MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice floated an idea to help fix PEIA to West Virginia educators on Tuesday July 17: Require spouses who make more than $150,000 to go off PEIA and pay for their own insurance.
Justice made a surprise appearance at the state Department of Education’s Summer Summit for Educational Excellence — held at the event center at the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place — and delivered one of his familiar off-the cuff pep talks: this one on his support for education and educators.
“I want to want to tell you just this from the very bottom of all my heart, I love you,” he said. “I think you do a great job.”
A few minutes later, talking about improving the state’s image, he added, “You are the centerpiece. You are the very product that everybody looks at first and says, ‘I want to come to West Virginia.’”
While Justice mostly recapped his efforts to overcome the years of budget deficits that faced him when he took office, the economic turnaround and the 5 percent raises passed during the last session, he did float that one specific idea for PEIA and asked the educators what they thought about it.
The crowd didn’t respond, but as one educator commented afterward, it’s a good idea but it probably won’t affect many families across the state.
Another educator commented that she found the speech somewhat political and self-serving and didn’t really contribute to the summit’s theme of educational excellence.
Story by David Beard, The Dominion Post