The Senate Confirmations Committee met briefly 10 a.m. Friday.
Members discussed regular meeting times, as well as adopted the agenda for the committee.
For now, meetings are expected to take place 10 a.m. each Friday.
Senate Education Forms New Subcommittee, Hears Request for SB 184
The Senate Education Committee met Thursday and approved the creation of the Subcommittee on School Choice.
Senator Robert Karnes (R-Upshur) will serve as chair of the subcommittee, and Senators Mike Azinger (R-Wood) and Robert Plymale (D-Wayne) will serve as members.
Following this decision, Senator John Unger (D-Berkeley) asked that SB 184 relating to the privitization of higher education be sent to the Education Committee for discussion, once it is out of the Government Organization Committee.
Unger said the Education Committee need to have a say in the bill’s progress, as it pertains to an aspect of education.
“This is an urgent matter,” Unger said, since the decision on SB 184 could affect what direction the state goes in to fund education overall.
The next meeting for the Senate Education Committee has not yet been announced.
Senate Energy, Industry & Mining Committee Hold First Meeting
The Senate Energy, Industry & Mining Committee met briefly 1 p.m. Thursday.
Members adopted the rules and agenda for the committee, which followed with a movement to adjorn by the committee chair, Senator Smith (R-Tucker).
The next committee meeting has yet to be determined.
Senate Finance Warned of Possible Recession
The Senate Finance Committee reviewed several areas of potential shortcomings in the state’s fiscal status during a meeting Thursday at 9:30 a.m. with Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow presenting a report from the West Virginia Department of Revenue.
In his presentation, Muchow warned the committee of a possible recession next year, which would mostly come about as a result of West Virginia’s slow employment rate, which has a projected growth of 2.5 percent from 2015-2019, in comparison to the projected national average of 4.9 percent.
Muchow said many factors work to inhibit the state’s progress, including “sluggish” wage growth over the past four years, slow recovery from drops in coal and natural gas profits and exports, and a lack of significant income tax and sales tax revenue growth.
Muchow said the state should expect a $200 million budget gap this year, with a gap of $500 million in 2018.
West Virginia’s greatest challenge, Muchow said, is that job growth takes place in urban areas, but many of the state’s citizens live in rural communities that might not have as much access to potential job opportunities now that coal is a declining source of revenue.
The Senate Finance Committee will focus more on how these factors apply to Governor Justice’s proposed budget bill at their next meeting Thursday 3 p.m.
40 Bills Introduced in Senate
The West Virginia Senate met briefly today to introduce 40 bills. Some of the bills included SB 200 and SB 228.
Senate Bill 200 would increase high-quality educational opportunities within the public school system.
Senate Bill 228 relates to workers compensation disability and death benefits.
Senate Resolution 9 and Senate Resolution 10 were adopted today. These resolutions recognized the St. Marys High School boys cross country team for winning the 2016 Class AA/A state championship and the St. Marys High School football team for winning the 2016 Class A state championship.
The following committees are meeting today:
Finance at 3 p.m. in 451M
Judiciary at 3 p.m. in 208W
Education at 2 p.m. in 451M
Government organization at 2 p.m. in 208W
Energy at 1 p.m. in 208W
Health and Human Resources at 1 p.m. in 451M
The following committees are meeting tomorrow:
Confirmations at 10 a.m. in 208W
The Senate adjourned until 11 a.m. tomorrow.
House Convenes for Day Two of the 83rd Legislature
Today, the House of Delegates convened for day two of the 83rd Legislature. Citations were presented and remarks made by delegates. Several bills presented including HB 2129, HB 2130, HB 2157, and HB 2315.
HB 2129 would state the legal right and authority of state and local law enforcement to enter public areas on or adjacent to any private club, or take other appropriate police action to enforce the underage drinking laws of this state.
HB 2130 would require legislators to annually pass a drug test in order to receive any pay or expense reimbursement.
HB 2157 would change the mandatory school instructional days from one hundred eighty days to minutes over a period of one hundred eighty days based upon the minimum amount of hours of instruction offered to students provided by state board rules.
HB 2315 would require that the Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs conduct hearings to report to the Select Committee on Minority Issues and to create the West Side Revive Pilot Program for community development.
Committee Meetings Today
Finance: 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. in House Finance- 460M
Energy: 2 p.m. in House Judiciary- 410M
Health and Human Resources: 2 p.m. in House Gov. Org- 215E
Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse: 3:30 p.m. in House Gov. Org.- 215E
Legislative Oversight Committee on Education and Accountability: 5 p.m. Senate Finance- 451M
Commitee Meetings Tomorrow, Friday February 10th
Judiciary: 10 a.m. in House Judiciary 410M
The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. tomorrow.
Senate Convenes Session, Introduces 198 Bills
The West Virginia Senate convened at Noon today to reconvene the 1st Regular Session of the 83rd Legislature.
Senate Resolution 8 was adopted, which recognizes the contributions of Gary K. Wilson to Mineral County and the State of West Virginia.
The Senate introduced bills 1-198 this afternoon. Senate Bill 71 would create a 24/7 Sobriety Program, Senate Bill 69 would create a Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights, and Senate Bill 63 would require school counselors to spend all their time on comprehensive school counseling programs.
The following committees will meet tomorrow:
Finance at 9:30 a.m. in 451M
Health and Human Resources at 1 p.m. in 451M
UPDATE:
The Senate convened briefly following the State of the State Address to introduce the Budget Bill
The Senate will reconvene tomorrow at 11 a.m.
House Reconvenes for First Day
Today, the WV Legislature convened at 12:00 p.m. and 152 bills have been introduced to the House of Delegates. Among those 152 are HB 2101, HB 2097, and HB 2016.
The purpose of HB 2101 is to require the Juvenile Justice Reform Oversight Committee to make recommendations regarding reinvestments; create a juvenile justice account and provide its purpose, funding, and disbursements; require new data to be collected and compiled to allow calculation of juvenile recidivism and the outcome of programs and make this information avaliable to the public.
The purpose of HB 2097 is to allow community and technical colleges and universities to charge students half the cost of a credit for every credit taken over the fifteenth hour.
The purpose of HB 2016 is to provide state health care services for all active and inactive military personnel.
Resolutions were adopted. HCR 4 was adopted; extending an invitation to the Governor to address the Joint Assembly this evening.
Committee Meetings Today
Finance: 2 p.m.
Judiciary: 2 p.m.
Education: 2:30 p.m.
Government Organization: 2 p.m.
Committee Meetings Tomorrow, Thurs. Feb. 9th
Finance: 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Health and Human Resources: 2 p.m.
Energy: 2 p.m.
Pension and Retirement: 8 a.m.
The House is in recess until 6:45 p.m. for the joint meeting of the House and Senate.
UPDATE:
House heard Gov. Justice’s State of the State address. His budget was revieved.
HB 2018 was introduced.
The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. tomorrow.
Senator Clements Sworn In
Senator Charles Clements (R-Wetzel) took the oath of office alongside his wife Eugenia “Genie” Clements this morning in a ceremony in the Senate Chamber. Surrounded by friends and supporters, Senator Clements was administered the oath by Senate President Mitch Carmichael.
Governor Justice appointed Clements to fill the 2nd district seat vacated by Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt. The district covers all of Wetzel County, Tyler County, Doddridge County, Ritchie County and Calhoun County, and parts of Marshall County, Marion County and Gilmer County.
Justice cited Clement’s experience with infrastructure as one of his biggest strengths. Clements said he is looking forward to finding ways to “take advantage” of increased federal funding for infratsructure to improve the roads and bridges of the state.
Clements formerly served as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1994 to 1996. He said he has always had an interest in running for the Senate, however. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Senate in 1998.
Clements resides in New Martinsville of Wetzel County where he works as an office manager for H&R Block. Prior to working for H&R Block, he owned Clements Oil Company for 34 years.
The Regular Session will begin Feb. 8, 2017.
Government and Finance Committee to Prioritize Transparency
The Joint Committee on Government and Finance plans to prioritize transparency in the state government’s investments, at the request of Auditor-Elect John McCuskey.
As state revenues decline and expenses increase, McCuskey said the legislature has a “real opportunitity” to change how it deals with financial information to the benefit of West Virginia’s citizens.
With more transparency, McCuskey said all citizens will be able to serve as auditors for the state rather than just himself.
McCuskey suggests the Committee begin prioritizing transparency by modernizing the system through which financial information is organized and made available to both citizens and legislators alike. He said the new online system will change how the legislature spends money when it is consistently exposed to civillian oversight, thereby making a necessary change to the “culture” of state government.
Members of technololgy business OpenGov were also in attendance and presented on their ideas for improving West Virginia’s financial transparency through their online database program.
OpenGov Account Executive Jared Borg shared his insights as a former director in Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel’s office to help the Committee understand OpenGov’s capabilities for reviving transparency.
Borg said, because of Ohio’s prioritization of transparency with the help of OpenGov technology, Ohio now ranks number one in the nation for government transparency after having previously been at number 46.
Because of increased accessibility to Ohio’s government information, Borg said the state gained 11.5 million “civillian auditors.” He said West Virginia can do the same.
The Committee had no questions for either McCuskey or the OpenGov representatives.
The Committee plans to meet again on Tuesday, February 7, 2017.