Public Comments

I would like to start by stating how glad I am to see this bill be introduced. It has been too long that I’ve seen families struggle to get any assistance in obtaining hearing aids for their children when it is abundantly clear how necessary—NECESSARY—they are for the success of a hard of hearing student.

There is abundant research supporting the notions that:

1. Hearing loss adversely affects language acquisition
2. Language is the basis of understanding the world around us
3. Stunted language acquisition adversely affects students’ ability to understand their world and fully access instruction, which…
4. Causes students to struggle in school, particularly in English, Reading, Science, and Social Studies. They also (very often) struggle with word problems in math (WAY more than people with full hearing).
5. Even for students who were not born with a hearing loss, keeping up with the classroom becomes a huge challenge. It is extremely difficult for them to access instruction and functional directions such as page numbers, due dates, etc. Additionally…
6. People with hearing loss often feel isolated and struggle to socialize due to their hearing loss and inability to clearly discriminate speech sounds thus…
7. …leading to lowered motivation and self image, making high achievement in school that much more difficult.

You can see how this spirals, creating a feedback loop that cumulatively puts students farther and farther behind.

Having hearing technology GREATLY assists students who need it and gives them the opportunity to access instruction more equitably with their peers. Conversely, them NOT having hearing technology when they indeed need it GREATLY HURTS their chance of having a positive experience in school. Schools will, at their expense, supply hearing technology to students that can be used ONLY in class, but then when they get home…they don’t have that. This is a struggle to adjust to.

This situation has been unfortunate for students and families, because very often parents/guardians WANT to obtain hearing technology but CANNOT. Why? Because high quality—even just decent—hearing aids cost thousands of dollars (not including additional assistive technology, whose gouged prices often cost additional thousands) that most families simply cannot afford. If they receive Medicaid, it takes MONTHS or even OVER A YEAR to get through the red tape of getting hearing aids, which could be enough to set their child far behind in school.

Heretofore, there has been NO HELP for families to obtain this technology, and it is truly necessary for people with hearing loss to have access to it.

This isn’t just true for students. There is a well documented relationship between hearing loss and dementia, depression, and a number of other conditions.

All of this taken together, we can see plainly the reverberations this will send out: increased cost of care for seniors, lowered performance of West Virginia Schools (NOT the fault of the students), increased strain on families limiting their ability to thrive…all things that affect the state as a whole.

All of these effects are not a mystery. We KNOW the effects already. We also KNOW that the people most impacted by this are low-income families who cannot afford the proper interventions for hearing loss.

What IS a mystery is why this assistance hasn’t already been willingly provided by insurance companies.

Health insurance companies hold people’s health hostage for a price. We’ve seen it time and time again. If the companies won’t willingly provide the support, then something needs to be done to ensure they do.

There is a plethora of books on the subject. Here are a few sources you can read up on:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6796661/

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/hearing-loss-and-the-dementia-connection

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2773567 (Abstract and conclusion only)

https://pubs.asha.org/doi/abs/10.1044/jshd.5101.53 (Abstract only)

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/fullarticle/2813302

https://www.worldofbooks.com/products/evidence-based-practice-in-educating-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-students-book-patricia-elizabeth-spencer-9780199735402?sku=GOR014339818 (book citing numerous studies about impact of hearing loss on students difficulty in school and how to teach/accommodate effectively)

We need a raise it’s hard to make it on what we make

As a practicing Speech-Language Pathologist with a background in hearing sciences, I fully support this bill. Audiological services and hearing aid coverage should be standard in all medical insurances. Please support this bill to ensure West Virginia citizens can receive access to appropriate audiological care.

I am very much in favor of this bill.  Not hearing is a terrible sense to lose.  Hearing aids are very expensive., especially for children who are just learning.   These have to changed a lot also due to growth.  How are people going to exist in a quiet world.  Please pass this bill

• Workers in other professions rely on death benefits under WV Code §23-4-10 (Workers’ Compensation).
• No separate, stand-alone funeral benefit statute exists for coal miners, correctional officers, highway workers, sanitation workers, teachers, or public utility workers.
• These professions also face documented occupational fatality risks.

1. Unequal statutory treatment – The benefit is profession-specific, not risk-specific.
2. Budget prioritization – The state continues carving out categorical benefits rather than evaluating equitable, uniform standards.
3. Policy inconsistency – If the Legislature recognizes line-of-duty death as warranting additional state support, the standard should apply to all high-risk public servants.

• Conflicts of interest
• Use of public office for private gain
• Financial disclosure compliance
• Certain post-employment restrictions

• Excessive borrowing
• Structuring debt in ways that increase long-term taxpayer liability
• Poor refinancing decisions
• Fiscal mismanagement absent personal financial gain

• Repeals and reorganizes multiple bonded indebtedness statutes
• Consolidates procedures under a new chapter
• Expands Treasurer rulemaking authority, including emergency rules

• Require independent third-party fiscal impact analysis before issuance
• Mandate public reporting of refunding savings projections vs. outcomes
• Create enhanced legislative audit triggers
• Strengthen disclosure requirements for bond-related financial advisors or underwriters

• Reduce procedural friction
• Centralize discretion
• Increase reliance on internal review

• Long-term taxpayer obligations
• Credit ratings
• Future budget flexibility
• Infrastructure funding priorities

Please support our students who are deaf and hard of hearing! Many of my students are lower income and their families need this support so that their children have the best access to their educational needs!

• West Virginia Constitution, Article III, § 9
• U.S. Constitution, Fifth Amendment

• Roads
• Utilities
• Infrastructure

• A widow in bankruptcy may keep equity from unsecured creditors,
• But can still lose the same property for unpaid taxes.

• Rising tax assessments,
• Rent escalation,
• Development pressure,
• Economic displacement without formal eminent domain.

• U.S. Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment
• West Virginia Constitution, Article III, § 10

• Urban vs rural residents,
• Heirs vs renters,
• Tax-delinquent owners vs bankruptcy filers.

• Protects equity in some contexts,
• While allowing displacement in others,
• Without structural reform addressing tax pressure, zoning inequities, and infrastructure disparities.

• Review of tax foreclosure timelines,
• Transparency in eminent domain necessity determinations,
• Urban displacement protections,
• Heir property clarity reforms.

1. Lack of clear direct benefit to West Virginians: During legislative hearings, several members of the West Virginia House and Senate expressed concern that high-voltage transmission lines discussed in committee would not benefit electricity customers or the state economy. When asked if the projects would provide local benefits, presenters could not provide specific answers, and producers of these transmission lines acknowledged that no West Virginia substations were included in some proposed routes, meaning power could simply pass through the state to other markets.  
2. Potential increased costs for ratepayers: Legislators referenced independent analysis suggesting that transmission projects could increase West Virginia electric bills by hundreds of millions of dollars without commensurate improvements in reliability or local economic return.  These costs risk being passed directly to consumers via utility rate mechanisms, while the associated tax and regulatory treatment from HB 5359 could further ease cost recovery for developers.
3. Disconnect between surplus generation and local electricity cost improvements: Recent reporting found that despite West Virginia’s surplus generation capacity, resident households still pay higher average electricity bills than the national average, largely because export-oriented projects and long-distance lines do not address local distribution inefficiencies.  
4. Lack of substations and measurable in-state economic impact: One key concern raised by lawmakers is that some long transmission corridors (e.g., the MidAtlantic Resiliency Link) would carry power through West Virginia without building substations or creating significant in-state economic development — leaving ratepayers to shoulder costs without local economic returns.  

• primary and preventive healthcare access,
• mental health and substance-use treatment capacity,
• food security and nutrition access,
• affordable housing availability,
• basic infrastructure and workforce stability.

• aging and failing water and wastewater systems,
• underfunded infrastructure maintenance,
• and cuts to school meal programs while food insecurity remains high.

• Retirement benefits suspended, and
• Benefits recalculated only after meeting statutory re-employment thresholds.

• Re-employment after disability retirement,
• Suspension or recalculation of benefits, or
• Situations where a retiree may simultaneously receive retirement benefits while re-entering service under other advancing legislation.

• PERS,
• Teachers Retirement System, or
• Other law-enforcement retirement structures.

• Be offset if the retiree re-enters public employment,
• Be suspended during re-employment, or
• Be treated as an add-on rather than subject to recalculation.

• Length of service,
• Contribution history, and
• Defined eligibility conditions.

• Re-employment provisions,
• Contribution resumption, or
• Benefit suspension rules.

• Explicitly harmonize it with re-employment and retirement statutes, or
• Address survivor-benefit equity through comprehensive retirement-system reform rather than isolated amendments.

• Drinking water protections have been weakened or deregulated through statutory and administrative changes, despite the Legislature’s obligation under W. Va. Code §22-11-1 et seq. (Water Pollution Control Act) to safeguard public health.
• Infrastructure deficiencies persist, implicating the state’s duty to protect health and safety under its general police powers.
• Oversight agencies remain under-resourced while expected to enforce increasingly complex regulatory frameworks.

• water and environmental enforcement,
• infrastructure maintenance,
• public health agencies.

• which testimony is accepted,
• which oversight powers are expanded or restricted,
• which agencies retain enforcement authority.

• restored regulatory enforcement,
• measurable infrastructure improvements,
• demonstrable responsiveness to constituent concerns,
• strengthened oversight and transparency.

1. Direct General Revenue appropriations recognizing EMS as a core public safety service
2. Medicaid and insurance reimbursement reform to prevent EMS agencies from operating at a loss for non-transport and emergency care
3. Dedicated public safety surcharges (e.g., vehicle registration or insurance-linked fees) tied to service demand rather than gambling losses
4. Statewide EMS funding standards to reduce dependence on uneven county levies
5. Targeted use of federal matching funds and grants to supplement—not replace—state responsibility

I am a West Virginia constituent in Beckley, Raleigh County, and I oppose HB 4442.

West Virginia is already struggling to keep experienced people working for the state. We should strengthen retention and trust, not create new fault lines within the workforce.

This bill draws a hard line at $75,000 and treats state employees differently based on that number. It offers certain Tier II employees who retire under $75,000 access to benefits such as the use of accrued sick/annual leave for retirement credit and the Rule of 80.

But it also does something that alarms me: it exempts any employee earning $75,000 or more from classified civil service coverage, effective July 1, 2026.

That is a major change in protections and accountability. Classified coverage is part of what keeps state service stable, fair, and less vulnerable to favoritism and political churn. Cutting people out of that system because they earn over an arbitrary threshold is disrespectful, and it sends a clear message that performance and experience do not earn security; they earn fewer protections.

I am also concerned about clarity. The bill repeatedly hinges on the phrase “retire making less than $75,000,” and the stakes are high if that language is interpreted differently across agencies or job classifications.

When a bill changes benefits and civil service status, the language needs to be unmistakable and consistently applied.

If lawmakers want to improve Tier II retirement fairness, do that directly. Do not pair it with a provision that weakens civil service protections and risks driving more skilled employees away. Please vote no on HB 4442.