Welcome back to Week 7! We know you have a life and can’t track everything that happens during legislative session, so let us help. Stay up-to-date each week on what’s happening under the dome by watching for our weekly Capital Eye e-blast and following us on Facebook and Twitter! Encourage your friends to stay-up-to-date, too, by signing up for our emails (you can also use this form to update your email interests).
Click on the articles below to see what’s been happening since we touched base last week. Happy reading!
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Staring Down CrossoverThe pace ramps up again as the legislature faces down the "drop dead" date of February 26th - Crossover Day - after which all bills not passed out of their house of origin are considered done for this year. That being said, bills can still be amended into other bills that have made the journey across and other parliamentary tricks can be engaged when leadership wants a bill to stay alive. Many terrible bills will expire on Wednesday along with several good ones we’ve been working, watching, and rooting for. Tagged: Budget priorities, Discrimination, Healthcare, Inequality, Kids and families, Poverty Fair Courts UpdateThere are only two weeks left in the 2020 legislative session and Wednesday is “crossover” day, the last day for bills to be considered in the house of origin. Once this critical deadline passes many of the bills we’ve been watching will be dead. While it is disappointing that bills that advance the goals of the Pro-Democracy didn’t progress, it’s not unusual for the Legislature to forgo consideration of election bills in an election year. On the bright side, crossover day also puts a halt on a number of bad bills that would undermine the independence of the judiciary. Tagged: Civil Justice, Clean elections Support HB 4543 for Affordable, Life Saving Insulin!The WV legislature is considering a bipartisan bill, HB 4543, that would cap copays for life-saving insulin at $25 for a 30-day supply. Currently, the cost of insurance co-payments for insulin can exceed $600 per month. The average price of insulin nearly tripled between 2002 and 2013, and has continued to rise. As many as 1 in 4 diabetics, including many with insurance, have started rationing their insulin because of the higher prices. Rationing insulin can result in strokes, comas or even death.Tagged: Healthcare
