Day 13: House Judiciary appears to be the committee to watch today
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days, your daily guide to the West Virginia Legislature’s regular session.
Today is Monday, January 22nd, 2024. It’s also Tourism Day at the Capitol. Might be a good time to start thinking about that staycation.
Get ready for a switch in the weather at the state Capitol. Following last week’s snow and bitterly cold temperatures that made long johns an inviting addition to the wardrobe, the sun will be shining on the dome today and highs will be much milder — in the mid 40s.
Today’s Agenda:
There are no morning committee meetings so the action today will begin with the floor sessions. You can find the House agenda here. The Senate’s is here.
Notable:
The “In God We Trust” bill and the measure allowing teachers to teach Intelligent Design as a scientific theory alongside Darwin’s Theory of Evolution will likely be up for a vote by the full Senate this week. Both bills are on second reading today, the amendment stage.
Also on second reading in the Senate is a bill that would exclude test strips from the definition of drug paraphernalia. The bill was unanimously passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week with the recommendation that it pass. Supporters say it will save lives because it would allow users of illicit drugs to test for unknown substances that are used to cut the drugs they take.
The House Judiciary Committee meets on Wednesday, January 17, 2024. Credit: Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography.
The House Judiciary Committee is meeting at 2:30pm and it’s shaping up to be the committee to watch today.
The Judiciary panel is taking up a measure that Minority Vice Chair, Delegate Shawn Fluharty (D-Ohio) calls the “lock up librarians” bill. HB4654 would remove libraries, schools and museums from the list of exemptions from criminal liability from sharing obscene material with minors. The measure had been on the agenda for Friday, but the meeting was canceled amid Friday’s snowfall.
House Judiciary is also taking up four bills that would make changes to election law. They include these two:
Here’s the full list of this afternoon’s committee meetings:
The House Finance Committee at 1 p.m. in Room 460.
The Senate Transportation & Infrastructure Committee at 1 p.m in Room 451M.
The Senate Military Committee at 1 p.m. in Room 208W.
The House Education Committee at 2 p.m. in Room 434.
The Senate Judiciary Committee at 3 p.m. in Room 208W.
The Senate Finance Committee at 3 p.m. in Room 451M.
And from the “It Takes A Village” department:
If not for 60 Days reader Matthew Grove, I likely would have overlooked this evening’s public comment hearing at the West Virginia Public Service Commission. The PSC is taking comment on what’s called net metering. If you have solar panels on your roof you probably know all about the rules that govern how solar owners are credited for the excess electricity they generate and provide the grid as a whole. Mon Power and Potomac Edison are proposing changes that solar advocates say would harm the industry in West Virginia. The hearing is scheduled for 5:30pm. You can find out how to participate here.
60 Days links: Reading that’s good for you and good for West Virginia. Click on the links to help support the reporters who work at the state Capitol and elsewhere day in, day out.
Activist Norm Steenstra has died at age 72. He was well known at the Capitol as a long-time leader of the political watchdog group West Virginia Citizen Action. Rick Steelhammer of the Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that Steenstra went from operating a coal mine to becoming an influential player in West Virginia’s environmental movement.
The snow emergency declared by Governor Justice led the state Republican Party to postpone Saturday’s meeting at which a move to exclude independents from voting in the party’s primary appeared to be on the table. Brad McElhinny of WVMetroNews says the meeting could be rescheduled for this coming Saturday.
Student discipline is becoming a focus of state lawmakers this session. Reporter Amelia Ferrell Knisely lays out what teachers are facing in their classrooms and what lawmakers are considering to address the issue in this story for West Virginia Watch.
In case you missed it, here’s Phil Kabler’s latest Statehouse Beat column for the Gazette-Mail.
And the controversial camping ban isn’t the only news coming out of Wheeling. The Intelligencer’s Emma Delk has this profile of West Virginia’s Beekeeper of the Year.
Resources:
Know of any bills we should be keeping tabs on? Any events, press conferences, etc., we should know about? Tell us about them in the comments.
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Really.
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