Day 48: The debate over gender-affirming care is back before the House
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days, your daily guide to the West Virginia Legislature.
Today is Monday, February 26, 2024 — the 48th day of the regular session.
It could be cloudy. It could be sunny. Just depends on when you look out the window at the state Capitol today. The forecast says there could be some rain in Charleston, but the chances seem squishy to me. I’d be willing to bet that you can get away with leaving the umbrella at home, but don’t blame me if you soaked. Highs around 67-degrees.
Today is Nurses Day at the Capitol.
Nurses and nursing students from across West Virginia will be lobbying lawmakers — and maybe giving IV’s to those who are dehydrated from a late night at the Red Carpet.
Take it from Dave, whose partner is an emergency room nurse, those folks put up with a lot — from unruly patients to trying to keep a straight face while attempting to dislodge objects from places they weren’t exactly intended to go.
Nurses were also on the frontlines of the worst years of the COVID-19 pandemic, while many of us plopped down on the couch in isolation with little worry.
So, cheers to all of the nurses. We hope you have someone like Dave to tell all about the weirdness you experienced during your long shift, how your feet hurt — and that there’s someone to fill your reusable water bottle a dozen-plus times a day.
Speaking of water bottle-filling duties, Dave does that for free — and is almost always asked when he JUST got comfortable on the couch. Consider a donation to 60 Days to make up for all of Dave’s free labor at home:
Today’s Floor Agenda:
We usually pay more attention to what’s on third reading on any given day. There’s something about a bill that’s about to be passed that demands to be noticed. But today, it’s worth pointing your attention to a measure that’s turning up on the House floor for the first time.
The committee substitute for HB 5297 takes up where the debate over gender-affirming care left off last year.
The bill sponsored by Del. Geoff Foster (R-Putnam) would do away with the exception made in last year’s bill that banned gender-affirming care for those under age 18. That exception allows doctors to prescribe medications to adolescents diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria in order to prevent self-harm.
Henry Culvyhouse of Mountain State Spotlight reports that House Health Chair Amy Summers (R-Taylor) put the measure on her panel’s agenda on Friday, two days after the deadline for anyone to request a public hearing.
Steven Allen Adams, the state government reporter for Ogden Newspapers, points out that House Health took up and advanced the bill on Friday in order for it be on third reading to meet Wednesday’s “Crossover Day” deadline.
Not for nothing, the engrossed committee substitute for HB 4233 is advancing on the Senate floor. The bill that would prohibit “non-binary” on West Virginia birth certificates will be on second reading today.
Also on the Senate floor, the engrossed committee substitute for SB 190 is among the bills up for a passage vote.
The bill would remove the marriage exemption to first and third-degree sexual assault.
Monongalia County’s prosecutor told Senate Judiciary that the exemption is a barrier to prosecution. Opponents voiced concerns about false reporting and “he said, she said” situations.
A similar bill is in the House Judiciary Committee.
Committee schedule:
The CROWN ACT, SB 496, seems to have hit a roadblock in the form of Senate Finance Chair Eric Tarr (R-Putnam). Tarr successfully diverted the measure to his panel on Friday after the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced it to the floor for the first time since supporters started introducing the proposal a few years ago. The bill would prohibit racial discrimination based on hair textures or hairstyles. If Tarr’s committee signs off on it, it would be on second reading when it gets back to the floor. The timing of all of that matters, because it needs to clear the full Senate by Wednesday’s “Crossover Day” deadline. But it’s not on the Finance Committee’s agenda for the meeting scheduled at 3 p.m.
9:45 a.m. - House Rules
9:30 a.m. - House Political Subdivisions
10:00 a.m. - Senate Economic Development
1:00 p.m. - House Government Organization
1:00 p.m. - Senate Transportation and Infrastructure
2:00 p.m. - House Education
2:00 p.m. - Senate Banking
2:30 p.m. - House Judiciary
3:00 P.M. - Senate Judiciary (Agenda TBA)
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.
State Economic Development Secretary Mitch Carmichael is calling the decision by Allegheny Wood Products to cease operations “very sudden and unfortunate.” The move throws some 600 employees out of work. The AWP announcement came late Friday as Jeff Jenkins at WVMetroNews reports.
West Virginia AFL-CIO President Josh Sword is calling the Senate Finance Committee’s decision to advance two bills that would restrict unemployment benefits “quite possibly the most heartless act” he’s seen in his 25 years of representing working people at the Capitol. The panel advanced the bills to the floor on Saturday a day after AWP’s decision to close its doors and less than two weeks after 900 layoffs at the Cleveland Cliffs plant in Weirton. Lori Kersy reports for West Virginia Watch.
Here’s Phil Kabler’s latest Statehouse Beat column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. As we’ve said before, Kabler is required reading each week for anyone interest West Virginia politics.
And this has nothing to do with the legislature, but get your calendar out. There are a few MONSTER celebrations to take note of. Move over Mothman — WBOY-TV has this list of every monster festival scheduled in West Virginia this year.
Also in the category of “unrelated to the legislature but West Virginia-centric” is a Netflix docuseries that debuts this week. American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders tells the story of freelance journalist Danny Casolaro, who was found dead in a Martinsburg hotel in 1991 while investigating a conspiracy he called “The Octupus.” The Journal’s Tom Markland has a story on the upcoming series, which apparently focuses on Casolaro’s work digging into a string of murders and the election of Ronald Reagan, among other weirdness. We’re intrigued, to say the least.
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.
