WV Legisalture Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Morrisey Pushes Lawmakers To Build On ‘Trump-Style’ Energy Policy

Gov. Patrick Morrisey is encouraging lawmakers to support legislation that would allow data centers to operate their own microgrids — and therefore bump coal production across the state.

In the final days of the legislative session, Gov. Patrick Morrisey says he is keeping a close eye on the state budget as well as economic development legislation – especially House Bill 2014. The bill encourages the use of coal for powering microgrids to support data centers.

Morrisey says it would support President Donald Trump’s national agenda and bring both jobs and revenue to West Virginia.

The governor wants data centers here, in part because they create jobs, but also because they use a lot of energy.

Microgrids that supply the energy could create a steady market for West Virginia coal, and bump production significantly. But lawmakers would have to authorize data centers to operate their own microgrids first.

House Bill 2014 would do that. But Appalachian Power and Mon Power have raised concerns that it could bump costs for customers by forcing the companies to use more coal instead of natural gas, which is cheaper.

Morrisey is pushing lawmakers to pass the bill as part of a Trump-aligned national agenda he says would position West Virginia for growth.

“These micro grids, this is built on what President Trump is trying to do to compete with the Chinese and use more coal and natural gas,” Morrisey said. “And so I urge the legislature to push forward the Trump microgrids piece. I think it makes a big difference, and I’m hopeful that they follow suit.

Morrisey also praised a series of executive orders the president signed on Tuesday, aimed at sharply boosting coal production by loosening restrictions and resuming coal leasing on public land.

“President Trump cares deeply about American energy independence, and he knows to compete with the Chinese, we’re going to have to have more coal, more gas, and we have to make sure that we’re engaging in that information arms race against the Chinese. So I think what he did [Tuesday] is a good first step forward,” Morrisey said.

“We want to make sure that people know there is a future for coal. I do think there is, but it’s going to take a lot. We’re gonna have to message people the importance of using coal in order to stay on pace or exceed and defeat, ultimately, the Chinese, as they’re racing to supply their information technology needs,” he added.

Lawmakers have until Saturday at midnight to pass legislation and finalize a budget.

Early Data Shows Dramatic Fall In Overdose Death Rates; Advocates Advise Caution

A Sept. 1 analysis of provisional overdose death rate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows a rapid decrease in the number of drug overdose deaths in the U.S. and this time West Virginia appears to be keeping pace.

However, advocates working on the ground directly with communities affected by the substance use disorder (SUD) crisis, say to be cautious of preliminary data and that there’s more work to be done and policy changes to be enacted.

“If you were to compare these numbers to pre-COVID, they’re still very massively up,” said Sarah Stone, co-director of the Charleston non-profit group, Solutions Oriented Addiction Response (SOAR). “So it feels to me like we’re still very much in the thick of everything.”

Stone also noted that this data is provisional, meaning, these are not finalized figures for the year.

West Virginia’s drug overdose rate fell nearly 11 percent from April 2023 to April 2024, according to provisional CDC data. The same report showed the nation’s drug overdose death rate fell by a reported 12.2 percent during the same period.

A screenshot of the CDC’s Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts. Accessed on Sept. 18, 2024.

While falling overdose death rates are good news, advocates like Stone say even one drug overdose death is too many.

“Every one of the numbers from the data that we’re looking at is someone’s kid, is someone’s mom, is someone’s somebody, somebody celebrated when that number was born,” Stone said. “Until that number is zero, which is a goal, I can’t celebrate it.”

Stone said SOAR considers every drug overdose death a policy failure and that community recovery advocates feel like they are working against the state of West Virginia to make drug overdose death rates fall.

“If numbers are going down, we want to feel good about that, right? And it’s easy to feel good about that if you don’t make the connection that the number as a person and the number as a policy fail,” Stone said.

Stone is referencing policy decisions that have challenged the goals of those who work in West Virginia harm reduction in recent years.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), harm reduction refers to an evidence-based approach to treating SUD with a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use.

“People want to show up to keep themselves more safe, and we should be able to provide that for them, but because of restrictive laws, we cannot,” Stone said.

In 2021, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 334, which requires licensing for syringe distribution, programs offering syringe exchanges to host many other harm reduction services, made programs deny clean needles to those who did not return with their used needles and only allowed them to serve clients with state IDs.

“I do celebrate the wins,” Stone said. “I know how hard we’re working, but it’d be cool if lawmakers would make things more accessible to folks.”

SOAR hosts four naloxone boxes across the city of Charleston and holds monthly mutual aid fairs to distribute the supplies they legally can to help people suffering from SUD stay safe.

On Sept. 26, SOAR will participate in the largest day of naloxone distribution to date. Save-A-Life Day began in 2020 with a two-county pilot project in Kanawha and Putnam counties. By 2021, the project expanded to 17 counties, then all 55 counties participated in 2022.

Last year, all 13 Appalachian states participated, hosting more than 300 events and distributing more than 45,000 naloxone doses in a single day.

Just four years after the project’s two-county start, 2024’s Save-A-Life Day events will be held in every state east of the Mississippi River, and a few beyond.

“We’ve heard of same-day saves,” Stone said. “So that, of course, is impactful, getting naloxone out, but it’s also making people think, ‘How can we make this more available in our community? How can we like, go deeper? How can we get it to people who we don’t even see on Save a Life Day? So it’s energizing to folks, and it is a day to celebrate.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

Legislative Interims, Fighting Miners’ Lung Disease And Protecting Our Forests This West Virginia Week

On this West Virginia Week, we’ll review some of the top stories from legislative interims – to find out some of the issues lawmakers are working on.

Plus delve into how nature lovers can help protect forests from illegal activities.

We’ll also take a look at the latest hurdle for a program designed to make coal mines safer place to work.

Maria Young is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick and Maria Young.
Learn more about West Virginia Week.

Kessler: Tomblin Rule on Tanks Usurps Legislature

Senate President Jeff Kessler says the governor’s rule to ease inspections in a law regulating aboveground storage tanks undermines the Legislature.

Kessler told the Parkersburg News and Sentinel Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin should have called a special session instead of proposing the rule. Kessler wanted lawmakers to pass a one-year delay of the Jan. 2015 initial inspection deadline.

The administration’s rule eases inspections for tanks that don’t hold hazardous materials, contain less than 50,000 gallons or aren’t near water supplies. It loosens requirements for tanks holding water and food products like milk. It doesn’t change deadlines.

Tomblin spokesman Chris Stadelman said lawmakers will review rules in the session starting in January.

The law reacts to a January chemical spill that contaminated 300,000 people’s tap water for days.

Governor Announces Ethics Commission Appointments

The West Virginia Ethics Commission has been reconstituted with fewer members. But most of them are familiar faces.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin reappointed seven members to the commission on Monday. The governor also named two new members, Karen Disibbio of Bluefield and Larry Tweel of Huntington.

A law approved this year by the Legislature reduced the commission’s members from 12 to nine.

Members who were reappointed are: former State Police superintendent and state Sen. Jack Buckalew, Morgantown lawyer Monte Williams, former Delegate Terry Walker of Shepherdstown, former Secretary of State Betty Ireland, former Logan County school board member Robert Wolfe, Michael Greer of Salem and Suzan Singleton of Glen Dale.

Greer was one of the Ethics Commission’s original members in 1989.