On Wednesday, January 12, 2011, the 1st Regular Session of the 80th West Virginia Legislature began with the swearing in of all lawmakers, which included six new members in the Senate and 18 new members in the House.
The House reelected Richard Thompson (D-Wayne) as Speaker of the House, Greg Gray as Clerk, Oce Smith as Sergeant at Arms and John Roberts as Doorkeeper.
Senator Jeffrey Kessler (D-Marshall) was elected to serve as Acting Senate President. The Senate then re-elected Darrell Holmes as Senate Clerk, Howard Wellman as Sergeant at Arms and Tony Gallo as Doorkeeper.
With all of the changes, one thing remained the same on the opening day of session, and that was the State of the State address which was given in the House Chamber at 7 p.m. and discussed a number of topics including the budget, job creation, education reform, and the state’s natural resources.
Both the House and Senate also received the proposed Budget Bill, the one piece of legislation that must be passed before the session ends at midnight on March 12.
West Virginia entered December with its general revenue budget $121 million in the black while nearly a dozen other states face deficit threats totaling $10 billion. This is according to figures from the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers that recently released their latest fiscal survey of states. Overall, West Virginia is well-positioned to balance its budget
The $4 billion budget contains no tax increases, raises no fees and does not rely on any one-time stimulus funding from the Federal Government as a backfill to state operations. It also calls for a one-third reduction of the food sales tax from three cents to two cents. And, it includes a one-time $800 across-the-board enhancement for teachers and similar enhancements for school service personnel as well as for state employees.
Budget Hearings will be held by both the House and Senate Finance committees for the first half of the session in order to study the budget more closely.
Other priorities were outlined in the State of the State for the Legislature to focus on. First, is to continue to improve West Virginia’s business climate in order to attract, retain, and create good paying private sector jobs. Second, to improve and reform our entire educational system to better prepare the state’s citizens for the jobs of tomorrow. Lastly, to reinvent, simplify and make government more efficient and responsible to the people and businesses of West Virginia.
Other legislative issues of focus during the session will be the reduction of the state’s drop out rates, the creation of environments conducive to learning, the elimination of high level teacher vacancies in certain areas of the state, and the development of vocational skills to include middle schools on up.
For the first time in our state government’s history, legislative proceedings in both the House and Senate chambers and committee rooms will be streaming live throughout the regular session. Those interested in listening in on the events of the session can listen to “Legislature Live” at www.wvlegislature.gov/live.cfm.
Through changing times in our state government, one thing is for certain…anything can happen.
› 2011 Senate Budget Hearing Schedule
› 2011 House Budget Hearing Schedule
