In the News
Is Joe Manchin The Only Senator To Consistently Vote Against The Nuclear Option? | Politifact
by Al Bernardi & Austin Jones
For decades, majority leaders in the U.S. Senate have threatened to use the "nuclear option" to change senators' ability to filibuster, a maneuver that blocks bills from coming to a vote unless a supermajority of the chamber votes to proceed. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is one member of the body who has fought to protect the status quo. In a recent tweet, Manchin said, "I was the only member of the Senate - Republican or Democrat - who has consistently voted against efforts to use the so … Continue Reading
April 25, 2019
Legacy Act Would Save Lives | The Clarksburg Exponent Telegram
by Staff Writers
As lawmakers in Washington, D.C., debate major issues and look for ways to handle substantial problems, there are pieces of legislation that get shuffled aside. Perhaps they don't seem as significant as, say, a trade agreement or a treaty or an investigation of a member of the opposition party. Whatever the reason, bills that would make a difference fall to the wayside despite the best efforts of those who originally sponsor them. That's what occurred to a bill that would have created … Continue Reading
April 24, 2019
Manchin Discusses Topics of Interest At Business Summit | Times West Virginian
by Eddie Trizzino
MORGANTOWN - U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin stopped in at the Bridges Without Boundaries business summit Tuesday to address speakers' points of interest from the point of view of a Senator. For him, having a space full of West Virginia leaders together to discuss the state's future itself is an imperative part of shaping the state for the years to come. "It's a tremendous opportunity for us to basically look at the successes we've had and the challenges we still have," Manchin said. "If I've done my … Continue Reading
April 23, 2019
Manchin Announces More Than $1.7M In Rural School Payments | The Beckley Register-Herald
by Jordan Nelson
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), announced Thursday many counties throughout the state will receive a total of $1,778,953 though the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program. The rewards will allow for $172,953 to be used in Greenbrier County, $34,635 in Monroe County and $51,413 in Nicholas County. "Senator Manchin pressed United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Chief Victoria Christiansen about the lapsed SRS payments to 14 West Virginia Counties during last week's Energy … Continue Reading
April 18, 2019
More Than $1.7 Million In Federal Funding Set For West Virginia Schools | WV MetroNews
by Staff Writers
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Schools in 14 West Virginia counties will receive federal funding from the Secure Rural Schools program. The more than $1.7 million total comes after U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., questioned a U.S. Department of Agriculture official during a hearing last week about the lapse in funding. "While it's unacceptable the payments have lapsed this long, I am relieved the Forest Service has responded to my continued urging and finally issued these overdue payments. I hope they … Continue Reading
April 17, 2019
Wheeling Housing Authority Preparing To-Do List For 2019 | WTOV
by Jaime Baker
OHIO COUNTY, W.Va. - The Wheeling Housing Authority has five different properties for residents across the city. That can be expensive to keep up with, but the federal government has offered some financial help. "It's the same as upkeeping a house. But we have 543 units to keep up," said Joyce Wolen, executive director, Wheeling Housing Authority. Late last week, Senators Joe Manchin and Shelly Moore-Capito announced more than $13 million to be distributed across the state to modernize … Continue Reading
April 17, 2019
City Of Beckley Receives $313,000 In Federal Funds | The Beckley Register-Herald
by Jessica Farrish
The City of Beckley has received $313,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, and public hearings will be held to decide how the monies will be spent, Beckley Mayor Rob Rappold said Tuesday. "We're required to have some public hearings for input," he said. Rappold said that, in the past few years, the city has used $41,000 CDBG funds for community policing and $35,000 to $40,000 to demolish substandard housing or deserted houses. Over the past few years, CDBG funds … Continue Reading
April 17, 2019
MSHA Considers Moving Mount Hope Office To Academy | The Beckley Register-Herald
by Jessica Farrish
The U.S. Mine Safety Health Administration is considering a plan to move its Mount Hope office to the Operating Engineers building at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beaver, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin's office reported on Monday. MSHA officials have not reached a decision on the plan, said Katey McCutcheon, Manchin's spokeswoman. "We reached out to the Department of Labor, and they said that MSHA is exploring moving to the Operating Engineers building in Academy, but that they … Continue Reading
April 17, 2019
Bill Aims To Allow More Flexibility For Prescription Drug Spending | The Beckley Register-Herald
by Wendy Holdren
The Restoring Access to Medication Act (RAMA), introduced in the U.S. Senate last week, aims to reverse a provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that limits the use of funds from pre-tax health accounts (such as health savings accounts and medical saving accounts) towards the purchase of prescription drugs or insulin. If passed, RAMA would also allow consumers to have more flexibility with different pre-tax health savings accounts to purchase over-the-counter drugs. "I have always said … Continue Reading
April 17, 2019
Senators Want More Money For Carbon Capture Research | Bloomberg
by Abby Smith
A dozen senators from both parties want Congress to set an aggressive timeline in spending legislation for the Energy Department to develop new and improved carbon capture technologies. The senators are urging their colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to fund Energy Department programs for carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies at the "highest possible levels" in fiscal year 2020. The Trump White House, in its fiscal year 2020 budget request, proposes a nearly $200 … Continue Reading
April 16, 2019
Nearly $30 Million In Housing And Urban Development Funding Awarded To WV | The Clarksburg Exponent Telegram
by Staff Writers
WASHINGTON - Nearly $30 million has been secured for West Virginia through various grant programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The funding will come to the state in the form of Community Development Block Grants, HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Emergency Solutions Grants and the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS Program, according to a release from the office of U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. West Virginia Nonentitlement will receive … Continue Reading
April 16, 2019
City Gets $2.2M for Development, Housing | The Huntington Herald-Dispatch
by Travis Crum
HUNTINGTON - The City of Huntington will receive $2.5 million in federal funds for economic development, expanding affordable housing and providing shelter for the homeless. Meanwhile, the Huntington Housing Authority will get $1.1 million in a federal grant to develop, finance and modernize its facilities. The money announced Monday was part of more than $29.8 million awarded statewide by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to create sustainable communities and expand … Continue Reading
April 16, 2019
Federal HUD Funds Announced For Beckley, Raleigh And Mount Hope | The Beckley Register-Herald
by Jessica Farrish
Three housing authorities in the region will receive a portion of $13.5 million in federal money allotted to 30 public housing authorities in West Virginia. Funds are from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Public Housing Capital Fund and will help West Virginia public housing authorities develop, finance and modernize their facilities as well as their management operations, U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said in a … Continue Reading
April 16, 2019
Sen. Manchin Speaks At Roundtable On Potential Appalachian Storage Hub | The Clarksburg Exponent Telegram
by Jake Jarvis
CHARLESTON - U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin says a new bill he introduced in Congress this week could help spur development of the state's energy sector. Manchin, D-W.Va., stopped by West Virginia Roundtable Inc.'s membership meeting at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center on Monday afternoon to discuss the opportunity to create an Appalachian storage hub for natural gas. "(The bill) would require the Department of Energy to examine the additional security benefits of an Appalachian storage … Continue Reading
April 15, 2019
Questions Over Coverage Plague Rural Broadband Expansion | The Associated Press
by Anthony Izguirre
There is a way around the notoriously sluggish internet in West Virginia. You just need a car and some time. Kelly Povroznik can tell you, when she happens to get a good signal. She teaches an online college course so hampered by unreliable connections that she has had to drive a half-hour to her brother's place just to enter grades into a database. "It added so much additional work for me, and I just don't have the time," said Povroznik, who lives in Weston, West Virginia. "I just kept … Continue Reading
April 15, 2019
$13.5M Awarded To Modernize West Virginia Public Housing | The Wheeling Intelligencer
by Staff Writers
Thirty public housing authorities in West Virginia were awarded more than $13.5 million in grants through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito announced Thursday. The funding from HUD's Public Housing Capital Fund will help West Virginia public housing authorities develop, finance and modernize their facilities as well as their management operations. Four local public housing agencies received grant month. The Housing … Continue Reading
April 12, 2019
Manchin Proposes Reclamation Fee Extension | E&E News
by Dylan Brown
West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin put forward legislation today to extend a fee on coal mining to help clean up abandoned sites nationwide. Manchin introduced the "Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fee Extension Act" with fellow Democratic Sens. Doug Jones of Alabama, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, and Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia. The Abandoned Mine Lands fund was created by the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) to pay for reclamation at thousands of sites … Continue Reading
April 12, 2019
WV Senators Applaud President Trump's Order On Pipelines | The Clarksburg Exponent Telegram
by Charles Young
CLARKSBURG - West Virginia lawmakers are applauding President Donald Trump's efforts to speed up natural gas pipeline projects. Trump issued a pair of executive orders Thursday aimed at making it harder for states to block pipelines and other energy projects due to environmental concerns. "Too often badly needed energy infrastructure is being held back by special interest groups, entrenched bureaucracies and radical activists," Trump said before signing the orders. Both Sen. Shelly Moore … Continue Reading
April 12, 2019
House Authority Of The City Of Bluefield One of Many Receiving Federal Funds | Bluefield Daily Telegraph
by Staff Writers
BLUEFIELD - The Housing Authority of the City of Bluefield was among the entities across West Virginia that shared in more than $13.5 million in federal funds, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. and Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. announced Thursday. Manchin and Capito, who are both members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced $13,523,370 for 30 public housing authorities throughout the state of West Virginia from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). … Continue Reading
April 11, 2019
Manchin Questions Forest Service Funding For Rural Schools | WV MetroNews
by Staff Writers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Critical funding from the U.S. Forest Service designated for rural counties school systems for the coming years is in jeopardy, but the top official with the Forest Service tells Congress the designated funds for this year will be forthcoming. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin noted in a hearing of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee designated funding for the Secure Rural Schools Act has been gutted for the coming fiscal year. "Without Secure Rural funds, … Continue Reading
