Making Positive Changes for West Virginians

April 2, 2004

By Governor Bob Wise

During the recent session of the West Virginia Legislature, I fought for several bills that will have a combined impact on West Virginia families of making health care more accessible and good-paying jobs easier to find.

We've made great progress insuring our children through CHIP and other programs. Unfortunately, West Virginia's rate of uninsured adults remains one of the nation's worst. It must be the policy of this state to reduce the number of uninsured adults by 50 percent within five years. Three bills I recently signed into law are significant steps toward that goal.

My Model Health Plan for the Uninsured provides access to affordable health care for individuals and families who previously were considered uninsurable because of pre-existing conditions or other factors.

We will establish the Catastrophic Patient Fund to provide compensation to people who were awarded damages in medical malpractice actions, but cannot collect because of the caps on injury awards.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners want to offer health insurance to their workers; it's good business, because a healthy employee is more productive and able to help a business grow. Unfortunately, the costs of coverage for small business can be prohibitive. Thanks to my Small Business Insurance Plan, these employees will be able to afford the coverage they need and deserve.

I also signed several bills that will reform our tax system and provide a better service to the people and businesses of West Virginia.

We have created the opportunity for those who owe back taxes to pay at a discounted penalty with our Tax Amnesty Act, generating $6 million to 10 million in revenue.

Our state's investment in destination tourism has been greatly strengthened thanks to the Tourism Development Act. We're investing in innovation by strengthening our tax credits for research and development, already the most sweeping in the nation. West Virginia is teaming with entrepreneurs to bring their ideas from business plan to venture investment by creating the High Growth Business Investment Tax Credit.

West Virginians are ready to work hard and grow our economy; we've given them more tools than ever to help them succeed.