GREEN, Volume 33 Issue 8

Welcome to our last newsletter of the 2023 Legislative Session!

The session ends at midnight on March 11. We will keep you posted next week via action alerts as we head into the final hours.

As president of the WVEC, I want to express our pride in this year’s lobby team. Lucia Valentine, Maria Russo, and Jillian Welsh have done an amazing job at the Capitol this year putting out this weekly newsletter, quickly pivoting to draft action alerts, monitoring committee meetings and floor sessions, and planning for and producing E-Day this past Tuesday.

With this team, it’s easy to forget two of them have been on the job only since January (Jillian and Maria), and Lucia joined us last January. It’s a weird job, a crash course in all things under the dome that lasts just 60 days. The way they hit the ground running was really amazing. I’m very proud of these three dynamic women.

I also want to thank WVEC Vice President Sandra Fallon, who led the E-Day planning committee, for making our first in-person E-Day in three years happen! Along with her were fellow WVEC board members Greg Carroll and Jenna Breeckner, lobby team members Jillian, Lucia, and Maria, and Dani Parent with WV Citizen Action Group.

Thanks, too, to WV Rivers Coalition for providing educational funding for E-Day, which helped multiple student groups from across the state attend!

Donations from you and our member groups made this year’s lobby team a possibility! As the session wraps up, we are transitioning into our year-round presence at interims and other meetings across the state, including developing our 2024 legislative priorities this Fall. Your donation and continuing support will help fund this work and keep us going through the “off” season.

And, finally, thanks to you all, our members, for making those calls, sending those emails, attending E-Day, and helping us financially. We honestly couldn’t do it without you!

Stay tuned for our end-of-session recap in a couple of weeks – thank you!

Linda Frame

Click an article title or thumbnail image to read the full article (text below is only an excerpt).

Weekly Round-Up
WVEC
This week at the legislature was a busy one! As we approach the LAST week of session, the pressure is on to get bills that crossed over out of committee considered on the floor.  Halfway through the session, we changed our format from a weekly round-up to a breakdown of bills that are still alive that we are working on getting passed and those we are trying to defeat, along with steps you can take. 
Tagged: Coal, DEP, Nuclear energy, Public lands, Water

Environmental Day 2023 at the Capitol! 
WVEC
The West Virginia Environmental Council (WVEC) was thrilled to invite environmental advocates, community groups, students, and concerned individuals to the Capitol this past Tuesday, February 28th, for Environmental Day 2023, our first in-person E-Day since 2020. Serving as a voice at the legislature since 1989,
Tagged: Eday

Upcoming Events from the WV Rivers Coalition
WV Rivers Coalition
March 23: Conversation on Headwaters March 25:  Inflation Reduction Act Roadshow Webinar recordings: What is Blue Hydrogen?, Four Facts and Three Concerns about YOUR West Virginia Public Lands, Methane, Climate Change and Proposed EPA Regulations
Tagged: Climate change, EPA, Event, Water

ACTION ALERT: Urge Your Legislators to Support Funding for Oil and Gas Well Inspectors 
WVEC
HB 3110 passed the House of Delegates unanimously to provide more funding to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s (WV DEP) Office of Oil and Gas for well inspections! The bill now heads to the Senate Finance committee.
Tagged: DEP, Oil and gas

Protect Our Drinking Water
WVEC
The PFAS Protection Act, HB 3189, is expected to be voted on Tuesday, March 7 by the Senate Government Organization Committee. This bill will require the state to immediately identify and reduce PFAS at the source and establish required limits on PFAS discharges into our drinking water sources. This bill helps hold polluters responsible for cleaning up and preventing further contamination of our drinking water sources. Tell members of the Senate Government Organization Committee you want them to pass HB 3189, the PFAS Protection Act, to help protect our drinking water sources!
Tagged: Health, PFAS, Water

2023 Legislative Priorities
WVEC
Community Solar. Adequate funding for inspectors for the WV DEP Office of Oil and Gas, Advanced Nuclear, Hydrogen Hub/CCS, Hydrogen Hub/CCS, Public Lands
Tagged: Community solar, DEP, Legislation, PFAS, Public lands, Water

2023 Session Resources
WVEC
We look forward to bringing you the session news every Friday evening, and you can also follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 
Tagged: Legislation