Halfway through the session, W.Va. lawmakers have prioritized benefits for businesses. They haven't

[TexasTowelie]

Halfway through the session, W.Va. lawmakers have prioritized benefits for businesses. They haven’t focused on long-standing problems like poverty


Whether through deregulation, privatization or employer protections, West Virginia lawmakers have made clear about halfway through the 2021 legislative session that their focus is on legislation to benefit businesses.

Their bills don’t address — and in some cases make worse — longstanding problems in West Virginia, such as poverty and poor health, both problems that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thursday was the mid-point in the legislative session. As of Friday, lawmakers had completed their work on bills to make way for charter schools and declare that already-illegal teacher strikes are illegal. Another bill, which sends money previously allocated for public schools to private education service providers, passed the House of Delegates and is moving through the state Senate.

Lawmakers had also completed action on a bill that makes it easier for companies to classify workers as independent contractors, which would result in lost benefits, and a bill that shields companies and employers from lawsuits if they acted recklessly during the pandemic, resulting in illness, death, income loss or other consequences.

Read more: https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2021/03/15/halfway-through-the-session-w-va-lawmakers-have-prioritized-benefits-for-businesses-they-havent-focused-on-long-standing-problems-like-poverty/

[SleeplessinSoCal]

1. Need a new word for "business " n/t