West Virginia House of Delegates’ Health and Human Resources Committee Needs More Time, Space to Tackle Issues, Chair Says

The West Virginia House of Delegates Health and Human Resources Committee should meet more frequently and needs more office space to confront issues such as Medicaid budget problems and rising medical malpractice insurance rates, according to committee Chair Mary Pearl Compton (D), the Charleston Daily Mail reports. Compton said that as it is currently structured, the committee is not able to deal with health issues "fast enough or in depth," the Daily Mail reports. The health committee, which meets once a week, acts as a "filter" to prioritize health legislation and then sends the bills to one of four major committees for consideration. The four major committees, each consisting of 25 members, meet five days per week. According to House Speaker Bob Kiss (D), the health and human resources committee has "really become kind of a strainer more than anything else," adding, "It's difficult for [the committee] to really be involved in the major health care issues." Kiss said he might propose making the health committee a fifth major committee -- an action that would need the approval of the House -- or combine it with another committee, which would be a "quicker solution" because the health committee would not have to wait for office space in the Capitol, which it would if it were to become an additional fifth group (Wrenn, Charleston Daily Mail, 9/24).