Melissa Roberts, executive director of the American Flood Coalition, addressed the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding on Sunday to begin the Legislature’s December interim meetings.

She told member that there is more federal funding available for flood mitigation than ever before, with matching money in the billions of dollars.

“Often $1 of state investment put up can bring down anywhere from $5 to $7 to $9 of federal investment,” Roberts said. “We’re also seeing that some states that have had a head start like Texas, and Florida and Louisiana, are really getting an outsized share. But this opportunity still exists.”

West Virginia State Resiliency Officer Bob Martin informed members that he has several projects planned to seize the grant opportunity, but that his office is challenged with organizational bureaucracy hurdles to apply for grants and federal funds.

“Currently, we can’t, partly because most of the federal dollars right now are going to other agencies,” Martin said. “There are grants out there for economic development and some of them have to do with resiliency and have to do with flood mitigation, have to do with storm water, and those are integrated into those programs.”

Martin believes it is the office’s duty to get that federal money for state projects and put the money to work. He said he’s working with several agencies, with grant writers and legal teams, to obtain grants and federal funds.

Flood Committee members voted to help find solutions to the challenge and recommended grant assistant programs at Marshall University and West Virginia University that are available to help the Flood Resiliency Office.

Martin said that he believes by the end of 2024, if not sooner, his office will have the expertise and resources to go from an organizational phase to executing flood mitigation projects.

The Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability met this afternoon.

The committee heard an update of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. FAFSA forms must be completed to unlock federal aid and most state aid for secondary education. FAFSA used to be several pages long, and request information that was difficult to find, especially for students in foster care, living with grandparents, etc. The form has been simplified to a postcard-size form. Ultimately, parents and students will be able to import tax information into FAFSA. These new forms were supposed to be available in 2022, however, that did not happen. The date was then pushed to October 2023 and it’s still not available. By law, the federal government must have this form available by December 31, 2023. Usually, students are able to begin filling out FAFSA in October. No one knows exactly what the new FAFSA form will look like or request. In November, the HEPC hosted 9 FAFSA workshops and at each, a different form was reviewed. HEPC and CTCC expect students, parents, and counselors to have lots of questions about the new FAFSA for this first year. To help with this, there are 56 FAFSA workshops scheduled in January and February. State deadlines for financial aid are also being pushed back to compensate for the delay.

The 2023 Comprehensive Financial Aid Report was provided. A report on HB3035 implementation was also provided. New assessments will be taken this month or next month and data from those assessments is due by January 31. The State Department of Education has provided resources about the Third Grade Access Act online.   

A report on harassment, intimidation, and bullying revealed of the 156,235 discipline referrals this year, 2.4 percent were harassment intimidation, and bullying referrals. The grade with the most referrals was 7th grade, with grades 6th through 8th accounting for 7 of every 10 referrals. Most referrals were for a single offense. However, students being referred for harassment, intimidation or bullying also had other types of discipline referrals. Black students were 2.5 times more likely to receive a referral and multiracial students were 1.5 times more likely to receive a referral.

Another report provided was on safety and security measures in schools. In WV, 299 schools do not have safe school entries. There are 90 schools that do not have numbers outside of doors, however, this number is expected to decrease. Weapon detection is at 54 schools. Full-time resource officers are at 107 schools and part-time resource officers are at 94 schools. There are 319 schools in need of resource officers.

The Legislative Oversight Commission on Regional Jail and Correction Facility Authority met today in Wheeling to hear a presentation about an interactive simulation program to raise awareness of the challenges of reentering society after incarceration. The simulations began in the South District of Alabama. Now, 42 states and Canada have implemented the simulations. The first simulation in West Virginia took place in 2016.

On an average day, the average person makes 35,000 decisions a day. On the same day, an incarcerated individual makes less than 100 decisions. When released from prison, it’s possible to experience sensory overload.

The simulation is an hour and a half experience representing the first week of a released person’s first week out of prison with each 15 minutes representing a day. There are several places an individual must go or things they must do including probation, court, career center, work, bank, counseling/treatment, ID Station, Social Services, Food Bank, Transportation, Rent, Church, hospital, and pawn shop. The standard setup is 13 stations but can be tailored to the state.

Each participant gets a life card with the identity of a formerly incarcerated person. The card gives a description of your identity, what you have, and what you must do to remain out of jail. Packets include money, if the individual had a job in prison, valuable items the individual has (i.e. tools & jewelry), transportation tickets, and identification, if available. The identities are of various levels of education, employment, living situations, etc. In the simulation, transportation tickets can be purchased for $1, and plasma can be donated twice a week. If the donation is completed, an individual can receive $25. If an individual has items, the pawn shop can be visited to receive money in exchange for items.

The Life Card used in the simulation tells participants each place they must go in the first week and the expenses they must pay. Participants “complete” a urine analysis by drawing cards, which say positive or negative. The simulation also has a wild card, which can be given to any participant. The wild card represents things you aren’t expecting to happen. It’s the curveball life can throw at any moment. Examples included the babysitter canceling and you couldn’t get to work, you got a speeding ticket, friends got into a fight while you were around and the cops were called, or you got money from a family member. Wild cards can be good or bad.

In the simulations, they have a mock jail, a halfway house, and a chance option. Chance cards are for when participants feel like their back is against the wall and they have no choice by to commit a crime, which is a reality of being out of jail. The chance card represents a robbery or drug deal to get money. Sometimes a participant can get away with it or get caught.

The goal of this simulation is for individuals to understand what a person reentering society goes through during the first week. There are a lot of obstacles and barriers for individuals reentering. The simulation has been done within prisons to help prepare inmates for release. This allows them to understand what they will need to do when released and allows them to prepare before release.

West Virginia’s recidivism rate is 29.3 within 3 years of release.

Legislators learned on Monday afternoon that state auditors have concluded that the West Virginia Department of Education can’t adequately monitor how local school systems use federal emergency relief dollars, resulting in greater risk of fraud, waste and abuse.

Members of the Joint Standing Committee on Government Organization received a report from the Legislature’s Performance Evaluation and Research Division (PERD) regarding the spending of federal dollars made available between 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic for county schools.

Legislative auditors found numerous issues with how county public schools spent millions in available COVID-19 dollars, including alleged misuse, counties doing business with vendors not registered in West Virginia, and an inability by the state Department of Education to adequately monitor misuse of COVID dollars.

A federal investigation is actively underway over misspending of federal pandemic relief funds in Upshur County, which led to the state Board of Education taking control of that school system over the summer.

The state board also took control of Logan County due to issues of non-compliance, including lack of oversight with spending. The Logan malfeasance was referenced in the latest findings, with auditors noting that a single person had been assigned to monitor the full extent of the county’s pandemic relief spending.

The latest report shows that these issues go far beyond those two counties.

Beginning in March 2020, the state Department of Education received more than $1.2 billion in federal relief funds for elementary and secondary schools. Most of that was distributed to local school systems to support areas affected by the covid-19 pandemic.

According to a review by the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Programs (OPF), 37 counties out of 54 monitored were found to be non-compliant for not following proper purchasing procedures, spending money on unallowable expenses, or exceeding indirect cost rates. As a result, more than $457,000 has been recovered from counties from the Department of Education.

After that revelation, the state auditors reported, no risk assessment was performed by the state education department to determine if more staff should be hired to maintain adequate oversight.

PERD staff recommended that the Department of Education increase its monitoring and internal control capacity in OFP, including using available ARPA dollars to hire temporary staff to assist in monitoring.

Stunned lawmakers tried to get a sense of if the misspending was intentional or a case of staff simply not knowing what to do in the face of an unprecedented pandemic.

Melanie Purkey, executive director for federal programs at the West Virginia Department of Education, blamed the chaos in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic for driving bad spending decisions, coupled with county boards receiving more funds later on than the they were accustomed to.

“I think school systems were in a panic.” Purkey said. “If we found a vendor who could supply this, we’re going to buy it because people all over the country were having trouble buying masks, hand sanitizer, even computers.”

The Joint Finance Committee met on November 13, 2023, in Wheeling for its interim meeting.

The Committee heard from the Department of Revenue. The State’s revenue and debt has been reviewed by rating agencies. The feedback was positive with a rainy-day fund of $1.2 billion, an almost fully funded public employee retirement system, and the teacher’s retirement system being funded at almost 75 percent. The state’s workers’ comp debt is retired with the account having a balance of $7 million.

The rating agencies are interested in the state’s income tax reduction plan, economic development achievements, and tourism achievements. The state’s economy is diversifying. Currently, only 2.9 percent of WV’s economy is coal and timber; meaning over 90 percent of the state’s economy comes from other drivers.

The City Manager of Weirton presented on the area’s economic development. Economically, Weirton is doing well. He called Weirton the Holy trinity of logistics: road, river, and rail.

Three Springs Drive, an area that was previously a closed K-Mart and Walmart, has seen development and business expansion. The area brought in national and regional chains, as well as local suppliers. Forty new businesses have moved to Three Springs Drive, including coffee shops, restaurants, dress shops, and tech companies.

The Park Drive Project Development is also underway in Weirton. Improvements to infrastructure, including utilities, paving, and a large community green space are attracting retail and residential development. There is a possibility of a conference center being developed on Park Drive.

The City Manager spoke of Weirton Steel, remembering when it was the state’s largest employer and how the company built the city. Weirton Steel went all over the world and when discussions of the plant closing began, the city struggled. Now, the Weirton Frontier Crossing development will be built on the site where Weirton Steel resided not so long ago. Form Energy’s development has started. A $750 million investment which is tied to 750 jobs. The plant is expected to begin operation in 2024. Annually, the plant is expected to contribute over $155 million to the state’s economy.

The Brooke County Commissioner spoke of investments in the area. In the last several years, 305 jobs have been created with a total of $138,814,597 being invested in area businesses from public and private investors. The Beach Bottom Industrial Park was abandoned in 2012. It is 120 acres of developable property. The county applied for grants to remediate the land. The former brownfield is now home to Jupiter Aluminum, BISCO Refractories, Pure Watercraft, and Tenaris.

Brooke County’s revenue is increasing, and its commission is making improvements to government properties. The County is developing a Judicial Center, a 911 Centralized Dispatch Center, a new EMS Station, and upgrading ambulances.

The final presenter spoke of Economic Developments across the state. He said when WV wins, we all win. Economic Momentum can be seen all across the state, including Wheeling Streetscape, WVU Medicine – Regional Cancer Center in Wheeling, Marshall University – West Liberty University Flight School Plans, Thirumalai Chemical Plants in Marshall County, Ohio Valley Industrial and Business Development Corporation, High Caliber Shooting Range Experience at The Highlands, Nucor in Mason, and Form Energy in Weirton.

Ben Beakes, executive director of of the West Virginia Association of Health Plans addressed members of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Health Sunday afternoon during traveling interim meetings in Wheeling, WV. Interim meetings in the northern panhandle city run through Tuesday afternoon.

Beakes told lawmakers that the number of Medicaid-approved beds available for drug treatment in the state has increased from 648 in July 2019, to 1,610 today. He also described how health plan providers currently want to choose which facilities they will reimburse for based on the care provided and the outcomes of those patients.

John Antal, director of clinical services for Orchard Park Hospital in Wheeling, and Jacquelyn Knight, hospital CEO, described their recently opened facility that provides inpatient acute psychiatric care to adolescents.

They informed the committee that since opening in late September, they have averaged roughly five youths a day at the facility, with as many as eight at one time. Those admitted are considered suicidal or homicidal, capable of harming themselves or others. Antal and Knight described the vital need to treat these youths early, before the mental health issues become extreme.

Dr. Dan Joseph, a Wheeling-area orthodontist, asked lawmakers to help patients who choose not to go to orthodontists for care, and who instead opt for clear aligners without the supervision of a professional. Joseph told lawmakers these people need at least one examination and set of X-rays before starting treatment or major dental issues could result.

Joseph described how these companies operate. There is an impression of a patient’s teeth taken at home with no consideration of oral health, often resulting in a myriad of complications, according to Joseph. He reported seeing teeth “pushed through the bone” as well as other dental problems. Joseph told lawmakers that the best orthodontic treatment comes from formulating a diagnosis, taking appropriate measurements and working in tandem with the patient’s dentist.

Joseph asked lawmakers to consider legislation requiring those desiring to use clear aligners to first have an in-office exam with an orthodontist to assess their oral health and give a diagnosis. These sessions are typically provided for free. It would be a simple screening to assess if the patient was a good candidate for clear aligners.

Joseph praised lawmakers for offering teledentisry and telemedicine, saying those programs have done great things for the citizens of West Virginia.