CHARLESTON – The 85th West Virginia Legislature just concluded its first regular session. Principled lawmakers stepped up in a big way by boldly meeting the mandate from voters to rapidly transform West Virginia into a better place to live, work and raise a family — accomplishing, arguably, the most transformational session in recent memory.
First, lawmakers gave students and families the educational flexibility they deserve by enacting the Hope Scholarship law. This education savings account program allows families who choose to enroll to receive a portion of the state tax dollars allocated to their child to customize their student’s education.
West Virginia parents and students were eager for more opportunity in education — reaching out to lawmakers by the thousands — asking for solutions that respect the dignity of each student by allowing them access to the education that’s right for them.
Huffman
Education savings accounts are one of the most innovate ways in which policymakers can empower students and families to discover individualized pathways to the education that best suits each child’s unique needs. The Hope Scholarship means our state now stands as the model for the nation when it comes to educational freedom, innovation and the future of K-12 education.
Next, lawmakers turned their attention to breaking down needless barriers holding back our trusted medical providers from providing the care West Virginians need and deserve, by dramatically expanding access to important health services for communities.
With HB 2024, they made permanent one of Governor Jim Justice’s smart executive orders that empowered highly qualified health care providers licensed in other states to deliver telehealth services to West Virginia residents.
SB 714 empowers highly qualified physician assistants to deliver critically important services without duplicative red tape standing in the way. Thanks to the emergency actions taken by the governor, physician assistants have been delivering lifesaving throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This legislation ensures these well-trained professionals can continue to deliver care to underserved communities.
West Virginia showed the rest of America how to run a vaccination program. Through these reforms, we’re showing the country how to increase long-term access to quality, affordable health care.
West Virginians deserve the ability to support their families without undue government burdens. While often well-intentioned, many government occupational licensing requirements are anti-competitive, needlessly burdensome, and ineffective at addressing public health and safety concerns. SB 472 takes meaningful steps toward much needed licensing reform by establishing a sunrise review of all proposed occupational licensing regulations and a recurring sunset review of all existing restrictions to help ensure that the least restrictive regulation consistent with public health and safety is utilized.
West Virginia leaders also stood up for self-employed workers and the many economic opportunities independent contracting can bring to the state by replacing its California-style ABC test with new criteria that will be easier for businesses and workers to follow.
As the pandemic has demonstrated, closing the digital divide and connecting West Virginians to the internet is essential for our state’s success. HB 2002 includes several important steps to increasing broadband access across the state in a fiscally responsible fashion. Those changes include regulatory reforms that will make it easier to deploy internet access and simplify the process for determining which areas of the state are most in need of internet connectivity.
Before passage of SB 275, which created the Intermediate Court of Appeals, all of our state’s administrative law decisions were handled by the Kanawha County Circuit. In practice this meant that laws enacted by the Legislature — the duly elected representatives of the people of this state — could be overturned by a single judge elected in a single jurisdiction.
This failure of government structure is evidenced by way some Kanawha Circuit administrative law decisions in recent years have exhibited partisan judicial activism rather than good faith decisions based on sound legal reasoning. The new Intermediate Court of Appeals, made up of judges elected statewide, will assume the duties of presiding over questions of administrative law, ending this inequitable system.
Lawmakers have taken seriously the call from the grassroots to stop tinkering around the margins and instead make bold moves on behalf of Mountaineers. Folks across the state are well pleased, but hungry for even more reform that will move our state forward. Thankfully, this Legislature seems primed to continue the momentum well into the future.
Huffman is state director of Americans for Prosperity-West Virginia.
