The crack of the gavel set off a resounding echo throughout the hallow halls of the Capitol, Saturday, April 9. These actions, which took place in the House and Senate, officially concluded the 2005 Legislative session.
Throughout the 60 day Regular Session a total of 1,364 bills were introduced. Of these, the House passed 305 bills and the Senate passed 207 bills.
Many times the House and the Senate will pass different versions of the same bill: however, a bill cannot complete legislative action unless both houses pass the same version of the bill. When the two bodies cannot reach a consensus, a conference committee is appointed. A conference committee is constructed of an equal number of Senators that are appointed by the Senate President and Delegates that are appointed by the Speaker of the House. In the end, 265 bills completed legislative action making their way through both the House and the Senate.
Senate Bill 418 was a notable highlight of legislation that was passed by both houses during this session. This bill dealt with the elimination of Third Party Bad Faith Lawsuits. It also creates a compensation fund for mistreated consumers.
Other accomplishments by the 77th Legislature were: Senate Bill 147 which will limit access to certain over-the-counter medicines that contain key ingredients which are used in the illegal production methamphetamine drugs; House Bill 2891 which will grant the Governor official oversight over several state agencies; and, Senate Bill 603 which will give West Virginia University and Marshall University greater control over their finances and purchasing powers, as well as granting them control over tuition and fee rates.
House Bill 2782, which allows cities to expand membership on park and recreation boards, was passed with an amendment which would have made English the official language of West Virginia. This bill was returned to the Legislature during “Budget Week”, after it was vetoed by the Governor, and passed for a second time without the added amendment to meet the Governor’s objections.
More extensive summaries of these and other measures passed this year can be found inside this edition.
April 9 was the final day of the 2005 Regular Session; however, to comply with the Constitution of West Virginia, which requires the Legislature to pass a budget for the upcoming year, the Governor extended the session for one week.
The House and the Senate passed their versions of the Budget Bill during the Regular Session. Within the extended week of the 2005 Regular Session, the two bodies appointed members to meet in a conference committee to iron out the differences in the separate versions of the budget. In the end, the Legislature passed House Bill 2005 as the official budget for the 2006 Fiscal Year.
On Saturday April 16, the extended session adjourned sine die, and was followed immediately by the Second Extraordinary Session of 2005. During this short special session lawmakers passed six appropriation bills and adjourned again sine die, concluding the immediate work facing members of the 77th Legislature.
