ForwardBill Price The 2015 legislative session, for the most part is done. I want to thank every citizen who called, came to a hearing, talked to the Legislator, emailed, facebooked, held a sign, brought cookies, spoke to the press, or in any way helped out. I also want to extend a huge thanks to Conni Lewis, the Legislative coordinator and the lobby team of Rob Goodwin and Vickie Wolfe who stayed at it to the bitter end. Add to that the progressive lobbyists who were present in the face of a strong wind to blow us backwards, but who never failed to try to move WV forward. Everyone tried and all worked hard. More We live to fight another day as the 2015 Legislative Session Wraps UpRob Goodwin The 2015 Legislative Session ended late Saturday night with several major bills getting killed in the final hours. The majority of the bills that died in the final hours were bad bills as the climate this session was not very conducive to even getting good bills on the agenda. There were a few major bills that consumed the majority of the lobby team’s time this session being the Coal Jobs and Safety Act, Category A Protections for the Kanawha River, HB 2004 the Anti-Clean Power Plan bill, and SB423 the roll back of the tank bill. Of these bills Category A protections for the Kanawha River and the WVDHHR Source Water Protection Planning Rules were of the few bills we could actually encourage a yes vote on. More There’s even more to be concerned aboutConni Lewis 262 bills survived the legislative process this year and only a handful are of concern to the Environmental Council . Vickie and Rob have written passionately about the most important (and often appalling) bills. Yet there are a few that we should take note of and here they are:
SB234 removes water and sewer utilities owned by political subdivisions from PSC jurisdiction. An interesting twist is the provision detailling the procedure for selling such a utility to another entity. Gee, who would want to buy a small community's water system? More ASTA Rollback: The Final ChapterVickie Wolfe S.B. 423, "Amending the Aboveground Storage Tank Act," was taken up by the House Judiciary Committee on Monday evening, March 9. The Committee questioned several witnesses, including DEP Secretary Randy Huffman and Evan Hansen of Downstream Strategies. More Spring ReflectionsConni Lewis Baseball teaches both players and fans that failure is not only an option, it's part of the game. A team that wins 60% of its games is rare. And if like my beloved St. Louis Cardinals, it can do so frequently, it is regarded with awe. Even the best players recognize that they will leave home plate without a hit most of the time. So while I responded to this session's debacle with inappropriate language, anger and occasional despair, as a faithful baseball fan, I understand. In contrast, football expects near perfect seasons from its best teams, even amongst middle school leagues, and that distorts reality. But that sense that domination is good is widespread. More For the Environment: What was gained, what was lost this sessionVickie Wolfe Yes, believe it or not, there were a couple of "gains." One of those was the restoration of "Category A" status to the lower 72-mile stretch of the Kanawha River, which means that that section of the Kanawha may be used as source water for drinking water facilities. The WVEC and our allies worked hard to shepherd this rule through the process. More More to readVickie Wolfe Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Share Share via Share on Facebook Like Tweet Pinterest LinkedIn Digg Del Tumblr VKontakte Print Email Reddit Buffer Love This Weibo Pocket Xing Odnoklassniki WhatsApp Meneame Blogger Amazon Yahoo Mail Gmail AOL Newsvine HackerNews Evernote MySpace Mail.ru Viadeo Line Flipboard Comments Yummly SMS Viber Telegram Subscribe Skype Facebook Messenger […] More |
