Members of the West Virgina Public Worker’s Union, UE Local 170, made a preemptive move to prevent the outsourcing of jobs at the West Virginia Office of Technology by filing action in the state courts. The union filed a writ of mandamus in Kanawha County Circuit Court today asking the judicial body to stay any [...]

Here at West Virginia Watchdog we turn to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, especially for hard data on the effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus). And when it comes to the stimulus, there is no better expert than Senior Fellow Veronique de Rugy. One of the areas she has been [...]

Now that the failed special session of the West Virginia Legislature is over, and now that our circus of a special election is in its infancy, I have a little bit of free time to get back to what we do here best: investigative reporting. So while I bury my head in government documents and [...]

The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a conference committee report allowing for a 2010 special election, ending days of debate on who would serve the rest of Sen. Robert Byrd’s remaining two years in the U.S. Senate. H.B. 201 amends West Virginia Code clarifying the procedures for filling U.S. Senate vacancies and specifying when [...]

Despite conflicts in the West Virginia Legislature over proposed bills that would allow for a special election this year, Gov. Joe Manchin will announce his appointment to serve the remainder of the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd‘s term at a 2 p.m. press conference tomorrow. Both attorney and former state Democratic Party Chair Nick Casey [...]

Both the West Virginia House of Delegates and the State Senate met today at noon for special session to fix election law issues, but the session got off to a slow start when Senate had to wait for legislation to be officially presented. Gov. Joe Manchin‘s Office released draft copies Tuesday of legislation that would [...]

In just a few moments the second special session of the West Virginia Legislature will start. Just this morning Gov. Joe. Manchin released the official call for the special session, laying out the specific items he would like to see passed. Here is the call: I, JOE MANCHIN III, GOVERNOR of the State of West [...]

The West Virginia Legislature returns today at noon to work on fixes to the states election laws to allow for a special election to fill the remainder of the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd‘s six-year term in the U.S. Senate. West Virginia Watchdog will have continuous around-the-clock coverage of the floor sessions and the committee [...]

Draft legislation for Thursday’s special session of the West Virginia Legislature was released this afternoon by Gov. Joe Manchin‘s office. This legislation corrects state election laws to allow for a special election to fill the remainder of the late Sen. Robert Byrd‘s term. “The governor’s bill is very simple,” said Jim Pitrolo, director of legislative [...]

By Kevin Lee, Watchdog.org Taxpayers are left wondering how more than $1.175 billion in federal stimulus money was used because in hundreds of cases recipients ignored the law and did not report how they spent it. “Government owes it to its citizens to share how tax dollars are spent. When it is left to journalists, [...]