Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
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Interim Report: Committee on Corrections and Public Safety

Division of Corrections Commissioner David Kelly told lawmakers on Tuesday that while his agency has improved its ability to fill vacancies for entry-level correctional officers, a recent surge of retirements of experienced officers has proved challenging. Kelly was speaking to members during the final day of October interim meetings at the State Capitol.

Kelly informed the committee of 46 retirements in 2024 and 40 so far this year.

“We believe that the numbers will reach into the 50s this year,” Kelly said. “Just for a little bit of understanding, that could be nearly 100 retirees in 2024 and 2025, and that’s about 3,000 years of experience,” Kelly said. “We have a deep bench at DCR. We’re planning to move forward and place people in the proper positions. It’s not an easy task, but we will get it done.”

The agency is working to fill vacancies and retain staff, achieving a 77 percent retention rate in the current fiscal year, with some facilities retaining up to 85 percent for all three tiers of correctional officers, according to Kelly. He mentioned a pay raise approved by the Legislature for areas of critical vacancy has helped, but recruiting and retention challenges remain.

Kelly said one of the division’s biggest challenges remains recruitment and retention of correctional officers and non-uniformed correctional employees for facilities bordering other states.

“Not only are we working diligently towards filling correctional officer vacancies and non-uniform vacancies, we’re also striving to replace the upper tier of our division,” Kelly said.

Current inmate populations are 4,814 in jails, 4,888 in prisons, 378 in work release, and 297 in juvenile centers.

“We continue to assess our daily population within each facility, and we believe that we are managing our available space to the best of our the best of our ability,” Kelly said.

Kelly noted that four counties are at least 90 days delinquent in their regional jail bills: Webster, Clay, Lincoln and Mingo counties.

He also mentioned that regional jails are benefiting financially from processing detainees for the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in state correctional facilities. The facilities participating in the ICE detention program include South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, North Central Regional Jail in Moundsville and the Eastern Regional Jail in Martinsburg.

The federal government pays the state $90 per inmate per day, with ICE paying nearly $340,000 to DCR between June and July. Those funds are being used for general operational costs for the state’s regional jails.

INTERIM REPORT: Joint Committees on Finance & Pensions and Retirement

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The Joint Committees on Finance and Pensions and Retirement met this morning for an update on BRIM. BRIM was established in 1957 to provide insurance services to state agencies. In 1982, it was mandated that county boards of education provide general liability coverage. Eventually, it began providing insurance to non-state entities, such as county commissions, cities and towns, transit and housing authorities, and VFD.
BRIM does have a five-member oversight board. There are five departments within BRIM:

• Claims, which handles claims, works to minimize claims; no claim is settled unless BRIM approves it
• Underwriting, which is focused on premium rating and coverage opinions
• Loss control, which provides education and outreach services
• Finance, which makes financial decisions, handles investments, accounting, HR, and office management
• Privacy office, which is a growing department due to growing risk, helps insured entities with cyber privacy and control

BRIM is fiscally prudent and efficient. Six of the coverages offered were tailored for WV agencies:
• General liability
• Personal injury
• Professional liability
• Stopgap liability
• Wrongful act liability
• Auto liability

Risk management services are provided to prevent or minimize claims through various programs, including:
• Lost control of consultation visits
• Property and casualty insurance loss prevention inspections
• Boiler, machinery, and AC insurance and inspection services
• Standards of participation in programs
• Loss control education and outreach services

Adverse claims included sexual and physical abuse, specifically in K-12, and excessive force by law enforcement. Behavioral Risk Management is difficult to manage because you cannot predict human behavior. Changes have been made to non-state programs regarding the adverse claims, including a $3 million aggregate per entity for sexual abuse and an expansion of the definition of abuse. Financial Changes include nominal value rating and increased claim deductible for auto, nonstate, and property.

The committees also heard an update on State Pension Plans. PERS is funded at 100 percent. TERS is funded 82 percent. Many other plans are funded at 100 percent. WV Consolidated Public Retirement Board manages 10 plans, which is more retirement plans than any other state under one board. West Virginia Retirement plans are some of the best-funded plans in the country.

Interim Report: Educational Choice Subcommittee

The House Educational Choice Subcommittee heard from Deputy State Superintendent of Schools Sonya White Monday afternoon during October legislative interim meetings at the State Capitol.

White briefed lawmakers on the development of a new parent portal application by the West Virginia Department of Education, intended to streamline the process for homeschool applications and other educational transactions.

The school choice portal would allow parents who are homeschooling to submit the required applications and find a certified teacher who could approve a homeschool student’s portfolio of schoolwork. Parents could also submit their students’ test scores onto the portal.

Homeschool students are required to submit a portfolio each grade level. State law doesn’t require a certain type of teaching certification or experience to review the students’ portfolios.

The portal is based on legislation that passed the House of Delegates last year but ultimately stalled in the Senate Finance Committee. House Bill 3422 would have required the state Board of Education to design, test and deploy an internet-based reporting system for homeschool families.

White said the homeschool portal should be ready by the end of October for initial review and testing. The portal is being developed by the Department of Education in-house and will cost taxpayers no additional money to operate according to White. The department is also redesigning the notice that homeschool families submit to county school officials to be compatible with the new portal. After this work is done, the portal will offer a parent registration component and a teacher registration component for those teachers who review portfolios, according to White.

With the Hope Scholarship educational voucher program opening up to all eligible students, including private and homeschool students by next July, White said phase two of the homeschool portal could include a way to connect Hope Scholarship applications with applications for new homeschool students.

Delegate Kathie Hess Crouse (R-Putnam 19) told the committee there will likely be legislation next year to create a state Office of School Choice.

White said the Department of Education is exploring the possibility of running the the office at the estimated cost of $500,000, which includes paying for a manager and four program assistants to work around the state. Those figures are contingent on legislative appropriation.

Crouse told members she is rethinking whether such an office should be under the department or separate.

“My vision for it may be a little different than the state board’s vision for it, but it’s basically to give parents a place to go to ask the questions and get the truthful answers on school choice,” Hess Crouse said, adding that she has talked to parents that often receive conflicting information from school boards about their students’ options and records.

“It’s something that I want to look further into, so I don’t know where the School Choice Office will go yet,” Crouse said.

Interim Report: Joint Committee on Finance

Cindy Beane, commissioner for the West Virginia Bureau for Medical Services, presented to the Joint Standing Committee on Finance during interim legislative meetings at the Capitol Monday morning.

Beane discussed the significant changes West Virginia’s Medicaid system faces in the wake of the recent passage of the “Big, Beautiful Bill Act.” The Medicaid system is a healthcare program that is jointly funded by the federal government and states. The most significant change includes the implementation of a work requirement structure.

West Virginia’s Medicaid program costs roughly $5.5 billion annually, with the federal government covering about 80 percent that cost, according to Beane. The overall Medicaid allocation funds a significant portion of West Virginia’s healthcare system and provides a  jolt to the state’s economy.

About 504,000 people are enrolled in Medicaid in West Virginia, Beane said. She noted that roughly 160,000 of those are in the Medicaid expansion population.

The federal legislation institutes more rigorous requirements for Medicaid that are anticipated to cause millions of people to drop their Medicaid coverage nationwide.

The main new provision requires a minimum of 80 hours per month of work, education or volunteer service for able-bodied adults without dependents. The legislation refers to this as “community engagement requirements.”

Lawmakers questioned the effect of these work requirements on West Virginia’s enrollment. Beane said her agency is still trying to figure that out. She noted that from an early evaluation she knows 60 percent of the Medicaid population in West Virginia already has some earned income, but she doesn’t yet know if they’re meeting the threshold of the 80 hours.

“Those are the kinds of things that we’re kind of trying to figure out how many people will be directly impacted that maybe currently are not in the workforce, that we need to encourage to get into the workforce in order to stay on the rolls if they choose to do so,” Beane said.

She did say she thinks it’s safe to say the state will have some level of enrollment decline.

“I do anticipate that we will see some of our enrollment go down for the community engagement,” Beane said. “I don’t have an exact number on that yet.”

The new federal legislation requires those with Medicaid coverage to verify their eligibility to be in the program twice a year, rather than just once, as was the practice previously. The bill also adds a more rigorous income verification for those who enroll in the Affordable Care Act’s health care coverage.

Beane informed lawmakers that West Virginia is participating in a pilot program with seven other states to explore technology to enable Medicaid recipients who are working to report work hours efficiently through a “no touch solution so that people aren’t constantly having to report their hours.”

Beane noted that the new work requirements have prompted the most questions to her office.

Interim Report : Joint Judiciary Committee

The Joint Judiciary Committee met this morning for an overview of the Kratom Enforcement Process. Kratom is a psychoactive extract from a plant grown in Southeast Asia; Some say it has an opioid-like effect.

In 2023, Article 12 of Chapter 19 of the WV Code was amended to include Kratom. According to presentations, WV has the highest buy rate of kids’ 28 percent. Vape stores are the problem, as they are targeting and selling to children, which is a felony. Individuals must be 21 or older to purchase Kratom. These stores keep popping up; there are currently over 600 standalone vape shops. In 2025, there have been over 415 criminal complaints. In 2022, the number was only 48.

Some legislation requests include laws to make it illegal for employees to live where they work. Additionally, may of the owners of vape shops are out of state, which means they need an in-state responsible person. One of the few states with strong regulations on these substances. According to the Department of Agriculture, there are no kratom vaping products registered in West Virginia. The department has found 109 shops selling illegal products. Operations have been shut down (unable to sell kratom or THC) for repeated infractions or large issues. The program is self-funded, as the revenue from taxes and fees are used to run the program for testing etc. Having an identification card scan to enter a website or to purchase would provide better security.

Interim Report: House Subcommittee on Public Education

The House Subcommittee on Public Education met this evening for a review of the implementation of School Day Wraparound Services. Initially, the Department of Education reached out to the Department of Human Services to determine which court-ordered wraparound services could be provided during the school days. Then, they discovered DOHS had all kinds of wrap around services, which could be implemented in the school. These services include child mental health, emotional disorders, and the Child SAFE at Home program.

The School Day Wraparound Services will be fully implemented in November. The impact will be an awareness of services, consistent protocols in all schools, and increased use of services. For safety reasons, documentation and credentials are required. The plan is that there will be a set contact person at each school and provider for DOHS, which will allow for continuity of contact. Providers should notify to school contact when planning to visit to prevent class disruption.

INTERIM REPORT: Joint Committee on Education

The Joint Committee on Education met this afternoon. First, the committee heard a presentation on the WV Ireland Transatlantic Partnership. The partnership is between Marshall University, Bridge Valley Technical School, and Dundalk Institute of Technology (in Ireland). It is an opportunity to harness the cultural ties and the economic ties between West Virginia and Ireland. It was noted that Ireland, once one of the poorest countries in Europe, has become a place of innovation and technology while maintaining its traditional heritage. It has found success in global trade, STEM workforce, and innovation. The partnership is envisioned to be a platform for other fields in West Virginia to collaborate with Ireland.

Dundalk Institute of Technology is a small university of applied learning in the center of Ireland’s population. The university integrates industry collaboration into its lessons. More collaboration is needed to continue this program. Reciprocity is key; DkIT students need to be able to visit WV institutions. The program is academically rigorous and accessible to all students.

Next, the committee heard about the Southern Educational Services Cooperative’s (SESC) Adult Education Program, which has served over 10k individuals last year. The program provides adult learners with the tools and equipment, confidence, and stability to become self-sustaining. It has changed the lives of many students. It has been federally funded for 14 years; this year, there are concerns about funding.

Finally, the committee heard about the Academy of Careers and Technology, which has been open for over 70 years. It is operating on less than $1.5 million a year. It is ranked in the top 100 best career and technical programs in the country. It works with other organizations like the Adult Education Program to help students earn various certifications to get a job within West Virginia.

INTERIM REPORT: LOCEA

The Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability (LOCEA) met this afternoon. First, the School Year 2024-2025 Critical Need and Shortage Report was presented by Dr. Sonya White, Deputy Superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Education. Critical needs counties are counties that employ retired teachers for 120 or more days as substitutes. In 2024-2025, there were 3 fewer counties in critical need of teachers and 1 fewer county for bus drivers. Additionally, 67 fewer retired teachers were needed, but five more bus drivers were needed. The area with the most critical need is special needs teachers, with 79 needed. The next area of critical need is PreK through elementary.

Next, the Annual County Board of Education Accountability Report was provided. Counties with accountability issues fall into three categories: 1. on watch, where the county sets a structure for improvement and the state department of education monitors; 2. on support, where the state department of education addresses the plan and monitors closely to provide technical support; and 3. intensive, where county must report to state department of education quarterly on improvements. Specialists offer technical support and are in each county monthly. Nearly half of WV counties met accountability requirements. Math and English language scores are still lower. There has been a reduction in chronic absenteeism. Transportation effectiveness is low in several counties. Ohio and Hampshire counties are the only ones not needing support.

The State Department of Education has concerns with federal funding cuts, as it will affect education programs. Members had several requests for various reports, including teachers’ attendance, county board effectiveness, post-graduation outcomes, and how absences due to county transportation issues affect student absenteeism.

Interim Report: Joint Committee on Insurance and PEIA

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The Joint Standing Committee on Insurance and PEIA met Tuesday afternoon during legislative interim meetings at the Capitol to receive a report from Ben Lewis, managing director of Strategy and Innovation for BDO USA, regarding possible cost savings for the Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA).

The firm was commissioned by the Legislature to conduct a study to evaluate the current state of PEIA, using financial analysis comparing the program to other states and to provide recommendations to the Legislature.

Lewis gave lawmakers an extensive list of choices that could improve the finances of the Public Employees Insurance Agency, including possibilities like removing city and county employees from eligibility, ending the spousal option and bolstering fraud detection capabilities.

According to Lewis, the potential result could be annual savings of about $55 million. That accounts for roughly 5 percent of PEIA’s total annual cost of around a billion dollars.

Lewis stated that generally, plan participants appear to be satisfied with the benefits offered by the PEIA, including the relatively low premiums and out of pocket maximums when compared to the private sector.

The report concluded that PEIA’s recent and anticipated annual premium increases of about 14 percent are justified given that costs were frozen for people in the program between 2018 and 2022.

The top reason given for increasing expenses was prescription drug coverage. That’s primarily driven by specialty drugs, especially medications like Ozempic and other similar brands that are prescribed for diabetes and popular for weight loss, according to Lewis.

The report offered lawmakers nine options for keeping PEIA cost increases at bay. They report’s options with estimated potential savings are as follows:

  1. Improvement of Wellness Programs: Doubling investment in wellness programs and targeting chronic conditions could lead to net savings of $1.7 million by increasing participation and reducing claims.
  2. Eliminating Spousal Surcharge Participants: Removing policyholders whose spouses have employer-sponsored insurance but opt for PEIA coverage could result in an expense reduction of $15 million.
  3. Improved Anti-Fraud Protection: Implementing large anti-fraud team coupled with anti-fraud software could save between $17-$27 million annually through fraud recoveries.
  4. Reduction of non-state (county and city) employee members: This could decrease the number of policies by more than 15,000. This would have $1 million in net savings, but local governments would need a full year to begin seeking requests for proposals from private health insurance companies to replace PEIA coverage.
  5. Importing Prescription Drugs: The possibility of importing additional drugs from Canada is estimated to generate $5.3 million in annual savings.
  6. Supplemental Drug Coverage: Partnering with discount programs like GoodRx and Cost Plus Drugs could save PEIA between $1.1-$3.3 million a year by offering member discounts outside traditional coverage.
  7. Specialty Drugs: Hiring staff  to focus on more efficiency for specialty prescription drug use through site-of-care management and annual market checks could save roughly $8 million a year.
  8. Incentivizing more use of High-Deductible Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts: Additional people to making modest PEIA contributions for such accounts could save between a half million and $1.6 million annually by creating more consumer-driven healthcare choices.
  9. Family Income Rate Tiering: Adjusting premium levels based on total household income (including income from outside PEIA employment) could increase premium revenue by an estimated $20 million, promoting fairer cost sharing.

 

Interim Report: Joint Standing Committee on Education

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State Higher Education Chancellor Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker appeared before the Joint Standing Committee on Education Monday evening to present research her team has conducted on why West Virginia students are not attending higher education institutions at a higher rate.

According to Tucker, the current college-going rate in the state is 47.4 percent. This includes students attending two-year and four-year institutions, public or private, in-state or out-of-state. She said this figure needs to dramatically improve if the state’s workforce participation numbers are ever going to improve.

Tucker gave the committee some conclusions after analyzing their High School Opinion Survey, which is used to gauge student’s thoughts and experiences in the college decision-making process.

“Every two years we survey all of the high school seniors in the state of West Virginia and we ask them questions about how they’re making decisions about their future, what’s important to you, what do you think you want to do after high school, how did you make that decision, who helped you make that decision,” Tucker said.

Tucker said the top answer in the latest survey regarding whether or not to attend college was affordability.

She said that this prompted them to look at tuition in the state. The average tuition for a four-year college is $9,000 and for a two-year college is $4,800. This, in turn, got them looking at financial aid and the student aid index.

Tucker believes students have a tough time determining financial aid eligibility. They also don’t know enough about the application process, requirements, and how financial aid awards are distributed.

“What I’m hearing from the students is this process is way too complicated, it’s too hard, and they don’t understand it,” Tucker said.

Tucker was optimistic, noting that those are structural problems that can be fixed by simplifying the process and educating the students and parents.

“I think that if we can work together, to help streamline some of these processes, some of these rules, some of these requirements we can make it easier for our students to see themselves as college students in West Virginia,” Tucker said.