Day 52: A special session may be coming to a legislature near you
Spoiler alert: It's the West Virginia Legislature and it's related to money.
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days, your daily guide to the West Virginia Legislature.
Today is Friday, March 1, 2024 — the 52nd day of the regular session.
Skies will be cloudy over the state Capitol today. The forecast is calling for a passing shower this afternoon with highs in the upper 50s. Take an umbrella — or not.
It’s up to you.
Today is Career Technical Education Day at the Capitol.
High school students from around the state will be hobnobbing with lawmakers and showing them the career paths they’re training for — from robotics and broadcast tech, to health care and restaurant jobs.
Maybe they’ll be roasting their own beans and offering free, fresh coffee? Journalists love that sort of thing.
Free stuff, I mean.
And coffee, too.
Today’s Agenda:
Normally we’d kick things off with the obvious — the bills that are advancing on the floor of one chamber or the other. Call it the legislative play-by-play.
But we’re switching things up because of an issue that MAY require a special session this spring. At least, that’s what lawmakers are now openly talking about.
The Legislature is constitutionally required to pass a state budget. The process, however, has been thrown out of whack — to the tune of some $465 million. The issue burst out into the open during Thursday morning’s meeting of the House Finance Committee. Committee chairman Vernon Criss (R-Wood) answered a question about the House’s version of the budget bill this way:
“We’ve been told by the federal Department of Education that we are $465 million in a clawback situation.”
That “clawback situation” has to do with federal COVID spending on education.
Brad McElhinny of WVMetroNews reports that additional tax breaks, pay raises for some state employees and surplus spending, such as the $50 million dollars for an agriculture lab at West Virginia State University, seem to be on hold amid negotiations to clear up the issue.
Gov. Justice’s chief of staff, Brian Abraham is downplaying the situation, telling WVMetroNews that federal strings on the COVID money came AFTER the money flowed into local schools. And that the way West Virginia funds education made it a challenge to keep up with those rules. He said he expects to hear soon about a conditional waiver
Abraham told the Charleston Gazette-Mail that this was an issue that cropped up last year as well and this year “we think we’re on a pathway toward a resolution with some additional expenditures of state dollars here in the state. Not giving money back to the federal government, but additional expenditures on schools."
House Finance Chair Criss told Erin Beck of Mountain State Spotlight that lawmakers didn’t know of the issue until “well into session.” But that he’s been told by the Justice Administration that negotiations should be complete by May and that lawmakers could allocate additional funding during a subsequent special session.
Get all that?
Seems to me that the crux of the issue centers on state education spending that didn’t meet federal rules for COVID money, so now state officials are having to figure out how much more to spend to meet those rules, which throws the budget picture of whack, which makes the potential for a special session this May a real possibility.
Then again, I’m easily confused. I recommend hitting those links.
Moving on to the floor agendas:
My wife would get mad at me if I didn’t mention her “Law and Order” bill. The committee substitute for S. B. 539 is one vote away from being sent to Gov. Justice. It would create a cold case database — DUN DUN. The bill is on third reading in the House today.
My wife — the dog lover — would be even more angry if I didn’t mention Senate Resolution 60 — Recognizing May 1, 2024, as Purebred Dog Day. It’s listed as “Unfinished Business” on today’s Senate Calendar.
The House has both versions of the budget bill on the floor. The Senate’s version, the committee substitute for S. B. 200 is on second reading. The House version, H. B. 4025, was passed out of the Finance Committee after the bombshell dropped on Thursday and is on first reading. But again, the budget is in flux — so, stay tuned.
The engrossed committee substitute for H. B. 4845 is on second reading in the state Senate. The bill would prohibit what’s called “swatting.” The bill would increase penalties for those who make false public alarms. Opponents say it’s not needed because current penalties are sufficient.
And that House bill that seems to target Ohio drivers is advancing on the Senate floor. The engrossed H. B. 5237 would prohibit driving slow in left lane except under certain circumstances. It’s on second reading in the Senate. Bills like this one amuse me.
Full House Active Calendar \ Full Senate Calendar
Committee schedule:
Pretty sure Dave will be jealously watching this morning’s meeting of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The panel has a number of House-passed bridge naming resolutions on its agenda. I’ll list them all here just to drive Dave crazy. (Dave tells me he might have someone that could to hook him up with a small walking bridge named after him in his native Wood County. It may get no recognition from the Legislature, which is what he really wants. But he’s still all in on this goofy idea.)
CS for HCR 6 - U.S. Army Staff Sgt. James Ira "Junior" Spurrier Memorial Bridge.
HCR 47 - U.S. Army SGT John Claude Roby Memorial Bridge.
HCR 49 - U.S. Air Force Airman 11st Class Willis "Arnold" Karickhoff Memorial Bridge.
HCR 67 - Kenneth R. Lucas Memorial Bridge.
HCR 21 - Louie Patton Memorial Bridge.
Now that Dave is all riled up about bridges, here’s the rest of the House committee schedule.
9:00 a.m. - House Finance Committee
9:00 a.m. - House Government Organization Committee
9:30 a.m. - House Judiciary Committee
10:45 a.m. - House Rules
The remainder of Senate Committees meeting today have no exact start time as of yet, but here’s a look at which panels we do know are getting together:
TBA (15 minutes after the floor session) - Senate Economic Development Committee
TBA (15 minutes after the floor session) - Senate Military Committee
TBA - (15 minutes after the Military Committee meeting) Outdoor Recreation Committee
TBA - (15 minutes after the Outdoor Recreation Committee meeting) Senate Workforce Committee:
The only bill on Workforce’s agenda is H.B. 5159. This is the bill that would eliminate work permit requirements for 14 and 15-year olds. It has links to the Foundation for Government Accountability, a conservative group based in Florida. Supporters say the measure puts parents in charge of work decisions for their children. Opponents say it could make it easier to exploit the labor of children and that it does little to address West Virginia’s workforce participation issues.
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.
Amelia Ferrell Knisely of West Virginia Watch reports on the bill banning “non-binary” on state birth certificates is heading to Gov. Jim Justice’s desk.
The staff at Mountain State Spotlight has this roundup of winners and losers now that “Crossover Day” is in the rearview mirror.
Mike Tony at the Charleston Gazette-Mail has this report on House passage of a bill that would allow coal companies to slash severance tax liability.
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.
Are the links for today active???