On January 26, 2014, Commissioners from across the state gathered at the Charleston Marriott in Kanawha County for CCAWV’s annual Legislative Conference.
In spite of a snowfall that blanketed much of the state the night before, creating treacherous road conditions, the conference had a robust attendance.
Board members gathered for a meeting Sunday afternoon, which was followed by a Jail Steering Committee Roundtable discussion led by Chris Tatum of Cabell County. Joe DeLong of the Regional Jail Authority was on hand to give Commissioners an update. Afterwards, commissioners gathered for a Service Appreciation Dinner.
Monday morning, Commissioners began a packed agenda with a 9 AM business meeting. The meeting proved quite timely, as a lottery bill that could prove quite detrimental to counties had been introduced just the week before. This gave Commissioners an opportunity to discuss it and take a unified stance against it.
After the business meeting, Brian Helmick of Spilman, Thomas, and Battle, PLLC spoke about hotel and motel taxes. Before lunch, Ted Cheatham of PEIA gave attendees an update and Dave Barton of
Shenandoah Valley Group and Willie Parker of Harrison County talked about the Affordable Care Act.
After lunch, Shane Whitehair spoke to Commissioners about the Role of Regional Planning Development
Councils before the program was turned over to legislative updates. Cory Dennison from Governor Tomblin’s office, Speaker Tim Miley from the WV House of Delegate, and
Speaker Kessler of the WV Senate tried to give Commissioners an idea of the legislative climate they will be facing this year. The day wrapped up with updates by WVCoRP, Pooling Together for West Virginia, and the Coal Association.
The CCAWV Legislative Reception that evening was very well attended by members of the WV House of Delegates and Senate. Commissioners used the opportunity to network with their representatives and speak to the legislative needs of their constituents.
The next morning, a trolley shuttled Commissioners to and from the Capitol, giving them an additional opportunity to further discuss their legislative priorities with their regional representatives, face-to-face. CCAWV would like to thank everyone who braved the weather to attend or speak at the conference! It was a great success and we hope everyone made it home safe and sound.
