week four, feb. 2016
Time to be a West Virginian.
Time to pay attention, and act.

Today is the halfway point of the 2016 legislative session. In just 30 days, our annual opportunity to solve some of our state's biggest challenges, to push through big new ideas, and to protect the services, programs and activities we depend on and care about will be over.

And while we certainly join the chorus of complaining about how little seems to get done in the first half of the session, it never ceases to amaze us how much can get done in that last half. While there is still much to do, we have not come close to losing confidence yet that much of it will get done still before the midnight bell sounds on March 12.

This week saw some really good bills get introduced and a bunch of bills we care about start moving through committees. That's great, and we're glad to see those sponsors and chairmen taking action.

But the hardest parts of this session are yet to come. 2016 is a big, tough year for West Virginia. The budget crunch is going to force some hard choices and dramatic decisions that our 134 elected leaders are required to make by the State Constitution.

These next four weeks are important. They're important for our state and they are important for you individually. We know you're paying attention (thanks for reading our newsletter!), but are you doing your part to make sure your family, your friends and your network are?

This is the moment to engage, to share with your legislators what you care about, and to pay attention to what's happening.

2016 is an important year for West Virginia. And the four weeks from February 12 - March 12 are some of the most important weeks in an important year. Be plugged in. Be active. Be a West Virginian and make sure our 2016 legislative session helps us keep building a better state.


Stephanie Tyree
West Virginia Community Development Hub

They are all bills modeled on successful efforts in other states to grow new business opportunities, and they are all gaining traction as the session heats up.

Will West Virginia's lawmakers make significant moves toward a modern West Virginia? 

A bill offering tax credits may be a hard sell at the West Virginia Legislature at the moment, but there is some hope for these two bills that would provide relief - financial and regulatory - for our small businesses.

The Fight Against Blight: Could These Two Ideas Change the Battlefield?

It came out of nowhere to be one of the hottest proposals of the 2016 session.

Could West Virginia really launch a homesteading pilot program?


Abandoned buildings are being bought up and left to rot by out-of-state investors.

'Right of first refusal' would help local people retain local ownership, and responsibility.

The food and farm sector is critical not only to West Virginia's health (and tastebuds), but to our economy.

Our friends at the West Virginia Food and Farm Coalition are fighting for 3 bills this year that would expand business opportunities, and access to healthy local food.
Are you an elected official with a locked or private social media profile? That's a no-no.

You don't run your office with a closed door, so don't run your social media that way.


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West Virginia Community Development Hub
Charleston & Fairmont