A Few Overlooked Developments to Think About

A Few Overlooked Developments to Think About

While much recent news coverage has been focused on politics and the 2004 gubernatorial race, I’ve noted that Gov. Bob Wise has issued many interesting announcements in the past few weeks, and there have been encouraging developments that have largely gone overlooked.

* Gov. Bob Wise recently announced that five new license plates are now available to a very worthy group of West Virginia motorists: veterans.

Recipients of the Bronze Star, along with veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War, now have official West Virginia license tags for honor and recognition.

A one-time $10 application fee is required, as well as a $30 yearly registration fee. Applications must be sent to locals Division of Veterans Affairs offices. Each office address is listed on the back of the application form.

The Division of Motor Vehicles has a complete range of license plates at each of DMV’s 21 regional offices.

For additional information about these new license plates, call the Division of Motor Vehicles at (800) 642-9066 or (304) 558-3900 or visit our web site at www.wvdot.com. Larry Linch, director of the Division of Veterans Affairs, may be reached at 1321 Plaza East, Suite 101, Charleston, WV 25301, by telephone at (304) 558-3661 or toll-free at (888) 838-2332.

* I was very pleased to learn that Gov. Wise signed an executive order establishing the Governor’s Minority Students Strategies Council. The council will examine the noted academic disparity between minority and non-minority students in the West Virginia school system.

The council will explore numerous issues, such as the number of minority students in special education and in the gifted programs, discipline, expulsion and testing scores.

The council will prepare an annual report earmarking specific problems and offering solutions and strategies to the Legislature, the Office of the Secretary of Education and the Arts and to both the Higher Education Policy Commission and the State Board of Education.

Patricia Petty-Wilson of Dunbar will serve as chairperson. Other members are Darryl Lee Baynes, Wheeling; Madhu Chaturvedi, Charleston; Otis Cox, Morgantown; Daniel Crockett, Dunbar; Clinton Giles, Charleston; Thomas Hargis, Huntington; Viola Huff, Vienna; Dr. Patricia Kusimo, Charleston; Tony Smedley, Charleston and Lisa J. Woo, Charleston.

For more information visit the website at www.allWVstudents.org

* As West Virginia industries continue to lose out to foreign competition, in particular the steel industry, the state is enacting a plan to ensure that West Virginians who lose their jobs because of foreign competition and retirees in the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. will have access to health care coverage and help to pay for it.

About 2,600 West Virginians who are in need of health care assistance. Previously, people who lost their jobs because of foreign competition were eligible for retraining assistance and income support payments through Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), but had no help with health insurance. In addition, retirees who are in the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. get a pension, but receive no assistance with health insurance.

Health insurance premiums through Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield can now be paid with a monthly refundable tax credit that pays 65 percent of the monthly premium amount.

* A report by the Tax Foundation quoted in the Charleston Daily Mail noted that only four other states in the country received more for their federal tax dollars in 2002 than West Virginia. West Virginia gained $1.82 in federal expenditures for every $1 in federal taxes. The group reports that during the past decade, West Virginia’s spending-to-tax ratio increased 38 cents per dollar spent – one of the largest growth rates among the states.

Obviously, we can thank U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd for much of that return, although the group also points out that West Virginia also has the third lowest federal tax burden per capita in the country.

* Despite the condition of the economy, West Virginia's bond rating remains stable, according to Standard & Poor's, an international leader in bond market assessment. Standard & Poor's said that West Virginia is one of the few states that has kept its head above water during the national recession and maintained a “solid financial position,” noting that West Virginia as one of few states to end the fiscal year with a budgetary surplus.
I welcome and appreciate your input on these issues, or any other legislative matter. Please call me at (304)340-3106 or write to Delegate Virginia Mahan, 215-E, Capitol Complex, Charleston, WV 25305.