Legislators look at roads, health, education and more during August interims, starting Sunday

Aug. 6—MORGANTOWN — Legislators return to Charleston today for the August interim meetings, which run through Tuesday. Here is a look at some of the highlights—which could change it Gov. Jim Justice calls a special session, which hadn't occurred as of deadline Saturday.

The Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability—usually just called LOCEA—meets at 1 p.m. today. The agenda includes an update on deferred higher education maintenance by Chancellor Sarah Tucker, and for the public schools, reports on performance evaluation of professional personnel and athletic coaches, and on the condition of the public school system and issues facing each geographic quadrant.

We recently ran two stories on the Public Service Commission's statewide fire hydrant safety survey, and at 9 a.m. Monday, the PSC will give a presentation on the current state of hydrants, infrastructure concerns and potential regulation to the Technology and Infrastructure Committee.

At 10 a.m., the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability—LOCHHRA—will meet the new secretaries of the reorganized Department of Health and Human Resources: Sherri Young, DHHR interim secretary and incoming secretary of the Department of Health ; Cynthia Persily, incoming secretary, Department of Human Services ; and Michael Caruso, incoming secretary, Department of Health Facilities.

West Virginia saw a sea change in its pharmaceutical industry employment when Viatris left the former Mylan plant and then, in April, South Korean insulin manufacturer UNDBIO announced an initial investment of $100 million in a Morgantown facility. In that light, the Economic Development and Tourism Committee meets at 2 p.m. Monday and will hear from a pharma /biotech consultant on "incentivizing pharmaceutical production in West Virginia."

Tuesday has the longest list of meetings.

Agriculture meetings typically don't draw much attention, but at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Agriculture and Rural Development will hear a presentation on economic development through agriculture from Jeffrey Sokal, CEO of Mountaintop Beverage, and Dickinson Gould, president of Mountain State Ground Beef.

At 10 a.m., the Health Committee will hear a series of presentations, including on proposed new state labs, reducing reliance on residential treatment facilities for children, and on insurance coverage for first responder duty-related PTSD.

At the same hour, the Energy and Manufacturing Committee will hear presentations on industry, markets and governmental trends in the areas of coal and gas and oil.

At 2 p.m., the Insurance and PEIA Committee gets a PEIA update.

And at 3 p.m., the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on Department of Transportation Accountability (no handy acronym for this one) gets a roads maintenance update.

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