At the current time, West Virginia is fourth highest in the United States with a Poverty rates of 17.66%. Just slightly worse than our neighboring State of Kentucky who recently passed a similar bill to that of our SB2, for which the Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear vetoed, only to have lawmakers in the State over ride it.
The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and other business groups encouraged the passing of the bill to force people back to work faster. With representatives like Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, Republican saying that with 100,000 jobs available in Kentucky, people were without excuse to be unemployed.
Beshear, expressing great disappointment said in a Twitter post, ”Our faith and values should compel us to be compassionate and fair, but yesterday’s veto overrides by the General Assembly were cruel and will kick struggling Kentuckians while they are down.”
It brings into question if West Virginia is facing the same battle. With many citizens relying on seasonal work, and their unemployment benefits for survival during the off season, SB2, now in the West Virginia Legislature will put those individual at risk for creating an even higher poverty rate in the State of West Virginia.
The Bill’s purpose according to the closing note of the Bill presented to the House and Senate said the purpose of this bill is ”create additional eligibility verification for benefits, reduce the maximum duration of benefits period, and implement a system to link the duration of benefits to state economic performance. “
Senate Bill 2 would cut the number of weeks that displaced workers are eligible for unemployment insurance from 26 weeks to as few as 14 weeks. This action would make West Virginia a major outlier compared to other states. The bill has been amended to include language from Senate Bill 3, which increases the “eligibility verification process”, also known as red tape, creating the likely hood of denial of benefits.
A concerned group of Calhoun Residents joined with the ranks of other counties to protest and create awareness regarding the damage SB2 would do to the State. The group met with Barbara Evans Fleischauer, Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates representing District 51 at a rally in Charleston on March 11. Delegate Fleischauer had the group from Calhoun recognized at the beginning of session as pipeline families from Calhoun.
Prior to the rally the group had spent two weeks emailing the house finance committee, trying to keep the bill from getting out of Committee. However, it continued on to the House, where the group then sent hundreds of emails each, writing their personal stories of how seasonal workers need that safety net to make it through the off season of the pipeline. They reminded their leaders that Calhoun has the highest rate of unemployment in the State, causing most people to have to travel for good paying jobs. They made their pleas very personal, and it paid off. For now.
SB2 Did not pass.
The news from Kentucky still has many concerned about the Bill, which could be brought up again.
The 655 Pipeline group and others were influential and instrumental in the decisions that prevented higher unemployment and greater poverty in our Community. They understand that their voices impacted the future of many families.
Their hope is that it will cause people to stay aware of what’s happening in the local, State and Federal government. One voice certainly matters, but collectively they are loud and cannot be ignored.
