HOUSE SPEAKER RICK THOMPSON
As the House of Delegates finished up the first three weeks of the legislative session, 9 bills and at least 18 resolutions had been adopted and sent to the Senate.
One of piece of legislation adopted by the House, House Bill 2505, was proposed by Gov. Tomblin in response to the recent shocking pipeline explosion that took place along Interstate 77 in Sissonville here in Kanawha County. Thankfully, no one was killed in the massive fire, which destroyed four homes and a section of the interstate.
The state Public Service Commission, which helps the federal government oversee such lines, requested an increase in state fines and penalties for safety violations. By doing so, not only is the safety law strengthened, but the state would also qualify for additional federal funds to regulate the thousands of miles of pipeline within our state.
Aside from the twenty-plus bills introduced by the Governor, hundreds of pieces of legislation introduced by individual members have been assigned to the committees for their consideration.
As of the 23rd day of the session, delegates have introduced more than 850 bills; senators had submitted more than 460.
I expect the pace to pick up considerably in the next few weeks. Time is passing quickly. In fact, we are rapidly approaching the halfway point of this 60-day session.
And we’ve got some deadlines approaching.
The 41st Day – March 25 – is the last day to introduce bills in the Senate and the House. (This does not apply to originating, supplementary appropriation bills, or resolutions).
At the end of this month, the 47th day, all bills must come out of committee in their originating house to ensure three full days for readings prior to passage.
That’s because the 50th day – April 3 – is the last day to pass bills out of the house in which they originated.
Again, this does not apply to supplemental appropriations. That’s because when this is all said and done, the Legislature still have to put together – and balance – the budget.
But before we can get to the budget – and this year it’s the House’s turn to develop the budget bill – the Finance Committee must consider legislation that’s been assigned to it that directly affects the state’s finances, whether positively or negatively.
In many instances, bills contain requests for fiscal notes analyzing the cost of the law change or initiative. As of the 23rd day, there were over 300 House bills in the system with fiscal note requests.
Once the committee process is complete and the Legislative session reaches the 60th day, we will begin the extended session for the budget. At that point, a conference committee of the two houses will look at the financial impact of our adopted legislation, fine tune the state budget, and present it to the full House and Senate for a vote.
Needless to say there are a lot of financial needs out there, including in the areas of education and public safety, and no new additional revenue sources. So many challenges lie ahead.
But members of both bodies and both political parties are working hard – and working well together – and I look forward to productive days ahead.
