Not all bad here

Here is yet another reminder that it's not all bad news in WV. The number of uninsured in this state declined by more than half, thanks largely to Gov. Tomblin's decision to expand Medicaid back in 2013.

Meanwhile, the news is pretty bad in Kansas where irresponsible tax cuts promoted by Gov. Brownback actually did turn out to be a shot in the heart. Not in a good way.

How bout that?

Maybe this is true everywhere, but West Virginia politicians tend to get braver the closer they come to retirement or mortality.

WV Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, who isn't eligible to run again for that office, has shown courage on more than one occasion, including last week or so when his administration announced that it would take another look at the health impacts of mountaintop removal mining.

The very latest example is his veto of a bill that would have allowed West Virginians to carry concealed firearms without getting a permit and taking a gun safety class. It even made  the NY Times online with the headline "A Governor Faces Down the Gun Lobby." He should have plenty of political cover, however, as a recent poll found that over 80 percent of respondents opposed the bill.

All I know is it led to quite a few wisecracks in the halls of the capitol, some of which my have been uttered by me.

The never-ending session

Regular sessions of the WV legislature generally last 60 days, which meant this year's ended in early March. Except it kind of didn't. No sooner did it end than a major corporate law firm bypassed democracy and launched a major effort to get the governor to veto a minimum wage increase. The struggle to fight off the veto threat lasted several days, but even then it wasn't over.

Governor Tomblin and legislative leaders agreed to call a special session this month in part to deal with technical problems with the bill but preserve its main purpose. I'm hoping that gets resolved once and for all tomorrow without any surprises or drama. More on that here.

There's other leftover baggage from the session as well. In his proposed budget, the governor cut around $980,000 from early childhood and domestic violence programs. The House and Senate eventually restored the cuts, but the governor used his line item veto power after the session to cut the programs again.

While some of funding has been restored, around $800,000 remains, which means some battered women won't get needed services and some may die. And vulnerable kids and families will miss out on needed services. And around 80 dedicated people in various useful social services will lose their jobs.

More than 200 people from all over WV, including yours truly, hit the capitol today to oppose the cuts, but that situation won't be fixed in the short term. More on that here and here. The struggle to restore funding is likely to continue into the summer, with more struggles likely to come.

I'm once again reminded of those Dylan lines where he ponders what price we have to pay to get out of doing everything twice. Actually, at this point, just having to do it twice looks pretty good.

Better a greyhound than a kid in WV

West Virginia governor Earl Ray Tomblin exercised his line item veto powers today to override the legislature and slash funding for domestic violence programs, child abuse prevention, family resource centers and networks, and early childhood education programs. Oh yeah, and for programs that would help low income people who are elderly and/or disabled remain in their homes rather than nursing homes.

Meanwhile, state subsidies for greyhound dog breeding and horse racing continue. And rich guy from the Greenbrier got his tax credits. I guess that's all that matters.

Good news for WV working families

From the office of Governor Earl Ray Tomblin:

  CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin today announced the changes proposed earlier this year for the eligibility levels of child subsidy will be tabled for further review. The funding formula changes were made in an effort to compensate for shortfalls in federal funding. The Governor plans to submit a supplemental appropriation next year to help close the gap through the spring and has plans to work with all parties to find a solution for making this program successful long term. 

    “After much discussion with parents and folks in the childcare industry, I decided it’s not in the best interest of West Virginia families to move forward with the scheduled changes to our state’s childcare subsidy,” said Gov. Tomblin. “We still have work to do; these programs are not sustainable with our current level of funding, but at this point, I believe it’s best to keep hard-working families in the program and to look for other ways to address the budget shortfalls.” 

    West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources officials announced in June 2012 that the ceiling for eligibility would be reduced from 185% of federal poverty level to 150%. This change was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2013. Today’s announcement means that no change will be made at this time and the entry and exit levels will remain the same, thus retaining families who are at or below 185% of the federal poverty level. The changes to the copayment structures announced earlier this year will go into effect on January 1, 2013. 

Here's a heartfelt "thank you" to Governor Tomblin and his staff and a hearty "Congratulations!" to everyone who worked on this issue over the last year or so!

That's a nice Christmas present.

Unresolved

This summer, advocates for children and working families won a small victory when their combined bad noise prompted WV Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to delay major cuts in child care assistance, increases in co-pays and reduced eligibility. Alas, unless something is done, all those cuts go into effect on Jan. 1, which would be quite a lump of coal in the stocking. Here's a good op-ed on the subject.

UHHHHHH maybe if we weren't giving away the store with business tax incentives we might be able to pay for child care for working people.

ROBBER BARONS AND ROBOTS discussed here.

WORKING IT. Here are some cool pictures and videos of birds of paradise doing the courtship thing

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Happy birthday, West Virginia, warts and all

Today is the 149th birthday of El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia.  We've probably seen worse days here, but we sure has hell have seen better ones. By chance, two state related items caught my eye today that deal with some ugly aspects of the current scene here.

These days, it seems that some of the state's leading politicians are given to cowardly pandering to the coal industry and, however indirectly, to racist elements. The song they are dancing to goes something like this: the Obama administration, which happens to be led by a black man with a strange name, is waging an unprovoked and all out war on coal through its diabolical Environmental Protection Agency.

West Virginia native Michael Tomasky has a great piece in The Daily Beast that confronts the racism factor head on.


And it was really refreshing to see that our senior senator Jay Rockefeller was channeling a bit of the late great Robert C. Byrd and calling on the coal industry to tone down its war rhetoric. Here's a link to his speech on the Senate floor.

I can't imagine either Senator Manchin or Governor Tomblin ever having the guts to say anything remotely resembling that. Besides, Tomblin is too busy cutting child care benefits for working families anyway.

So happy 149, West Virginia. And may 150 be a bit less cowardly and ugly.