What a difference a day makes

Yesterday's post was kind of a downer about how it seemed impossible to restore funding for programs for kids and families that were cut in the WV state budget by Gov. Tomblin.

It turns out that state legislators had a trick or two up their sleeves at the special session. In a surprise move (probably as much to the governor as to advocates), the WV House unanimously restored funding to domestic violence programs, child advocacy centers, family resource centers and networks and other programs. The Senate overwhelmingly concurred. And, at this point, it looks like the governor is OK with the result.

Read more on that here.

As early as this morning, I would have given this zero probability of occurring, at least within several months. And Republicans were as insistent on restoring the funding as Democrats. In some cases, more so.

It just goes to show you never know. Thanks and congratulations to all the kids, families and advocates who pushed for this. Having a few hundred folks hit the capitol yesterday certainly didn't hurt either.

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.

Thought for the day

I thought I was pretty familiar with the writings of Frederick Douglass, but I came across another good one today that was new to me. The context was a press conference I attended whereat some heavy hitters, including legislators and a US attorney, called on WV Gov. Early Ray Tomblin to fully restore cuts to domestic violence and early childhood programs.

The governor partially restored funding to some programs yesterday, but this was one-time money taken from other revenues targeted for children. Those at the press conference wanted a full restoration of around $1 million in funding to be divided between several programs. One speaker pointed out that $1 million amounts to "a rounding error" compared with the size of the whole state budget. Specific sources of funding were identified as well.

But I digress...the quote was cited by Booth Goodwin, US Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia., who talked about how much cheaper it is to help kids get a good start in life than to deal with them once things have gone wrong.

Here's what Douglass said: "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." I think that would apply to women as well.

I WISH I'D WRITTEN THIS item on the water crisis, coal, climate, WV politics and all that mess.

SPEAKING OF WV, workers die on the job here at twice the national rate.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Puppies and kittens

Lots of people in West Virginia are not amused by Gov. Early Ray Tomblin's decision to use his line item veto powers to slash programs for kids, vulnerable families and battered women--while also giving millions in tax credits to a millionaire.

Here's a great editorial in the Charleston Gazette and some coverage from WV Public Broadcasting.

My favorite comment, however, is a Facebook post from a friend who had this to say:

"Puppies and kittens just got line item vetoed by the Governor."

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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.