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Your story isn’t over; turn the page and keep writing

On April 16, we observe World Semicolon Day, a day that symbolizes hope and resilience for those facing mental health challenges. The semicolon, used when an author chooses to continue a sentence rather than end it, represents the decision to persist through hard times and adversity. This symbol has become a powerful emblem in the mental health community, signifying that one’s story is not over. In Ohio, the need for mental health awareness and resources is pressing. Approximately 1,906,000 adults in our state live with a mental health condition—more than four times the population ...

Medicare Advantage helps West Virginia retirees, seniors, and communities

As a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and a public-school teacher, I’m keenly aware of the need to help support our retirees as they transition from their careers to their golden years. In West Virginia, more than 50 percent of eligible Medicare seniors have chosen a Medicare Advantage plan. Most retired state employees, as well as retirees coming from public and higher education, who are Medicare eligible access the high-quality, affordable health coverage that they need to help make that transition a smooth one through Medicare Advantage plans provided by the West ...

Warner expresses frustration over Morrisey’s veto of election transparency regulation

Democracy dies in darkness. Elections are influenced by money. When those two altruisms converge, we’re left with a society that is subject to the desires of the wealthy elite who know how to “play the political influence game.” On April 1st, Governor Patrick Morrisey, my colleague on the Board of Public Works, vetoed a rules-bundle bill containing dozens of agencies’ rules that have been published for public review and comment for at least 8 months. Included in that rules bundle were updates to long-standing, common-sense campaign finance rules that aim to increase ...

If you had three wishes … what would they be?

When we are little, our parents tells us fairy tales as we lie awake in bed, listening to their every word. We are young. We are impressionable. We believe their every syllable. Why? Because they are our parents, our first teachers. They provide the first values that we have. And while we are lying in bed, listening to their voice, they impress upon us thoughts of princesses and magical kingdoms. Happy endings, always. But then we grow up. We ultimately learn that life is not a fairy tale, and many of us are filled with disappointment. We discover that those happy ...

Broad-strokes, unintended consequences could harm West Virginia

On March 26, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) filed an interim final rule that substantially relieves undue burdens on domestic businesses previously imposed by the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). Along with 19 of my colleagues in other states, we wrote a letter encouraging President Trump to prevent federal agencies from pursuing or punishing hardworking Americans with which they disagree. We were successful, and now FinCEN will focus only on foreign businesses, which was the initial purpose of the regulation. This limited ...

Will legislators go to summer school?

We’re on the countdown to Crossover Day Wednesday, when state Senate bills must cross over to the House of Delegates and vice versa in order to ensure these bills have a chance of making it to passage by midnight on Saturday, April 12, when the 2025 legislative session ends. That means we have slightly less than two weeks until the 60-day regular session ends. For some, that day could not come soon enough. For others, such as Gov. Patrick Morrisey, he is already clamoring for a special session “The more work the Legislature gets done now, the less time it will spend in Charleston ...