From the Well January 24, 2020 West Virginia Capitol Update Day 17 The foster care struggle continues at the capitol Foster care has become a nationwide area of interest and concern and West Virginia is no exception to that. At the beginning of the session, the Governor, Senate President, and House Speaker all stated that foster care reform would be a priority. A national analysis compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics and the Dept. of [...]
From The Well January 23, 2020 West Virginia Capitol Update Day 16 MUST SEE TV: Barrett gives moving foster care speech to the House of Delegates West Virginia House of Delegates member Jason Barrett from Berkeley County rose from his seat near the end of Wednesday's floor session to address his colleagues. His persuasive remarks recalled Tuesday's Today Show segment about a foster care family in West Virginia. The story, which we highlighted in yesterday's [...]
From The Well January 22, 2020 West Virginia Capitol Update Day 15 WV foster care crisis makes national news NBC's Stephanie Gosk interviewed the Kinders, who have fostered 20 children over the years, and adopted four sisters affected by the opioid crisis. She told their story on the Today Show. Senate introduces constitutional amendments to change tax structures Two important constitutional amendments were introduced in the Senate Tuesday. A constitutional amendment requires 2/3 [...]
From The Well January 21, 2020 West Virginia Capitol Update Day 14 Expedited natural gas permits passes House A bill allowing for expedited oil and gas well permits upon payment of the expedited fees passed the House Monday. HB 4091 sets up a process for expedited permitting for additional horizontal wells to be added to an existing well pad. Under this bill, one half of any residual fees would be deposited with the Oil and Gas [...]
From The Well January 20, 2020 West Virginia Capitol Update Day 13 Recap of Week Two At the end of the second week of the 2020 legislative session, the Senate has introduced 534 bills and passed seven. The House has introduced 971 bills and passed 11. While there is a general feeling at the capitol that the session is moving at a slower pace, roughly the same number of bills have passed each house compared to [...]
From The Well January 17, 2020 West Virginia Capitol Update Day 10 Four bills originated in substance abuse committee The House subject matter committee, Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse, heard presentations and passed four originating bills during a lengthy meeting on Thursday. Delegate Rohrbach, a physician, chairs the committee. Michael Goff, Director of the Board of Pharmacy and Controlled Substance Monitoring Database, presented information about recent trends. He noted that hydrocodone and related drugs have significantly decreased from [...]
From The Well January 16, 2020 West Virginia Capitol Update Day 9 House Committee on Energy unanimously passes two bills Two bills with a positive impact on oil & gas drilling in West Virginia were passed unanimously by the House Committee on Energy. HB4090 reduces the severance tax on marginal (or low producing) oil & gas wells to 2.5% from 5%. Wells utilizing horizontal drilling techniques are excluded from this bill. The bill calls for the [...]
From The Well January 15, 2020 Update from the West Virginia Capitol Day 8 Incentives for local government consolidation discussed A bill that has passed the Senate a few times in the past but died in the House was taken up yet again for 2020 in Senate Government Organization. Committee Substitute for SB138 would provide incentives for local governments to consolidate pursuant to the consolidation legislation passed in 2006. No municipality or county has [...]
From The Well January 14, 2020 Update from the West Virginia Capitol Day 7 House and Senate work to reorganize boards and commissions Two pairs of companion bills were introduced in the House and Senate Monday that would reorganize the various boards and commissions governed by Chapter 30 of state code. SB313, introduced by Sens. Maynard, Clements, Smith, Sypolt, and Swope, is a 345-page bill that divides Chapter 30 into three different chapters Each [...]
AAOS Advocacy in Action Expressed our support for the Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Quality and Access Act, which would establish the requirement that ASC payment updates be made according to the same criteria as hospital outpatient departments. Submitted formal comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on its proposed rules to reform the anti-kickback statute and Stark physician self-referral law. Bonefied News Updates and information about the Academy's public relations efforts... As the [...]