Dear LWV-WV Members,
This is just a friendly reminder about the 2018 All Kinds Are Welcome Here Civil Liberties Lobby Day this Thursday, February 8 at the State Capitol in Charleston. The LWV-WV is excited to join with other organizations and individuals committed to moving West Virginia forward as a supporting partner of this event.
Please register here to let us know which parts of the day you'll be attending, and which issues matter the most to you. Stop by our table in the lower rotunda. We look forward to seeing you there!
We also wanted to let you know about two important campaigns the LWV-WV is supporting and actions you can take (see details below).
Thanks for taking action and we hope to see you in Charleston on February 8!
Sincerely,
Julie Archer
Director, LWV-WV
Health Not Politics - Stop HB 4012
WV-LWV and other organizations have joined our friends at WV FREE in a new Health Not Politics campaign to defeat a proposed ban on Medicaid coverage for abortions for low-income women in West Virginia. At the campaign launch, WV FREE released new polling data showing that West Virginians don't believe that politicians should be focused on creating new laws that take away health coverage for women.
Unfortunately, the day after the launch the House Health Committee passed HB 4012, which bans Medicaid insurance coverage for abortion. HB 4012 is now before the House Judiciary Committee, which will hold a public hearing on the bill Monday, February 5 at 8:30AM in the House Chamber.
When a woman in West Virginia is enrolled in the state's Medicaid health insurance program, all of her reproductive health services should be covered including annual check-ups, prenatal and maternity care, family planning services including birth control, and abortion.
HB 4012 aims to take away abortion coverage under Medicaid and we must stop it! Please contact House Judiciary Committee members and tell them they shouldn't be playing politics with women's health care.
Click here to contact House Judiciary Committee members now or send a personalized email to all committee members by copying the list below and pasting into your email “To:” field:
john.shott@wvhouse.gov, roger.hanshaw@wvhouse.gov, barbaraf@wvhouse.gov, shawn.fluharty@wvhouse.gov, andrew.byrd@wvhouse.gov, joe.canestraro@wvhouse.gov, moore.capito@wvhouse.gov, frank.deem@wvhouse.gov, tom.fast@wvhouse.gov, geoff.foster@wvhouse.gov, jason.harshbarger@wvhouse.gov, ray.hollen@wvhouse.gov, phil.isner@wvhouse.gov, kayla.kessinger@wvhouse.gov, charlotte.lane@wvhouse.gov, chad.lovejoy@wvhouse.gov, rodney.miller@wvhouse.gov, riley.moore@wvhouse.gov, john@overington.com, mike.pushkin@wvhouse.gov, ben.queen@wvhouse.gov, andrew.robinson@wvhouse.gov, kelli.sobonya@wvhouse.gov, amy.summers@wvhouse.gov, mark.zatezalo@wvhouse.gov
Click here to learn more about the Health Not Politics campaign and what's at stake with HB 4012 and a proposed constitutional amendment that would take Medicaid coverage away from West Virginia's most vulnerable people seeking abortion care.
#SOS Parks (Save Our State Parks) - Oppose SB 270 & HB 4182
Governor Jim Justice and the State Department of Commerce are pushing for the passage of legislation (SB 270 & HB 4182) that would allow commercial logging in WV State Parks.
The LWV-WV opposes allowing timbering in state parks. Our state parks harbor special natural features that should be protected. WV is a state where the diversity of plants (Including native orchids), birds, animals, and other wildlife lure out-of-state visitors, as well as West Virginians, to hike and see our beautiful outdoors and its diversity. SB 270 runs counter to the goal of promoting tourism.
The bills were proposed with the aim of generating income to make repairs and improvements in the parks but there are other ways to provide needed revenue to support our parks.
The house version of the bill (HB 4182) to open up state parks to commercial logging, could be considered by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday morning. As they are currently considering whether to take up the bill, now is the time to let these committee members know that commercial logging does not belong in our state parks.
Our partner, WV Environmental Council, has put in a request for a public hearing on the bill. We’ll alert you when the public hearing on HB 4182 is scheduled. In the meantime, send a letter to members of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and ask them to vote NO on SB 4182! And if you haven't already, contact the governor at 1-888-433-2731 to tell him you oppse logging in our State Parks.
You can learn more about HB 4182 and SB 270 by visiting WV Rivers' SOS Parks resources page. There you’ll find a FAQ, a summary of alternative ways to generate funds for state park maintenance, and articles on how commercial logging will harm forest ecosystems and wildlife.