On day 45 of the Legislative Session, the House floor session began with several motions.
First, a point of privilege was requested to determine what happened to the amendment which was supposed to be on House Bill 3111. After some discussion at the podium, the delegate who raised the point decided to handle the request when the bill was up for passage.
Then, a motion to discharge House Bill 2007 from the Committee on Health and Human Services was made. Another member quickly moved to table the motion, which was ruled out of order by the Chair, per Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure. The Chair’s ruling was challenged and discussed but upheld. The previous question was called, which ended the discussion. The motion for the previous question was ruled in order, as Mason’s Manual does not refer to the previous question on a motion to discharge. After this, the motion to discharge was rejected in a 16 to 74 vote.
Another delegate motioned to discharge House Bill 3270 from the Judiciary Committee. The bill is double-referred, meaning it would still go to the Finance Committee. The motion to discharge was adopted with a 75 to 15 vote.
Another delegate motioned to discharge House Bill 3173 from the Committee on Energy and Public Works. The motion was rejected with a vote of 17 to 71.
The priority of parliamentary authority for the House of Delegates is House (1) House Rules, (2) the West Virginia Constitution, (3) the Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure, and (4) the Jefferson’s Manual and the Digest of the Rules and Practices of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress.
The House is in recess until 1 p.m. When the House returns to the floor, the calendar should be taken up.
