Day 59: The penultimate day of the session
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days, your daily guide to the West Virginia Legislature.
Today is Friday, March 8, 2024 — Day 59 of the regular session.
Hard to believe we’ve made it this far. Just one more day to get through before FINAL NIGHT.
Before we get up to our usual hi-jinks, don’t be surprised when we turn back up in your inbox next week. We’ll be under a new banner — The West Virginia Weakly. And we’ll be turning on paid subscriptions as we’re planning to keep pushing out a newsletter at least once a week.
If you’ve already made a pledge of support, expect that to activate with our enduring thanks. If not, feel free to make a pledge now and rest easy knowing you’ve done your part to keep a couple of goofy public radio journalists out of debtors’ prison.
“RAW MILK bill is alive and well in the Senate today!” ~ West Virginia Watch reporter Amelia Knisely posting the other day on X, the former Twitter.
Today’s floor agenda:
With a busy calendar facing lawmakers as the clock ticks toward midnight tomorrow night, there are more important bills to deal with — but like I say, we’re kinda goofy around here.
The raw milk bill, H. B. 4911, is one of my favorites of the session, simply because it brings to mind the last time lawmakers dealt with the issue.
In 2016, several fell ill after drinking unpasteurized milk in a celebratory gesture following the legislature’s move to legalize its consumption. It’s not clear if raw milk was the culprit. A stomach bug was apparently going around the Capitol at the time. But still, it’s amusing.
Anyway, H.B. 4911 would allow raw milk to be sold in West Virginia as long as containers are clearly labeled. It would also give raw milk producers immunity from civil liability. The measure is up for a passage vote when the state Senate convenes for its floor session at 10:00 a.m. today.
In fact, all of the bills the upper chamber is considering today are on third reading as the session heats up and winds down:
Eng. H. B. 4793 - Relating to distilled liquor. It would allow people 21 and older to manufacture a regulated amount of liquor for personal or family use.
Eng. H. B. 4863 - Patriotic Access to Students in Schools Act
Eng. Com. Sub. for H. B. 4880 - Relating to personal income tax social security exemption
Eng. Com. Sub. for H. B. 4883 - Relating to increasing annual salaries of certain employees of the state. This is the pay raise bill for teachers, school service personnel, and West Virginia State Troopers. The Senate Finance Committee amended it this week to tie the raises to the triggers in state income taxes that lawmakers passed last year.
Eng. Com. Sub. for H. B. 5105 - To eliminate the vaccine requirements for public virtual schools.
Eng. Com. Sub. for H. B. 5262 - Relating generally to teacher’s bill of rights
Eng. H. J. R. 21 - Amending the Constitution to prohibit persons not United States citizens from voting in any election held within this state
In the House, Democrats yesterday tried to amend a couple of Senate-passed bills that have received a lot of attention this session:
Del. John Williams (D-Monongalia) wanted S. B. 152 — the bill that would require the U.S. motto “In God We Trust” be displayed in West Virginia schools, to also include the state motto, “Montani Semper Liberi.”
Del. Kayla Young (D-Kanawha) wanted to amend S.B. 280 — known as the “Intelligent Design” bill — to include a ban on teaching flat earth theory.
Both amendments were rejected and both bills will be up for a passage vote when the House gavels in today. Other bills we’ve been watching that are a House vote away from the legislative finish line include:
The “Women’s Bill of Rights.” Opponents say S. B. 601 is an effort to punch down on transgender people by keeping them out of public spaces such as bathrooms and locker rooms.
Com. Sub. for S. B. 841 - Setting amount of unemployment taxes and benefits. This bill would cut jobless benefits. It appeared to come up out of nowhere and despite questions about it, lawmakers seem to be on the road to passing it on to Gov. Justice.
Com. Sub. for S. B. 614 - Relating to elementary behavior intervention and safety. The bill would make it easier for teachers to remove disruptive students from their classrooms.
Com. Sub. for S. B. 740 - Prohibiting digital manipulation of sexually explicit content to include minors
Com. Sub. for S. B. 741 - Prohibiting creation, production, distribution or possession of artificially generated child pornography
Com. Sub. for S. B. 785 - Allowing Foster Care Ombudsman access to child protective records
House Active Calendar / Senate Active Calendar
Committee schedule:
As with yesterday, the committees that manage the bills you see come up on the floor are the only panel’s scheduled to meet today.
9:15 a.m. House Rules
9:45 a.m. Senate Rules
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.
After years of futility, Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo (R-Kanawha) is celebrating a legislative win. His bill to ban smoking in vehicles when kids under age 16 are present has made it through the legislative process. All it needs now is the governor’s signature. — Brad McElhinny, WVMetroNews.
“It’s about future secretaries, future governors. We don’t know who that will be in the future,” he said. “This is a fairly dangerous idea.” ~ Del. Mike Pushkin (D-Kanawha) on a bill that opponents say would threaten the independence of West Virginia Public Broadcasting. — Roger Adkins, Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Ogden Newspapers state government reporter Steven Allen Adams’s column is a few days old but still applies. It deals with the state budget and the $465-million federal obligation that threw the process for a loop.
The union that represents some 3,000 workers at 38 Kroger stores in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio says it will hold a ratification vote sometime next week. Kroger and its union workers announced a tentative agreement last night. — 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.