Day 37: A GOP Senator wants President Biden off the ballot and there'll likely be a vote today
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days, your daily guide to the West Virginia Legislature.
Today is Thursday, February 15th, 2024 — West Virginia State University Day at the Capitol. The school outside Charleston, in Institute, is one of the nation’s historically Black land grant universities — and it has quite the history that starts with a love story between a rich plantation owner and a Black slave. The school has links to the famous Tuskegee Airmen of World War II and had to fight to regain its status as a land grant university.
Back in September, federal officials wrote to Governor Justice and 15 other governors, demanding they make up for HBCU funding disparities. In WVSU’s case, they said the university has been underfunded to the tune of at least $852 million over the past 30 years.
WVSU is the only land grant university in the country that does not have an agriculture school. The university is working to change that, and in this Charleston Gazette-Mail opinion piece, WVSU President Ericke Cage applauded Governor Justice’s proposal to allocate $50 million to create what Justice called a “state-of-the-art ag lab” on the school’s campus.
The proposal was among the initiatives Justice announced during his State of the State address last month. And as sure as we’ll ask you for help funding our coffee habit, you can bet it will come up at the Capitol today.
Today’s Floor Agenda:
Both the House and Senate will gavel in this morning for their customary 11 a.m. floor sessions.
Senators will take up SCR 28, which seeks to keep President Joe Biden off the ballot in West Virginia’s primary and general elections this year. Sponsored by Sen. Mike Stuart (R-Kanawha), the resolution cites a section of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, known as the “insurrection clause.” The resolution states, in part:
”President Biden has engaged in an insurrection by refusing to enforce border security in the state of Texas through total and willful disregard of the law and inviting, encouraging, and allowing for illegal immigrants to invade the southern border.”
Of course, SCR 28 is a reaction to the effort in Colorado (and elsewhere) to use the 14th Amendment remove former president Donald Trump from the ballot for his involvement in the January 6th attacks in 2021. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments last week in the case and is expected to make a ruling soon.
Stuart’s resolution also mentions Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report that cites Biden’s mental fitness in the decision not to bring charges related to classified documents found at Biden’s home and a private office used after he left the vice presidency.
While the classified documents case involving Biden is now closed, we should point out that Trump is in the midst of dealing with a similar case. The former president was indicted last year for his handling of classified documents, with a trial currently set to begin in May.
We should also note that Stuart ran Trump’s campaign in West Virginia in 2016 — and is also running for state Attorney General.
There’s plenty more on the docket in the Senate today. You can check out the full calendar here.
The House has a number of items on its active calendar for today, including:
HJR 28 would ban medically assisted suicide. It’s up for a vote on passage along with SB 441, the bill that would restrict driving in the left lane.
The library obscenity bill is advancing. Sponsored by Delegate Brandon Steele (R-Raleigh), H. B. 4654 is on second reading, the amendment stage.
And the committee substiture for H.B. 4911 is making it’s first appearance on the floor. The bill would permit the sale of raw milk. It’s on first reading.
Committee schedule:
9:00 a.m. — House Jails and Prisons Committee
9:15 a.m. — House Senior, Children and Family Issues Committee
9:30 a.m. — House Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services Committee
10:00 a.m. — Senate Government Organization Committee
10:00 a.m. — Senate Education Committee
1:00 p.m. — House Energy and Manufacturing Committee
1:00 p.m. — Senate Health and Human Resources Committee
2:00 p.m. — House Technology and Infrastructure Committee
2:00 p.m. — Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
3:00 p.m. — House Economic Development and Tourism Committee
3:00 p.m. — House Health and Human Resources Committee
3:00 p.m. — Senate Judiciary Committee
3:00 p.m. — Senate Finance Committee
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 day in, day out.
The Women’s Bill of Rights is on its way to the Senate. The House passed it Wednesday, despite objections from Democrats. Amelia Ferrell Knisely reports for West Virginia Watch.
Teachers with handguns or stun guns? It could be a reality, if HB 4299 keeps moving forward. As Brad McElhinny of WVMetroNews reports, the measure cleared the House Judiciary Committee yesterday.
La Shawn Pagan of Mountain State Spotlight has the latest on a bill that would expand work requirements on people who receive SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps. The Senate Workforce Committee advanced a committee substitute Tuesday. It must still get through Senate Finance before hitting the floor.
You can go deeper with this analysis on SNAP benefits and work requirements from The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
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.
Mike Stuart is the absolute worst. Just a total clown who is constantly trying to score cheap points so he can move up the political ladder. My senator is Mike Azinger and I have nothing good to say about him except I think he actually believes the nonsense he spouts. Stuart is just purely cynical.
LWVWV OPPOSES SB 593, a bill to prohibit Ranked Choice Voting.
On Senate Government Organization Committee agenda, 10 a.m., Thursday, Feb 15.
This bill would prohibit ranked choice voting (RCV) in any West Virginia election. RCV is used successfully in a number of other states and localities. A prohibition runs counter to the position taken by LWVWV in 2021:
LWVWV position on Ranked Choice Voting:
LWVWV supports legislation that assures that the candidate preferred by the majority of voters will be the winner of the election. The League supports Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), initially to elect West Virginia Supreme Court Justices, with consideration to expand RCV for future elections.