State Leaders Talk Legislative Priorities

Members of the legislature and state government met with state media to discuss priorities for the upcoming legislative session on Friday. The event, called the “Legislative Lookahead,” sponsored by the West Virginia Press Association, was held at the Culture Center. 

House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, said one of the biggest pressures facing the state is the loss of what is known as “COVID Money.” That’s money from the federal government that was dispersed to the state during the pandemic. He said that funding has pretty much dried up.

A lot of the discussion revolved around how things happening on the federal level could affect how the state will function. Like how a change in federal funds available could affect the state’s budget, social services, and overall economy. 

The formula for funding school districts was a common-thread issue between House and Senate leadership. 

“The state of West Virginia allocates state funding to county boards of education and county school systems in a very formulaic way, in a very mathematical way,” Hanshaw said. “But sadly, that formula hasn’t perhaps evolved with time to reflect the current state of circumstances in West Virginia.”

Chair of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, agreed and said it’s a number one priority. 

“That is an antiquated formula that we are seeing is not, probably not, working the best that it can,” Grady said.  

The panel talked about a litany of issues they expect to come up, or address during the session: The Public Employees Insurance Agency, federal tariffs effect on coal and natural gas, The U.S. Department of Education, childcare, environmental deregulation and teacher raises. 

Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, said he and other Democrats plan to take a stand against what he called radical far right extremism within the Republican controlled legislature. 

“We want to make sure that we are always working in a bipartisan manner. But when it comes time to be in the adult room and to stand up to extremism, that’s what we’re going to do,” Hornbuckle said.