2010 LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
Local Issues
I will be working with the Monongalia County delegation on several local issues, including some that nearly passed last year as well as some that are new:
- Roads -- WVU Economics Professor Tom Witt presented a report to the legislature on alternative road funding. I will be sponsoring/supporting legislation to authorize these new ideas which include combining local and state funding options.
- Home Rule -- Local municipalities would like to have additional authority to pass ordinances relating to regulations on taxi service, garbage collection, towing, and litter control. I am sponsoring legislation to allow cities to act independently on these issues.
- Charity Dental Care -- At the request of a local dentist, I am introducing legislation that will give a tax break to dentists who serve indigent patients without cost. Some local citizens cannot receive necessary heart surgery without extensive dental work. Hopefully, this will encourage more dentists to perform services for these very needy patients.
- Water Quality -- Last year, at the request of local citizens concerned about water quality, I was the lead sponsor on legislation that would more closely regulate Marcellus shale drilling and other stream and river pollutants. The massive Dunkard Creek fish kill (22,000 fish, 14 species of freshwater mussels and other aquatic life) was tragic proof that legislation is needed. This year I will be working on different strategies to combat this problem, which has the potential to spread statewide. Last year's bill was re-introduced as HB 4001.
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