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Senate Bill Saves W.Va. Money and Promotes Health

As a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing Brooke and Ohio counties, I am always looking for ways to improve healthcare outcomes for people in our state. We did this last legislative session by passing Senate Bill 476, which opened the Medicaid Managed Care program to additional insurance providers. This bill not only improves healthcare outcomes for those on Medicaid, but it also saves the state money, and saving taxpayer dollars is something that I also take very seriously. This bill was a success because it introduced the free market into the Medicaid Managed ...

W.Va.’s Hope Scholarship Offers Hope to Students, Families

West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore has announced his office approved more than 5,000 Hope Scholarship applications for the 2023-24 school year, with another 1,000 pending applications in the pipeline. Supporters of educational choice celebrate this as an opportunity for those Hope Scholarship recipients to access a learning environment that best meets their needs via this robust education savings account program. For families who utilize these scholarships — which are publicly funded, government authorized savings accounts that may be used on multiple, but restricted, ...

New Twist in West Virginia Attorney General Race

I have to admit, when I first heard the rumors last week that State Auditor J.B. McCuskey was going to jump out of the Republican race for governor of West Virginia and into the attorney general’s race, I didn’t believe it. I was told last week by sources there was a poll out in the field with the hypothetical scenario of McCuskey as a candidate for attorney general, but I just couldn’t believe it. For one, I had been on the phone with McCuskey on July 19 arranging for an interview for a series I’m working on the Republican candidates for governor. While several people had ...

Charting Wheeling’s Accomplishments

As Mayor Glenn Elliott concluded his seventh and final State of the City address on July 25th, I couldn’t help but be grateful and thankful for the community we live in. Over the last seven years we have seen significant progress take place all over the city of Wheeling. Around 450 streets and alleys have been paved, almost 30 parks and playgrounds have seen investment and there are currently around 30 projects taking place in or around downtown, representing more than $200 million of investment. We have new housing options planned for downtown to meet the demand developers are ...

Extremists From Both Sides Threaten Nation’s Future

Throughout my career in public service, especially as West Virginia’s governor and U.S. senator, I have looked for every opportunity possible to change my state and country for the better by bringing everyone to the negotiating table, no matter their political beliefs. As part of that mission, and for more than a decade, I have fully embraced the unique role I play as a centrist because, like so many Americans, I believe that our partisan politics are tearing this nation apart at the seams. And like so many Americans, I’m sick and tired of it, and it’s why I spoke at a No Labels ...

Local News Is Good for Small Businesses, Communities

It’s no secret that recent years have been tough on small businesses and on newspapers. A bipartisan bill, the “Community News & Small Business Support Act,” that has been introduced in Congress would offer relief to both newspapers and local businesses. For too many newspapers, help can’t come soon enough. Economic challenges have resulted in too many communities seeing their local newspapers being forced to lay off staff, cut back on publication days or — worse yet — close. On average, two newspapers are closing each week. That hurts local businesses and residents in the ...