Sam Workman

The Daily West Virginia Weakly: February 3, 2026 Democrats energized, campaign finance reports, school funding recommendations and an interview with Senate President Randy Smith (R-Preston)

Grab the West Virginia Weakly for an update on the legislature and important issues around the Mountain State. @gilessnyder.bsky.social also does a great job at a lifestyle brand rooted in place, community, and Appalachian identity.

New and open access, in @psrm.bsky.social: What happens when we make politicians draw distributions? Nic Dias, @jacklucas.bsky.social and I explore whether the large errors politicians make about public opinion are artificially inflated by how researchers ask them to estimate it /1
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I feel you. And I agree. But, is the problem the discipline or journalistic norms? Incentives matter.

1. The Beatles
2. The Beatles
3. The Beatles
4. The Beatles
5. The Beatles.

The title of my biography.

Long lost siblings, I'd say.

We are one.

Alaska Cocktail A golden beacon for the long night

This week at the 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺, we we're panning for nuggets and celebrating the great North. Take a peek at a cocktail for the last frontier. #cocktails 🍸🍹

Yep

As public schools face a financial crisis, consultants urged lawmakers to rethink school funding RAND consultants hired by the House of Delegates recommended lawmakers cap the Hope Scholarship and rethink the public school funding formula.

Great that RAND is carrying the water here. But the fact that they have to just highlights the dreadful position higher education is in by way of polarization. Lots of experts here, but not a lot of trust. Thanks to @mtnstspotlight.bsky.social for the coverage. WV 🏛️

Yep!

In order of my edification:

Sociology of Women
Trigonometry
Statistics for Engineers
Drama - Set Building
Calculus I and II (sorry)

People are reading this way wrong. Schumer detached DHS from the other five bills in return for a two week CR on the DHS bill. Now Democrats can make demands on DHS spending without having to shut down agencies covered in the other five bills. They have way more leverage to get real concessions.

The Means-Testing Industrial Complex The vendors getting rich from putting administrative burdens on the poor

Great piece by @donmoyn.bsky.social here. I think there should be serious attention to cost-benefit analysis with the same frame. Some of its good, some is meant to obscure the benefit of government doing things. Much farmed out to consultants.

Texas Halts Hiring of H-1B Workers at State Colleges, Agencies Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions, curtailing a program that has also been overhauled by President Donald Trump.

one of the least-appreciated own-goals happening right now is the deliberate sabotage of our knowledge/research sector www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Thanks Tammy!

A Banana Boat on the High Seas I intend to go in harm's way

This week at the 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑦 - We are all in harm's way. 🍸🍹 #cocktails #Appalachia

Like or don't like him, this dude is an incredibly good communicator - like Clinton and Obama rolled into one.

Coal by decree is not an energy strategy Coal’s decline was not a policy accident.

"Grid operators have repeatedly shown that reliability is strengthened through transmission expansion, flexible resources, demand response, storage and regional coordination — not by extending the life of rigid, fuel-constrained generators on the system." 💡🔌

Yeah, and I'd add - for the entire 20th Century + 25 years, the President has been like a leech stuck to their derriere, bleeding them dry for power. So, while there is a lot of activity, we all know where the power is at the end of the day.

Indeed, Sir.

Just seeing this - it's partly the substantive content. Same productivity quantitatively, but a lot more topically complex.

Dealt with this over at the Policy Agendas Project. Omnibus, ftw. Laws are increasingly complex (encompassing more topics) as well.

Ha! You win BlueSky today. It's all very "my 6 year old needs to sell these candy bars for school, so I need you buy a couple hundred."

Local news all winter.

Or alternatively, have no age floor. 2/2+1

There really should, politics aside, be an age limit. Not to mention that someone over 75 represents, at best, 10 percent of the populous demographically. 2/2

In my life's presidential years, 20 of those years have been chewed up by folks "past their prime." That's just under half my life. The last two folks leave a heavy mark because of the digital age and everything being public. But Reagan was just as decrepit. Had better (competent) leutinents. 1/2

New bill aims to give West Virginia lawmakers the power to veto utility rate hikes Ohio County Senator Laura Chapman introduced Senate Bill 461, which would put more power into lawmakers' hands in regard to potential utility rate increases.

Might see a lot more of this as federal policies continue to pinch rate payers. Utility proclivity to let rate payers shoulder the burden for data center infrastructure enhancements doesn't help. 🔌💡

Snowcap When you are buried in the avalanche

This week at the Appalachian Speakeasy - mountains, dogs, brandy, and naturally, legislatures. Here's to St Bernards and barrels of brandy. #cocktails #Appalachia