House works on drop-out rates and campaign financing
February 19, 2010 ·
The House Education Committee passed out its bill to deal with the school drop-out problem today.
“I hear it on the
left and I hear it on the right, ‘well, why don’t they do something about the
drop-out rate?’” said Del. Brady Paxton
(D-Putnam). “Well, we’re trying to do something.”
Paxton said
they’re developing innovative programs to bring students back to school.
Martha Dean,
executive director of the West Virginia
Association of School Administrators says her membership applauded the
expanded scope of the bill and its additional funding.
“The committee
bill is vastly improved over other bills that simply raised the legal drop-out
age,” said Dean.
The House
Judiciary Committee spent two hours questioning state officials and insurance
lobbyists about Gov. Manchin’s controversial bill that would allow cities to
collect a portion of fire insurance payments to raze burned buildings.
“We just don’t
want people to get their fire insurance money and run, leaving these
buildings,” said Kelli Sabonya (R-Cabell). “It’s a big problem in Huntington
and elsewhere around the state.”
Also on the
agenda next week will be the Governor’s plan for a pilot public financing
project for two state supreme court seats in the 2012 election.
“Most on the
committee believe it’s a good idea,” said Bill Wooten (D-Raleigh). “It’s one
race where it’s importance to take the influence of money out of the campaign.”
But Wooten said
the program should be financed by all taxpayers and not supported solely through
taxing of legal fees.