By David Beard, The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sen. Joe Manchin spoke with members of the West Virginia press on Wednesday, covering a wide variety of topics.
Among them was the omnibus funding bill expected to pass the Senate Wednesday evening, and he focused on some of the earmarks for West Virginia included in the bill, a total of about $228 million.
The Morgantown area is slated to see nearly $30 million from the bill: $25.59 million “for WVU Hospitals to re-use the former Viatris facility (now WVU Innovation Corp.), expand the Children’s Hospital, and construct a new research facility for Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute”; and $6 million for a new fire station in Morgantown.
Manchin defended the reappearance of earmarks (now called Congressionally Directed Spending Requests), saying they are intended for something of high value aimed at taking care of a constituent issue. “It’s all value projects.” …
