FAIRMONT — While national and state level Republicans let one way messaging do their talking for them, West Virginia Democrats are traveling across the Mountain State discussing kitchen table issues important to residents.
The tour has been to two locations so far, Huntington and Martinsburg. Mike Pushkin, D-37 and Democratic State Party Chair, said turnout exceeded over 100 people in Martinsburg, and a packed house in Huntington. Pushkin said they’re getting a good cross section of voters, including Republicans as well as Independents.
“Their eagerness to show up might be because they haven’t been getting this from their Republican representatives,” Pushkin said. “They definitely haven’t seen it from Riley Moore, Carol Miller or Sens. Capito or Justice. Those folks refuse to hold unscripted town halls, but they’re also not getting it from Republicans in the legislature as well. So that’s why we decided to do it.”
Pushkin said many of the places they’re going currently don’t have Democratic representation. But the panel is going to those areas anyway.
State Rep. Sean Hornbuckle, D-16, has attended each of the stops so far.
He said he’s encountered a lot of fear in those communities, specifically around what’s going to happen to their health care. The Public Employees Insurance Agency is a big issue in Martinsburg. Costs for PEIA are set to increase by $50 million over the next few years and Gov. Patrick Morrisey has had several meetings and released a bill proposing changes to the public insurance scheme but hasn’t released his bill beyond the legislators who’ve seen it.
WVMetroNews reported some of the recommendations on the bill include removing coverage eligibility for spouses who are offered health insurance through their own employer, decreasing the share of insurance the state is responsible for from 80-20 to 75-25 and a new PEIA fraud unit.
“I heard several people are on lifesaving drugs, and their premiums are out of control,” Hornbuckle said. “Having nowhere to go, literally having to choose, going into mountains of debt just to try to live, I mean, it’s scary times out there.”
The lack of good employment is another big topic for tour audiences. Hornbuckle pointed out the state has lost jobs for the last 14 months straight. There’s also scarcity in housing. Hornbuckle said these are not the issues Republicans campaigned on, but they’re the real issues West Virginians need solved right now.
“The majority party is worried about items that don’t put food on the kitchen table,” Hornbuckle said. “They are worried about items that do not help the electric bill come down for people or do not help solve affordable housing. It’s all about fear mongering for the most part. They rile people up to get them to vote, but they don’t do a darn thing.”
Hornbuckle said the tour came together after a caucus member shared an email with the whole Democratic caucus and pointed out there’s a lack of connectivity between communities, lawmakers and what’s going on in government. Hornbuckle resolved to change that and after the end of this year’s legislative session, he wanted to go around the state and talk to people, but also listen to what they need.
The tour is set to come to Fairmont in mid-October. J.R. Farley, secretary for the Marion County Democrats, said residents here are worried about issues pertaining to education, such as the defunding of the school system and the unfunded mandates the school system gets stuck with. The state education funding formula is frequent fodder at Marion County Board of Education meetings. The funding formula is outdated, and doesn’t pay for the positions within the school system the legislature mandates.
Another big issue is the sale of the John Manchin Sr. Health Care Center. It’s one of four state-run nursing homes for residents without financial means. The state sold the four facilities to the Marx Development Group, a for-profit corporation based in New York. While MDG has claimed service at the Manchin Center won’t change, however, families are skeptical. Farley expects that to be a local topic of discussion as well.
Farley said nationwide, but especially in West Virginia, there’s been a drought in terms of politicians communicating directly with constituents in any kind of town hall setting. He said politicians typically ignore the people who put them in office.
“This is a fundamental part of the political process,” he said. “You’ve got to listen to the people. And even though the Democrats only represent a very small portion of West Virginia in terms of the House of Delegates, somebody’s got to listen to the other folks.”