Day 42: Can I have a bridge named after me, too?
For some time, I've had an uncontrollable desire to leave a humble legacy.
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days, your daily guide to the West Virginia Legislature.
It’s Tuesday, February 20, 2024 — Day 42 of the 60-day regular session. If you happen to be over 50-years-old, unfortunate enough to have been on the other side of someone breaking the law and also focus your professional life on workplace health, today is your day.
According to the Activity Calendar, today marks yet another trifecta of seemingly random lobby days rolled into one spot on the calendar — with the AARP, crime victims and occupational therapists all wandering the Capitol Complex advocating for their respective causes.
If you haven’t noticed, oddly matched lobby days are kind of my thing. Giles’s thing is, you guessed it: RAW MILK.
If you happen to be able to produce an AARP membership card, some kind of legal document to prove your victimhood and a particular kind of professional certificate, I’ll buy you a coffee today. But considering the improbability, feel free to treat us.
Today’s Floor Agenda:
The House of Delegates gavels in at 11:00 a.m. for the daily floor session — and it’s now that time of year on the House side of the rotunda — time for a bridge-and-road-naming resolutions extravaganza. There’s a whopping 45 of them on today’s calendar. So get ready for some serious memorializing on the House floor.
For some time, it’s been one of my goals in life to have the most humble bridge named after me. While my contributions to West Virginia likely pale in comparison to those who served in the military or government, I am rather keen on having an my name on an unimposing sign out in the middle of nowhere — next to a walking bridge over a small creek. I’d also like this to happen while I’m still alive — you know, so I can bask in the honor and, well, also for comedic effect. I guess I’ll just have to run for a seat in the House of Delegates when I retire and hope to leave a mark there.
After postponing action on HB 4299 yesterday, the bill will be on the amendment stage today. That’s the measure that would allow K through 12 teachers to carry a concealed firearm as a “designated school protection officer.”
If naming bridges and teachers with guns isn’t enough to get you interested, you can take a look at the entire House’s active calendar here.
The Senate also gavels in for its own floor session at 11:00 a.m.
Much of the upper chamber’s work today focuses on supplemental appropriations to various state agencies and programs. But a pair of bills to protect children from online threats (cue the Law & Order: SVU sting: “dun-dun”) are up for passage in the Senate:
Eng. Com. Sub. for SB 740 - Prohibiting digital manipulation of sexually explicit content to include minors
Eng. Com. Sub. for SB 741 - Prohibiting creation, production, distribution or possession of artificially generated child pornography
Committee schedule:
Committee agendas for the day look relatively straightforward. But, if I had to pick one to watch it’d be Senate Finance, which is set to get together at 3:00 p.m.
I mention this committee because of a long-running effort to increase requirements for those receiving public assistance. And another bill that’s part of another long-running effort by women’s right advocates to expand access to feminine hygiene products:
Com. Sub. for SB 562: Expanding employment and training requirements necessary for SNAP benefits
Com. Sub. for SB 581: Requiring correctional facilities to provide free feminine hygiene products
Here’s a look at other panels meeting today and what they have mapped out:
9:15 a.m. – House Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security Committee
10:00 a.m. – House Political Subdivisions Committee
10:00 a.m. — Senate Government Organization Committee
10:00 a.m. — Senate Education Committee
10:45 a.m. – House Rules Committee
10:45 a.m. — Senate Rules Committee
1:00 p.m. – House Technology and Infrastructure Committee
1:00 p.m. — Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee
1:00 p.m. — Senate Health and Human Resources Committee
2:00 p.m. — Senate Judiciary Committee
3:00 p.m. – House Health and Human Resources Committee
3:00 p.m. – House Economic Development and Tourism 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 House of Delegates voted down a bill yesterday that would prevent parents being investigated for child abuse and neglect from homeschooling. Caity Coyne of West Virginia Watch reports, an effort to enact such a law has been around since 2019, but has never passed.
Since longtime legislative auditor Aaron Allred (who was one of the sharpest folks I ever met around the Capitol in my days there) retired, lawmakers are now taking a look at the scope of that office’s duties. WVPB’s Briana Heany has more on the Senate passing SB 687.
Ever heard of the “Governor’s Contingency Fund”? It’s ostensibly a pot of money for disaster relief. But as Henry Culvyhouse of Mountain State Spotlight reports, Gov. Jim Justice has used some of these dollars for a wide range of programs and projects.
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.
Please check out The Foundation for Government Accountability, thefga.org. This organization is writing a lot of this year's legislation in WV. It's nothing but Christian Nationalism, an oxymoron if there ever was one. I'll be donating in a few minutes.