Day 56: The House is tackling the budget today
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days, your daily guide to the West Virginia Legislature.
It’s Tuesday, March 5, 2024 — Day 56 of the regular session. The finish line is getting closer and the 60 Days editorial board is excited to revel in the sweet, sweet words of “Sine Die” — and move on to our new endeavor, The West Virginia Weakly.
Taking a look at the Activity Calendar around the Capitol, today is Red Cross Day as well as Women and Girl’s Day. I think what they’re trying to tell us is something we’ve known all along: In the event of a disaster, it’s “women and children first.” Which reminds me of this.
With West Virginia long being been prone to natural, industrial and environmental disasters, let’s just hope today goes smoothly around Charleston and elsewhere. We wouldn’t want to have to spring into action — we’re only journalists, not heroes, after all.
As the number of days left in session continues to dwindle, there’s no better time than now to support 60 Days and our upcoming West Virginia Weakly with a coffee donation or a pledge of support through the subscription link below.
Today’s Floor Agenda:
As the state faces a potential “clawback” of hundreds of millions of dollars of COVID emergency funding (which has sparked rumblings of a special session in May), the House of Delegates will tackle the both the House and Senate versions of the budget bill. SB 200 and the committee substitute for HB 4025 are up for a passage vote this morning, but as is standard in budget debates, lawmakers will have the opportunity to propose amendments.
As lawmakers propose district pet projects and partisan priorities, expect lengthy debates and a lot of explanation from Finance Committee Chair Vernon Criss (R-Wood). Given the GOP’s wide supermajority, Democrats will likely come away with few wins in terms of line item amendments, if any.
Once all of that wraps up, one agreed-upon version of the bill will be dropped into the other and sent back over to the Senate, acting from here on out as the “vehicle” for what will become the spending bill that will be sent to the governor.
Beyond that, it’s also notable that the House has taken a couple of bills we’ve been tracking and moved them to the INACTIVE calendar.
Com. Sub. for S. B. 152 - Displaying official US motto in public schools
Com. Sub. for S. B. 292 - Hunger-Free Campus Act
Up for passage in the Senate is a slew of supplemental appropriations measures, so many that they make up the bulk of bills on third reading.
For more on what’s in store, take a look at the House and the Senate’s respective dockets.
Committee schedule:
The House Judiciary Committee will get to work at 9:30 a.m. SB 280 is among the bills on the agenda. It would let teachers go beyond evolution and discuss other ideas about the origins of life on earth, including intelligent design. Opponents say religion has no place in science classrooms.
The Senate Government Organization Committee will tackle a measure that would require most private employers in West Virginia to verify the immigration status of job applicants. HB 4759 cleared the House in late January, but the Senate Gov. Org. committee will be the first from the upper chamber to give it a look during its 2:00 p.m. meeting.
Here’s a look at the rest of what’s on the table for other committee action today:
9:30 a.m. — House Health and Human Resources Committee
9:30 a.m. — Senate Economic Development Committee
10:45 a.m. — House Rules Committee
1:00 p.m. — House Energy and Manufacturing 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 Education Committee
3:00 p.m. — House Economic Development and Tourism Committee
3:00 p.m. — Senate Judiciary Committee
3:00 p.m. — Senate Finance 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.
Brad McElhinny of WVMetroNews reports on House Finance narrowly advancing an unemployment bill that labor organizations are blasting.
Concerned about the state of high school football in West Virgnia? Henry Culvyhouse of Mountain State Spotlight reports that lawmakers have killed a bill that would have reversed last year’s move that’s blamed for leading to blowout games.
Last week, a federal judge ordered one of Gov. Jim Justice’s family businesses to surrender a helicopter for failure to pay a $13 million debt. Mike Tony of The Charleston Gazette-Mail has more.
The House Finance Committee squeezed through a bill Monday that would ban smoking in cars when children are around. SB 378 is now on to the full House for consideration. Caity Coyne of West Virginia Watch has the story.
WSAZ-TV has this story on the Calhoun County bus driver who was charged last night with a DUI and other offenses following a crash with students on board. The 60 Days editorial board did some digging and noticed HB 5597 (Relating to school bus driver charged with DUI) was introduced but never made it out of committee. We figure this story might lead to some chatter under the dome this week.
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.
You mention the Inactive Calendar - where can the public find this? Can it easily be found on the wvlegislature.gov site somewhere I am missing? Thank you!