal with the state’s growing drug abuse problem. He wants something in place that can help people break the ties of addiction and provide for long-term treatment so there will be less of a chance they will go back to abusing drugs.
Hollen and Delegate Bill Anderson, R-8th of Wood County, also signed on to be co-sponsors.
“It takes more than incarceration to deal with this,” Hollen said. “We need long-term treatment to administer care so these people can get free of the addiction.”