The West Virginia Senate convened the First Regular Session of the 80th Legislature today at Noon.
The first order of business was to establish the rules by which the Senate operates. After much debate, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 1, which contained a provision for electing an Acting Senate President.
After electing Earl Ray Tomblin Senate President (he will continue to act as Governor) the Senate then elected Jeffrey V. Kessler to serve as Acting Senate President for the 2011 Regular Session.
The Senate then re-elected Darrell Holmes as Senate Clerk, Howard Wellman as Sergeant at Arms and Tony Gallo as Doorkeeper.
The afternoon floor session concluded with the introduction of 69 bills that were then referred to various committees.
The Senate will reconvene at 6:45 p.m. tonight.
Senate Finance will meet Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 3 p.m. in Room 451M.
