Day 29: Teacher pay raises are advancing on both sides of the rotunda
The Senate's version is to bump pay is for first-year educators. It aims to address vacancies.
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days.
Today is Wednesday, February 8th, 2023 — the 29th day of the West Virginia Legislature's regular session. It’s also Agriculture Day at the Capitol. So today I’m going to track down a locally sourced snack of some sort to celebrate.
Do pepperoni rolls count as an agricultural product? What about a bag of Mister Bee’s chips from my hometown of Parkersburg? Maybe a West Virginia craft beer?
It’s too bad coffee isn’t an agricultural product from here.
The House of Delegates gavels in at 11 a.m. For a full list of bills getting a reading on the floor you can check the House Special Calendar. A couple bills caught my eye:
H. B. 2002 - Relating to providing support for families
H. B. 3130 - Creating the Coalfields Energy Research and Economic Development Authority
As for House committee meetings today, the following panels are meeting. Click on each committee’s name for a look at the bills they’ll discuss.
9 a.m. – the Committee on Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security will meet in the East Wing Committee Room, 215E
9:15 a.m. – the Political Subdivisions Committee will meet in the Judiciary Committee Room, 410M
9:15 a.m. – the Committee on Fire Departments and EMS will meet in the Finance Committee Room, 460M
10:45 a.m. – the Committee on Rules will meet behind the Chamber.
1 p.m. – the Committee on Finance will meet in the committee meeting room, 460M
HB 2006, which would spilt the beleaguered Department of Health and Human Resources into three separate entities is on the House Finance agenda.
1 p.m. – the Judiciary Committee will meet in the committee meeting room, 410M
2 p.m. – the Committee on Education will meet in the committee meeting room, 432M
3 p.m. – the Government Organization Committee will meet in the East Wing Committee Room, 215E
The Senate will also gavel in at 11 a.m. this morning. You can find the full calendar here. Before we dive into committee schedules, I’d like to make note of a bill on the floor today:
S. B. 495 - Providing correctional institutions and juvenile facilities video and audio records be confidential, is on second reading.
Here’s a look at committee meetings in the Senate, along with what’s on each agenda.
10 a.m.: Agriculture and Natural Resources (208W)
SB 561: Relating to administration of WV Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Fund Act
SB 581: Amending provisions of 2023 Farm Bill
1 p.m.: Economic Development (451M)
SB 297: Mountain Homes Act
SB 481: Extending sunset provision of Upper Kanawha Valley Resiliency and Revitalization Program
SB 569: Rehabilitation of Blighted Properties Tax Credit Act
2 p.m.: Outdoor Recreation (208W)
HB 2569: Establishing the Motorsport Responsibility Act
HCR 13: Make 2nd week of February of every year a week of recognition of the Boy Scouts of America
2 p.m.: Pensions (451M)
SB 452: Relating to Emergency Medical Services Retirement System
SB 453: Ensuring retirement contributions and delinquency charges of charter school employees be paid upon school closure or by successor
SB 458: Setting rate of interest on delinquent retirement contribution submissions
SB 474: Requiring municipal pensions oversight board to propose legislative rules
3 p.m.: Judiciary (208W)
Com. Sub. for SB 409: Authorizing WV Department of Economic Development to promulgate legislative rule relating to Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Matching Funds Program (Commerce Bundle)
SB 482: Modifying number, allocation, and terms of office of certain judges for next general election
3 p.m.: Finance (451M)
Com. Sub. for SB 274: Third Grade Success Act
Com. Sub. for SB 273: Relating to allocation of child protective workers in counties based upon population of county
SB 478: Relating to Jumpstart Savings Program
Subcommittee Report from Finance Subcommittee C to the Full Finance Committee
Looking back to yesterday, the Senate Education Committee advanced a bill that would increase teacher pay for those just starting out. Sen. Charles Trump (R-Morgan) said he was hoping to address teacher vacancies across the state, which now stand at more than 1,500.
SB 204 bumps salaries for new teachers as if they were eight years into their careers. The measure, estimated to cost $24 million each year, now heads to the Senate Finance Committee.
While there’s little doubt West Virginia Education Association president Dale Lee supports teacher pay raises and addressing vacancies in principle, he pointed out one potential consequence of the measure.
“My concern with that is, you have a brand new teacher coming in and a teacher who has been there eight years, and the second year they’re teaching,” Lee said, “That beginning teacher’s second year and that eight-year teacher’s ninth year — they’re still in the same scale and will be that way from that point on.”
Bob Plymale (D-Wayne) seemed to agree with Lee.
"I'm not sure I agree this is the way we should do it, but we've got to start somewhere," Plymale said.
Still yet, the panel advanced the bill, with Sen. Trump saying he’s willing to continue to address that issue.
A separate teacher pay raise bill, HB 2828, cleared the House Education Committee last week and is now awaiting the attention of the House Finance Committee.
You can read more in the Charleston Gazette-Mail (paywall) or at WVMetroNews.
The House of Delegates passed a measure yesterday that would make it easier for birthing centers to open in the state. On a 73-26 vote (with notable bipartisan support and opposition), delegates approved HB 2789, which eliminates a certificate of need for those centers.
The state’s certificate of need program, developed in 1977, aims to keep health care costs down by requiring providers to obtain a certificate of need before adding or expanding services. On it’s website, the West Virginia Health Care Authority gives a bit of history on the program.
While this isn’t news out of Charleston, it is of note for West Virginians: Sen. Joe Manchin is keeping speculation of a run for the White House going.
Just hours ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, Manchin said he doesn’t like “the direction we’re going.” As Democrats and Republicans squabble over fiscal reforms and raising the debt ceiling, Manchin remains a key player in big legislative debates.
The senior senator from West Virginia — known for being a moderate and rather willing to break from his own Democratic Party — has also not committed to remaining a Democrat headed towards 2024.
“I don’t know what the next chapter will be, I don’t know [where] the future lies, I really don’t,” Manchin said, speaking to Semafor’s Steve Clemons.
“I can tell you one thing: I feel, like most Americans, we’ve got to come together. Americans want to be united, they want to be together and right now we’re going further apart,” he said.
More on this story from Semafor and The Hill.
Tomorrow marks the half-way point of the session, which means there are some important deadlines approaching. We’ll outline what those dates are and why they matter.
We’ll be back in your inboxes again tomorrow morning — same bat time, same bat channel.
If you want to get in touch, you can email us at 60daysgilesdave@gmail.com.
I’m on Twitter at @davemistich and Giles is @GilesSnyder.
Our legislature and absentee governor are looking to punt legitimate PEIA reforms for as long as they can. If there’s no levy in a WV county, healthcare as supported through PEIA is an embarrassment. Pay raises won’t make up the difference. I’m going to go broke paying for counseling for my family because no plan offers reasonable mental health care support. But I would rather have a living son than Starbucks. #fixandfundPEIA