Even More on the Health Care Bill

• The 176 House Republicans who voted for the health care bill amendment that would "impose tough new restrictions on abortion coverage" included U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, and the other five House GOP women endorsed by The WISH List, "America's largest fundraising network for pro-choice Republican women candidates." (U.S. Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., voted "present.")

• The Congressional Budget Office provided a $1 trillion cost estimate for the legislative in advance of the bill's passage, which was seized on by both friends and foes of the measure.

• Citing that estimate and "numerous Democratic officials," The Associated Press pegged its overall costs at "$1.2 trillion or more over a decade...far higher than the $900 billion cited by President Barack Obama as a price tag for his reform plan." It would also "reduce deficits by at least $50 billion over 10 years and perhaps as much as $120 billion, the article said, and "slow the rate of growth of the giant Medicare program from 6.6 percent annually to 5.3 percent."

• The House Republican Conference issued an analysis highly critical of the bill. Politifact.com reviewed a dozen of its key points and rated two of them "True," five of them "Half-True" and five of them "False."

• FactCheck.org focused on the CBO estimate that "the so-called "public plan" in the revised bill wouldn’t offer much in the way of competition to private insurers... But Republicans are still recycling 'government-run' claims and old analyses that don’t pertain to the bill."

• A champion of the House bill, the AFL-CIO, has paid for ads invoking it to criticize the emerging Senate version of health care legislation. FactCheck rated the ad "misleading."

• House Republicans offered an alternative measure before the weekend vote. A co-sponsor, Capito endorsed the measure in an October press release.

• The CBO also analyzed the GOP alternative. As AP reported, CBO found that it "would reduce the number of uninsured by just 3 million in 2019. By comparison, the more expansive Democratic bill would gain coverage for 36 million." The Republican plan also offered to "reduce federal deficits by $68 billion over the 10-year period and push down premiums for privately insured people," that article said.

• Politifact offers a review of the GOP alternative as well, as well as an overview of dueling claims regarding the different approaches to health care legislation contained in a tidy form of Bingo.

Election 2012: Congress

The Associated Press assesses the field in West Virginia's 2nd U.S. House District, where Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has held sway since the 2000 election.

"Whether wary of predictions that next year's election will be favorable to Republicans in general or simply weary after five costly, high-profile failures at ousting the state's lone congressional Republican, potential Capito challengers are scarce in the 2nd District," AP's Tom Breen writes.

Quote of the Day

"This batch of money is going to end, and we here in West Virginia, we've told agencies and that's the way we're proceeding, 'Don't go out there and hire employees and stuff. This is only short-term money, it's going to go away.' "

-- State Budget Director Mike McKown, to the Charleston Daily Mail on the finite nature of the federal stimulus funding, and the "pressure for a second round of stimulus spending."

West Virginia's Fiscal Woes

Last week brought the bad news that both general tax and State Road Fund revenues were failing to match projections, with deficits threatening both components of the overall government budget.

The Associated Press follows up by reviewing the situation elsewhere.

"Before West Virginia's news, half the states had reported deficit threats in the opening months of their budget years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures," the article said. "While four of those states have yet to estimate their shortfalls, the rest predict gaps that totaled $12.9 billion as of Oct. 30. The dismal roster includes three of West Virginia's neighbors."

AP also notes that "the National Association of State Budget Officers has also been tracking the worsening fiscal landscapes. Its Twitter account has relayed a steady stream of bad news from dozens of states since the month began."

The gloom-and-doom includes talk of tax hikes, special legislative sessions to cut in-progress budgets, furloughed and laid-off public workers and crimped services.

For now, at least, "Gov. Joe Manchin is banking on reduced spending and a special reserve of $168 million to keep the general revenue budget balanced" for West Virginia, AP reports.

More on the Health Care Bill

The Associated Press offers a summary of the health care legislation passed by the U.S. House, and also reports that the "government health insurance plan included in the House bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate."

AP, the News and Sentinel of Parkersburg and MetroNews are among those checking in West Virginia's House delegation after the weekend vote.

AP reports as well that Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, the sole delegation member to vote against the bill, has asked the state Department of Health and Human Resources for a cost impact estimate.

"The federal legislation would increase the number of people eligible for health insurance through the Medicaid program," the article said. "Increasing the eligible Medicaid population, Capito says, could be a significant burden on West Virginia's finances."

They Voted for You: Health Care (Updated)

U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, helped the House pass the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, voted against the bill in the 220-215 roll call, as did all but one of the chamber's GOP members.

Passage followed a successful amendment that would "impose tough new restrictions on abortion coverage in insurance policies to be sold to many individuals and small groups," The Associated Press reports.

Mollohan, Capito and Rahall all voted for that amendment in a 240-194 roll call.

"Ironically, that only solidified support for the legislation, clearing the way for conservative Democrats to vote for it," the AP article said.

AP also explains the road ahead for the legislation, while outlining its key provisions:

The legislation would require most Americans to carry insurance and provide federal subsidies to those who otherwise could not afford it. Large companies would have to offer coverage to their employees. Both consumers and companies would be slapped with penalties if they defied the government's mandates.

Insurance industry practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions would be banned, and insurers would no longer be able to charge higher premiums on the basis of gender or medical history. In a further slap, the industry would lose its exemption from federal antitrust restrictions on price gouging, bid rigging and market allocation.

Update: Before the bill's passage, the House rejected by 258-176 an amendment that would have substituted a GOP-crafted alternative.

Capito co-sponsored that amendment and voted for it, while Mollohan and Rahall voted against.

The GOP version "would have lowered costs for people with insurance but done little or nothing to expand coverage to those without any," AP reports separately. "Rep. Timothy Johnson, R-Ill., opposed the measure and was the only lawmaker to cross party lines."

W.Va. and Obama

A French television news channel recently visited the Parkersburg area for a report on how "anti-Obama sentiments run high in the Mountain State," Public Broadcasting reports.

Those interviewed included Ron Lott, who described himself as a Vietnam veteran and who espoused the widely, thoroughly and exhaustively discredited allegation that the president is not a "natural born citizen."

“He’s a Kenyan born nationalist, and I believe that any man that wants to hold the highest office in this country who can’t produce a birth certificate is a fake,” Lott is quoted as telling France 24.

Public Broadcasting also offers audio.

Report: Feds Issue Subpoenas after MU/Perdue Episode

Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed Marshall University's provost and the professor at the center of a grade-changing controversy involving the daughter of state Treasurer John Perdue, the Charleston Daily Mail reports.

The professor, Laura Wyant, told the newspaper that "she had been asked to bring before the grand jury all records in her possession related to Emily Perdue," the treasurer's daughter whose grades are at issue in the matter.

"(Wyant) said the FBI also interviewed her recently," the article said. "Nelson Sorah, a spokesman for Treasurer Perdue, said the office had received 'not a word' from federal investigators."

Marshall's student newspaper, The Parthenon, also reports on Wyant's subpoena.

Wyant earlier told that newspaper that the FBI had contacted her "and expressed concern that she was asked to falsify grades for the daughter of an elected state official."

Wyant said the FBI told her they were investigating whether records were falsified -- "and that’s a felony," she told the newspaper -- and "whether John Perdue violated the state ethics law" that says that "hose in public service should use their positions for the public benefit and not for their own private gain or the private gain of another.”

W.Va. Still Looking At Cell Phone Ban for Motorists

Citing deaths blamed on distracted drivers, West Virginia lawmakers haven't given up on banning hands-on devices for those behind the wheel and now may get some federal help, The Associated Press reports.

"Two efforts may converge if millions of federal dollars are set aside for states that adopt such restrictions," AP's Tom Breen writes. "The money could help speed along the passage of a bill that only failed in this year's legislative session because of a last-minute amendment."

Delegate Nancy Peoples Guthrie sponsored the legislation this year and plans to introduce it during the 2010 session, the article said, while the federal money would come from a bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

The article also notes that the 2009 attempt "passed by a wide margin in the House of Delegates and Senate passage seemed likely, except for the addition of an amendment relating to the placement of cell phone towers in the state. With time running out on the session's last night, the House and Senate couldn't come to an agreement on the amendment and the bill died."

And while an interim study committee is crafting a 2010 version, it "currently focuses mostly on texting while driving," the article said.

W.Va. Now Fears Budget Deficit

Guarded optimism marked the opening months of the budget year, but now West Virginia officials believe recession-rocked revenues will not match expectations, The Associated Press reports.

Even though October beat its estimate, state government remains $16 million below projections for the year that began July 1, figures show, and officials expect that gap to grow.

Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow offered a ballpark estimate of $100 million for the shortfall he expects by the June 30 end of the budget year.

But while other states are laying off workers, shuttering services, cutting programs and even talking tax hikes, Manchin administration officials maintain that such options aren't on the table in West Virginia.

"We are vigorously looking for additional efficiencies in state government," spokesman Matt Turner told AP. "(Gov. Joe Manchin) believes there is much more that can be done to improve efficiency and save money."

AP also observes that West Virginia has an ace in the hole: "$168 million in revenues left unspent from the two previous budget years," the article said. "That surplus is in addition to the state's emergency reserves, which exceed $537 million. The state also has yet to tap the bulk of its estimated $1.8 billion share of federal stimulus funding. "

Muchow noted that West Virginia's "rainy day fund" exceeds the national average in size relative to the state budget, and called tapping it a last resort. Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, echoed that sentiment to MetroNews (with audio).

Another Competitor to the W.Va. Lottery (Updated)

Ohio voters on Tuesday approved a ballot issue allowing casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo, The Associated Press reports.

The Buckeye State joins Pennsylvania and Maryland, each of which recently legalized slot machine casinos, as neighbors of West Virginia with advanced gambling options.

The outcome follows a pricey and barbed advertising campaigns, with evidence that West Virginia was dragged into the fray at one point.

MetroNews also has an item.

Update: West Virginia officials tell The Charleston Gazette they "know Ohio casinos won't be good for the Mountain State's budget, but they say it's too soon to put a dollar amount on the damage."

While the impact won't be immediate, "the move is expected to hit West Virginia's Northern Panhandle casinos -- Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in Chester and Wheeling Island -- especially hard," that article said. "Ohioans make up about 45 percent of Mountaineer's and Wheeling Island's patrons combined, lottery officials said."