Public Comments

• You all make us pay for every drop of water we use so its fair to say that you all definitely have the funds to keep our water sanitary. Why do we have to beg for clean water? I ask that you please address this issue for as we suffer today,not only you and I but OUR family members will continue to suffer and get sick if you all don't make this an immediate priority. Dirty water leads to unimaginable heath issues and even birth defect, parasitic infections, cancers, mutations, colds, and yes death...Causing people to become weaker and weaker with every sip they take. We're not asking for material things or money were asking what God made this world of WATER..... Clean water is a matter of life and death. Continuing to neglect this as I stated above, will lead to not only my children suffering for decades but yours too. Stop being spiteful. Water isn't red or blue IT'S CLEAR OR I SAY, SHOULD BEEEEE CLEAR, CLEAN AND SAFE FOR ALL.

1. To The Standing Committe,

• I strongly encourage you to vote for Bill 4027. The most precious resource in
• our state is our children. Investing in them through their care makes them better adjusted and makes for happier families. Do your part to make that happen!

1. Cannabis is a great source for cancer patients.and other medical conditions with less side effects and wv could benefit for local families,restaurants

Medical cannabis is a safe way to help those in pain cannabis gummies are safe

Please consider the edible option for medical marijuana so that patient’s can reap the benefits of their pain management, without having to inhale smoke. Thank you.

When I hear about proposals that move our system toward more punishment and fewer chances for review, I don’t think about politics — I think about visiting rooms, countdown clocks, and the reality that my relationship exists within scheduled hours and monitored phone calls.

I think about the years Keith has spent trying to become someone different than the man who walked into prison. I’ve watched him take accountability in ways that are uncomfortable and painful. I’ve seen him educate himself, learn emotional regulation, and begin to understand the impact of his actions — not because he was forced to, but because he wanted to be better than who he once was. That growth didn’t just change him, it changed how he shows up for me, for our future, and for the life we still hope to build together.

Proposals like these threaten to make all of that meaningless.

Because when opportunities for release become more restricted and punishment becomes the priority over rehabilitation, it doesn’t just extend a sentence on paper — it extends the years we spend saying goodbye at the end of visits. It extends the birthdays missed, the holidays spent apart, the life moments we should be experiencing side by side but instead live through letters and phone calls.

For our family, it means living with the fear that no matter how much someone grows or changes, the system may never recognize it. And for so many other families across West Virginia, it means watching hope slip further out of reach — even when the person they love has done everything in their power to become someone worthy of a second chance.

This is incredibly personal for us, because what’s being considered right now isn’t just a change in policy — it has the power to shape whether Keith and I ever get the chance to live the life we’ve spent years holding onto in hope.

Every day, I watch the man he is now — not the man he was at the worst moment of his life, but the one who has spent years doing the hard, painful work of growth. He has taken accountability. He has educated himself. He has worked to understand the harm he caused and become someone capable of living differently, thinking differently, loving differently. That kind of change doesn’t happen overnight. It happens through time, effort, and a genuine commitment to becoming better.

But what’s being proposed tells families like mine that none of that matters. It tells us that no matter how much someone grows, heals, or takes responsibility, they may still be defined forever by who they once were. It tells us that redemption might not be something the system is willing to recognize — even when it’s real.

For me, that means lying awake at night wondering if the future Keith and I dream about — a home, a quiet life together, finally being able to exist in the same space without walls or visiting hours — could be taken from us by decisions that leave no room for second chances.

These choices don’t just impact the person incarcerated. They ripple through the lives of the people who love them, who support their transformation, and who wait — sometimes for decades — believing that change should mean something.

We need to pass this bill it would be convenient to the patient who are unable to do it themselves

Yes edibles should be allowed as well as pre rolls!

1. We would really like this bill to pass . Having edibles would really help le

Allow edibles! Smoking sucks!

I am appalled that the citizens of this state must deal with this water, as well as other, infrastructure issues. It is your moral and Christian duty to pass  this measure. Then you must continue to repair this situation permanently for generation to come. These conditions are why people are leaving this state and others refuse to live here.

1. spend time filling out paperwork for taxes
2. opening up personal information on tax forms to ID theft
3. costing the state money to refund the loan made to them over a year there are additional benefits.....
4. Tourists pay sales taxes while visiting the state adding to the tax base.
5. It is more fair as it makes all put in some money to the system in tax dollars.  And those on EBT/Food Stamps don't pay taxes on food (if that is added in) anyway thus giving them a break from the sales tax on essentials.
6.  8% with no income tax is reasonable.  Working on occasions in Texas and in-laws in Tennessee its a reasonable amount.  Their sales taxes are higher and yet no income taxes.

• Interrupting enforcement of environmental, public health, occupational safety, and licensing protections
• Creating regulatory gaps if agencies lack resources to complete zero-based reviews in time
• Increasing litigation exposure when protections lapse

• Clean Water Act requirements
• Safe Drinking Water Act standards
• OSHA occupational safety standards
• Medicaid and public health compliance frameworks

• Fall out of federal compliance
• Jeopardize federal funding streams
• Trigger federal preemption challenges

• Interference with judicial discretion
• Increased constitutional litigation
• Prolonged legal uncertainty around rule enforcement

• Agencies are legally obligated to implement statutes
• But may be prevented from doing so due to artificial burden ceilings

• Significant agency staffing
• Economic analysis
• Legal review
• Public notice procedures

• Expanded judicial challenges
• Injunctions against agencies
• Legal delays in rule enforcement

• Regulatory instability
• Federal compliance risk
• Increased litigation
• Administrative strain
• Potential constitutional challenge

• It creates a new program but doesn’t spell out strong accountability: there’s no clear requirement in the bill text for measurable outcomes (graduation/completion rates, job placement, wage thresholds, audit reporting, conflict-of-interest rules for “partner” employers, etc.).  
• It prioritizes industries tied to heavy equipment / construction / energy trades without requiring parallel investment in public health and environmental resilience training that WV actually needs (water/wastewater operators, environmental monitoring, remediation, forestry, wildfire risk reduction, etc.).  
• Coalfield counties already carry disproportionate environmental and health burdens. If the state is going to build career pipelines there, it should explicitly include pipelines into water infrastructure, environmental compliance, reclamation, and conservation careers—not just “workforce” framed around the same extractive boom/bust cycles.
• WV’s economy also depends on outdoor recreation and tourism—and forest health is part of that brand. WV itself has highlighted tourism as a major economic driver (multi-billion annual impact).  
• WV still has rare remaining old-growth forest areas (often managed in/around Monongahela NF, NPS units, state parks/forests). Disrupting forests and watersheds undermines long-term tourism and resilience.  
• We’re also seeing higher wildfire risk tied to drought in the region, including reporting on WV wildfire activity during drought years and research projecting worse wildfire outcomes in the Appalachians with more extreme drought.  

• Advanced electronics and data infrastructure
• Semiconductor components
• Heavy mining and energy equipment
• Medical supplies and pharmaceuticals
• Large-scale construction materials

• Workforce training investment
• Infrastructure modernization
• Energy grid reliability
• Clear cost-benefit analysis
• Transparent fiscal reporting