MANCHIN HOSTS VIRTUAL FEEDBACK SESSION ON UPCOMING COVID-19 RELIEF PACKAGE
Charleston, WV – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) hosted a virtual feedback session with various groups from across West Virginia to provide feedback on the COVID-19 pandemic relief packages and future funding priorities. Senator Manchin was joined by over 40 West Virginia organizations and more than 500 community leaders, state legislators, and West Virginians.
“Today’s feedback session with leaders from across West Virginia gave me important insight into the issues businesses and organizations across our state are dealing with every day as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. In the days since we announced the session, I have also heard directly from West Virginians about how we can better utilize and direct future COVID-19 funding, and I truly appreciate the input. We discussed unemployment, PPE shortages, supporting healthcare providers, and many more issues that are affecting West Virginians across the state,” said Senator Manchin. “As the Senate returns to work on an additional COVID-19 funding package, I will continue listening to those who are being hit hard by this global health crisis and are taking the brunt of the economic pressure. I will bring this feedback to Washington to help guide myself and my colleagues as we work to help every American and West Virginian through the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Watch the feedback session here.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO SUPPORT WEST VIRGINIA MEDIA OUTLETS FOLLOWING MANCHIN URGING
Charleston, WV – After urging from U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), the Trump Administration outlined plans to work with local media organizations to place COVID-19 public service announcements (PSA) across the United States.
In April, Senator Manchin led his bipartisan colleagues in calling on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to work with other federal agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic to support local media organizations, which rely on ad revenue from local businesses to operate. The response letter from U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Caputo agreed with Senator Manchin’s assessment of the needs of local media and many of his suggestions to assist local media while increasing COVID-19 PSAs in local media markets.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has hit hard for many of our local media organizations – the most trusted source of the news for many West Virginians. In April, I led a bipartisan group of my Senate colleagues in pushing the Trump Administration to support local media organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic through use of existing federal dollars intended for advertising,” said Senator Manchin. “This week I received a response to my letter from HHS Secretary Michael Caputo, which provided information on the Administration’s future plans to work with local media groups to place PSAs relating to COVID-19. This won’t cost any extra federal funding, but it will be a lifeline for local media across West Virginia. I am pleased by their commitment to support local media organizations and will continue to work with HHS, OMB, and the Administration to help West Virginia’s local media receive the support they need during this pandemic.”
MANCHIN URGES REVERSAL OF COVID-19 HOSPITAL DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING CHANGES
Charleston, WV – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) today urged the Trump Administration to reverse recent changes to require hospitals to report data to a new system set up by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) instead of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) which is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Senators said in part, “We write today to urge you to withdraw your confusing and harmful changes to hospital reporting requirements for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). In the midst of a global pandemic, these changes pose serious challenges to the nation’s response by increasing the data management burden for hospitals, potentially delaying critical supply shipments, compromising access to key data for many states, and reducing transparency for the public.”
|