Day 49: The Crossover Day Crunch is upon us
The 60 Days editorial board had its own crunch headed into this morning.
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days, your daily guide to the West Virginia Legislature.
It’s Tuesday, February 27, 2024 — Day 49 of the 60-day session. With less than two weeks to go, we’re now officially in the home stretch. “Crossover Day” is also tomorrow, which means we’re all in for a busy few days.
Strap in.
With today being Concord University Day, I (Dave) will share a few random tidbits about the school:
Longtime syndicated talk radio show host Alan Handelman started CU’s campus station, known at the time as WAVZ. I grew up listening to Handelman’s show airing on Z106 out of Parkersburg. Rock Talk focused on rock ‘n’ roll mythologies, U.F.O.’s and off-the-wall conspiracies — the perfect dose of weirdness for an adolescent obsessed with the radio. As a student at Marshall University, I got a chance to interview Handleman for a term paper on censorship in the media. My dad was immensely proud.
And a few lifetimes ago, long before I got my own start in the radio business, I worked for a non-profit that helped low-income and first-generation college students apply to and find funds for college. I traveled to campuses all over the U.S. to help run workshops. As my teammates and I were preparing for a workshop on CU’s campus in June 2009, news broke of Michael Jackson’s death. There were calls for a “code red” to shut the operation down (even before the soon-to-be high school seniors even arrived) and give everyone a chance to digest that news. We thought about stopping before we’d gotten enough, I guess.
Also, our good friend, fellow former WVPB newsman, Mountain Stage co-founder and 60 Days subscriber Andy Ridenour went to Concord. Cheers, Andy, we’re thinking of you.
On a much more serious note, it’s also Domestic Violence Awareness Day.
We have no jokes or stories about that one, obviously.
Today’s Floor Agenda:
After a long Monday that featured a split floor session and a more than two hour debate on a House bill that would weaken West Virginia’s childhood immunization laws, delegates are due back in the chamber an hour-and-a-half earlier than usual — at 9:30 a.m.
Call it the “Crossover Day” crunch. After all, lawmakers are aiming to meet that deadline to approve bills and get them across the rotunda.
By the way, the 60 Days editorial board had its own crunch to deal with. Both of us had to work our real jobs last night, but that’s neither here nor there. Just telling you in case this morning’s newsletter seems more abbreviated than usual.
That said, aside from the handful of naming resolutions for roads and bridges that makes Dave envious, the House has a long list of bills to get across the “Crossover Day” deadline. They include the following measures we’ve been watching:
Notable bills on third reading, the passage stage:
Rev. Com. Sub. for H. B. 4621 -Relating to the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation posting booking photographs of an accused person.
Com. Sub. for H. B. 4963 - Prohibiting the use of deep fake technology to influence an election
H. B. 5237 - Prohibiting driving slow in left lane except under certain circumstances [Right to Amend]
Com. Sub. for H. B. 5516 - Relating to criminalizing the use of deep fakes
Notable bills on second reading:
Com. Sub. for H. B. 4734 - To provide a pay increase to state correctional workers in West Virginia
Com. Sub. for H. B. 4883 - Relating to increasing annual salaries of certain employees of the state
Com. Sub. for H. B. 5297 - Relating to prohibiting pubertal modulation and hormonal therapy when provided to assist in a gender transition
Com. Sub. for H. B. 5358 - Creating an ombudsman program within the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation to review complaints against a state agency or correctional facility.
Com. Sub. for H. B. 5609 - Relating to confidentiality of child care records and the Foster Care Ombudsman
Com. Sub. for H. B. 5623 - Relating to absentee voting
The Senate’s floor session is scheduled to begin at the usual time — at 11 a.m. — and there are a few bills to note:
The engrossed committee substitute for the committee substitute for S. B. 468 will be up for a passage vote.
This is the former Baby Olivia bill. When it was introduced it required West Virginia 8th graders to view a video produced by the nonprofit, anti-abortion group Live Action.
Correction: An earlier version of this newsletter reported that references to the Baby Olivia video had been deleted from the bill. It was— but we somehow missed that it had been put back in through an amendment offered by Senate Education Chair Amy Grady (R-Mason). We regret the error.
The Senate also seems to be on track to pass a couple of bills restricting unemployment benefits by tomorrow’s “Crossover Day.”
SB 840 and the committee substitute for SB 841 were advanced to the floor over the weekend and will be on second reading today.
The West Virginia AFL-CIO calls the measures “cruel legislation” that would “take away critical unemployment benefits from West Virginia workers who've been laid off due to no fault of their own.”
The Senate Finance Committee advanced the bills to the floor on Saturday a day after the decision by Allegheny Wood Products to close its doors and layoff some 600 workers and less than two weeks after 900 layoffs at the Cleveland Cliffs plant in Weirton.
Committee schedule:
There’s yet another public hearing on deck, with the House Government Organization Committee focused on SB 714. The measure would transfer duties and licensing from the Board of Osteopathic Medicine to the Board of Medicine. The hearing is being held at 4:30 p.m., but not in its usual spot in the House Chamber. Lawmakers on the panel will hear from members of the public in their normal committee room on the East Wing, 215E.
9:15 a.m. — House Rules Committee
10:00 a.m. — Senate Government Organization Committee
10:00 a.m. — Senate Education Committee
1:00 p.m. — Senate Health and Human Resources Committee
3:00 p.m. — Senate Judiciary Committee
3:00 p.m. — Senate Finance Committee
3:00 p.m. — House Economic Development and Tourism Committee
Speaking of the “Crossover Day Crunch,” House leadership scheduled the remaining committee meetings around the floor sessions, not knowing how long they might stretch today.
45 minutes after the floor session — House Finance Committee
One hour after the floor session — House Technology and Infrastructure 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 lead sponsor for HB 5105, Delegate Laura Kimble (R-Harrison) calls it “a little bill with a little change to a mandate.” Kimble’s measure that would weaken West Virginia’s childhood immunization laws is now in the hands of the Senate. Brad McIlhinny of WVMetroNews reports on Monday’s 57-41 House vote after almost two hours of debate.
Erin Beck of Mountain State Spotlight reports on the school discipline bills that are advancing this session. She talked to advocates who “worry the legislation will make it easier to kick kids out of class when they’re only displaying symptoms of disabilities.”
Del. Mike Pushkin (D-Kanawha) told West Virginia Watch that the crisis in West Virginia’s foster care system “needs to be addressed.” Instead he said “it’s an election year so we get the easy bills for them to pass — the same ole election year, red meat, culture war crap.” The Watch’s Amelia Ferrell Knisely reports that so far, lawmakers have failed to substantively address foster care.
With “Crossover Day” looming, Steven Allen Adams of Ogden Newspapers, has this assessment of the legislative session in his Reporter’s Notebook column.
The union representing Kroger workers says results from a vote this week on a potential work stoppage will be announced on Friday. Union members at 38 stores in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio are to vote on Kroger’s latest contract offer. Officials with the United Food & Commercial Workers Union are urging members to reject the offer as Fred Pace reports for the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
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.
Re: SB 468 - References to the Baby Olivia video had been removed by the Rules Committee, but an amendment offered yesterday by Sen. Amy Grady put the video back in the bill. You can see the amendment (sb468 sfa grady _1 2-23 adopted.htm) and the roll call vote on the amendment on the bill history page.