Day 45: A tax cut deal seems to be emerging
And the latest version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act gets a public hearing this afternoon
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days.
Today is Friday, February 24th, 2023 — the 45th day of the West Virginia Legislature’s regular session.
As Dave noted yesterday, the pace is picking up. In fact, state lawmakers completed work this week on one of the major issues they telegraphed before the session began in January — the overhaul of the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
H.B. 2006 splits the sprawling department into three separate agencies with their own cabinet level secretaries. The Legislature sent it to Gov. Justice’s desk on Wednesday.
Make no mistake, though — things are only going to heat up from here.
Remember tax cuts?
Governor Justice and Senate leaders are in a standoff, but it may be easing. We’ll have more on that in a second, but the competing tax cut plans are just one major issue still percolating as final night looms on March 11th, in just about two weeks.
And THAT means Dave and I are going to need plenty of coffee between now and then.
We’ll sleep when the session’s over.
One milepost that’s driving a sense of urgency among lawmakers is the rule aimed at ensuring bills receive three full days of readings on the floor - meaning, they must be reported out committees in their house of origin by the 47th day.
That’s Sunday, and sources placed deep inside the legislative labyrinth tell 60 Days that the House and Senate will be in session while you sleep in on a Saturday.
Of course, the three-days-three-floor-readings rule can be and sometimes is suspended, as we’ve already seen this session. Nevertheless, lawmakers gathering over the weekend would be an effort to push as many bills forward as possible.
The Senate Finance Committee sent the Governor’s tax cut plan to the floor on Thursday.
At first, the move seemed curious. After all, Senate leaders have proposed their own plan to return money to West Virginia taxpayers. They say their ideas are more responsible than Gov. Justice’s proposal to cut the personal income tax by 50% percent over three years.
But the maneuver starts to make sense when you take into account the deadlines on the legislative calendar.
Senate leaders likely want a vehicle ready to amend if/when a deal emerges. And, according to House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, an agreement might come as early as next week. WVMetroNews has a story on Hanshaw’s comments about a possible agreement.
Plot twist: The tax cut standoff between Governor Justice and Senate leaders got some national attention this week. On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece supporting Justice’s plan and calling opposition to it “misguided.”
Hat tip to WVMetroNews reporter Brad McElhinny for drawing my attention to it.
Speaking of tax cuts: West Virgnia Senator Joe Manchin visited the state Capitol this week and urged caution.
Manchin cautions Legislature on tax cut | WVMetroNews
And speaking of Governor Justice, he’s planning to be in Weirton this afternoon to sign the Form Energy Bill. The Wheeling Intelligencer newspaper says he’s holding a bill signing at 2:30 p.m.
Justice Coming To Weirton Friday To Sign Form Energy Bill | The Intelligencer
If you happen to be at the state Capitol this afternoon, stop by the House chamber. The Judiciary Committee is holding another public hearing, this one on H.B. 3402. The latest version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act — or, RFRA, for short — was sent to the House floor this week.
At least 20 states have some version of RFRA on the books after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal law passed by Congress 30 years ago and signed by President Bill Clinton only applies to the federal government. This bill would ensure religious protection from interference from state or local governments.
The last time the West Virginia Legislature considered a RFRA law it was rejected. That was in 2016, so passage this time around would mark a victory for social conservatives.
Opponents worry it will be used to discriminate, especially against those from the LGBTQ community.
Ogden Newspapers State Government Reporter Steven Allen Adams lays out RFRA’s history in West Virgnia and the arguments for and against it here.
If you want to speak at the public hearing, sign up begins at 3:30 p.m. The hearing gets underway a half-hour later in the House chamber. If you’re stuck at work or can’t otherwise be there in person, do what Dave and I do — view it here.
RFRA will be on first reading on the House floor today, but it’s just one of a whole slew of bills on the agenda as the Republican majority tries to keep as many in play as the calendar allows. You can find the complete floor agenda here.
Here are the bills at the passage stage:
Com. Sub. for H. B. 2252 - Relating to establishing criminal penalties for human trafficking
Com. Sub. for H. B. 2761 - To allow classroom aides with 10 or more years of service and good evaluations to bid on teaching positions
Com. Sub. for H. B. 2865 - To clarify that the PSC may enter an order requiring corrective measures up to and including an acquisition of a distressed or failing utility
H. B. 3188 - Relating to the establishment of an alert system for missing cognitively impaired persons
Com. Sub. for H. B. 3189 - The PFAS Protection Act
Com. Sub. for H. B. 3198 - Relating to obtaining title to abandoned or junked motor vehicles abandoned on the property or place of business of an automobile dealer
Com. Sub. for H. B. 3247 - Relating to abuse and or neglect of individuals with an intellectual and or developmental disability
Com. Sub. for H. B. 3265 - Remove statutory mandates that the sheriff of a county shall serve process or is responsible for cost of service or arrest by another law enforcement agency
H. B. 3417 - Including Potomac State College in the definition of community and technical college education program for participation in the “Learn and Earn Program”
H. B. 3448 - Relating generally to probation officer field training
H. B. 3499 - To permit joint tenancy with rights of survivorship when transfer on death deeds specify a joint tenancy with right of survivorship
H. B. 3555 - Relating to student purchase and refunds of course material
The House committee schedule looks like this:
9 a.m. – the Judiciary Committee will meet in the committee meeting room, 410M
9 a.m. – the Committee on Finance will meet in the committee meeting room, 460M
10:45 a.m. – the Committee on Rules will meet behind the Chamber
The Senate is convening its floor session at 11 a.m. today. You can find the full floor agenda here.
Bills on third reading include S. B. 268 — the measure that addresses the troubled Public Employees Insurance Agency. It makes some cost-cutting moves such as changing benefits for spouses and raising premiums.
Here are the other bills at the passage stage:
Eng. Com. Sub. for Com. Sub. for S. B. 79 - Relating to compensable diseases of certain firefighters covered by workers' compensation
Eng. Com. Sub. for Com. Sub. for S. B. 268 - Relating to PEIA
Eng. Com. Sub. for S. B. 423 - Increasing salary for certain state employees
Eng. Com. Sub. for S. B. 554 - Exempting purchases made by Auditor and WV Enterprise Resource Planning Board from certain provisions of WV code (original similar to HB3262)
Eng. Com. Sub. for S. B. 616 - WV Veterans' Home Loan Mortgage Program of 2023
Eng. Com. Sub. for S. B. 617 - Relating to Intellectual and Development Disabilities Waiver Program Workforce Study
Eng. Com. Sub. for S. B. 646 - Creating emeritus physician license
Eng. Com. Sub. for S. B. 649 - Authorizing Berkeley County Council to change its name to Berkeley County Commission
Eng. Com. Sub. for S. B. 656 - Verifying legal employment status of workers to governmental agencies
Eng. Com. Sub. for S. B. 657 - WV Long-Term Care Insurance Act
Eng. S. B. 678 - Adding appropriations to DHHR, Division of Human Services
Eng. Com. Sub. for S. B. 730 - Expanding authority of Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability
And here is the Senate Committee Schedule:
9 a.m. Agriculture & Natural Resources (Room 208W)
10:50 a.m. Rules (Room 219M)
15 minutes following Floor Session: Judiciary (208W)
SB 647: Changing time on child abuse registry for certain persons
SB 123: Creating enhanced penalties for fleeing officer
SB 197: Creating Paid Parental Leave Pilot Program
The following links are to a few stories Dave and I think are important but didn’t have the bandwidth to mention this week:
West Virginia Senate OKs bills to alter elections process | AP News
House passes bills limiting treatment beds, extending Tax Increment Financing | wvgazettemail.com (paywall)
Correctional officer locality pay bill heads to West Virginia Senate floor | WV News | wvnews.com
Trans WV residents often afraid to seek health care | mountainstatespotlight.org
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Correction: An earlier version of this briefing misidentified the 47th day of the regular session as falling on Saturday, February 25th. In fact, the 47th day is Sunday, February 26th.