Day Eight: DHHR split, governor's tax cut plan move forward in the House
And there was quite the discussion in Senate Finance over the governor's proposed budget.
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days.
It’s Wednesday, January 18th, 2023 — the eighth day of the West Virginia Legislature’s regular session.
Before we get started today, I just want to say thanks to everyone for the kind words about this endeavor Giles and I have taken up. From the donated coffees to the tweets and all the other feedback we’ve gotten, we're grateful for people trusting us with this stuff and, generally, being nice to us.
It really does mean a lot and we hope to keep growing this thing as much as we can.
But we’d be kidding ourselves if we didn’t also encourage folks to read, listen to and watch coverage from other sources. As people in the news business, we get our information from a lot of places. We think that’s the best way to understand most anything — and it spurs thought and conversation.
Before we dig in on actual legislative activity, we should probably note that Gov. Jim Justice has tested positive for COVID-19. This makes his second go-around with the coronavirus and should serve as a reminder that the pandemic is very much still ongoing.
According to a news release from the governor’s office, Justice is being treated by several physicians, including his family physician Dr. Gary Poling, DO and state coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh, MD.
As a person who had COVID in May and has felt the real impact of the disease at home in other ways, it’s impossible not to acknowledge how serious it can be. That all said, we very much wish the governor a speedy recovery.
The timing of the governor’s diagnosis comes as at least one of his major proposals has gained some traction in the House, but faces challenges in the Senate.
The Governor’s income tax reduction plan will be on third reading this morning in the House. Yesterday, lawmakers decided to advance the measure, HB 2526, with a right to amend.
Such a move isn’t uncommon and gives lawmakers an extra day to read through the bill a bit more closely and think through any changes they might want to propose.
As they were gaveling in yesterday, I noticed there were no amendments pending in the system, which seemed rather curious — especially considering this is such a big proposal. One would guess that someone (or a group of someones) would offer some changes.
It’s likely any potential amendments will be ready for public view by the time delegates get back on the floor this morning. (I don’t know why, but typing the phrase “get back on the floor” made me imagine a bunch of lawmakers dancing.)
Democrats in the House have already scheduled a news conference for 10:45 a.m. — just before the floor session — to talk about the tax cut bill and will likely draw attention to a forthcoming amendment. The minority caucus says they’ll stream it on their Facebook page.
All of that said, I would expect quite a lot of discussion as the House considers potential changes to the bill before putting it up for passage.
The fate of this bill over in the Senate — with leaders there and Justice remaining at odds over tax reform — seems, well, compromised. But it’s still a long way to Day 60 and there is plenty of time for bargaining chips to materialize.
The House Health and Human Resources Committee tackled another marquee item yesterday.
In a quick afternoon meeting, lawmakers on the panel moved a strike-and-insert version of HB 2006 down the line.
The measure would split the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources into three separate agencies with three separate secretaries. Under the bill, the current monolith of DHHR would become the Department of Health, the Department of Healthcare Facilities and the Department of Human Services.
Del. Matthew Rohrbach (R-Cabell) noted that the beleaguered agency is by far the largest in the state when federal dollars are included. He also said that lawmakers often hear from constituents about inefficiencies within the agency.
“I would contend to you that agency that is this large is far too large for any one individual to have their handle around,” Rohrbach said.
He later called the splitting of the agency “long overdue.”
Del. Mike Pushkin (D-Kanawha), who serves as the minority chair on House Health, noted that similar efforts from prior legislatures — including a bill vetoed by the governor last year — failed to become law.
Pushkin did have some questions about the bill — namely, why some offices were placed in one potential agency over another. But in the end, his concerns seemed to be trumped by the larger issues that have plagued DHHR and he threw his support behind moving the measure forward.
“We all agree that there is a problem. We’re getting poor public health outcomes in West Virginia, to say the least.” Pushkin said. “I think this is a good first step. I think there have been some real culture problems inside the department.”
HB 2006 (the current version will become available online once it is reported to the clerk) will make its next stop in the House Finance Committee.
There was also quite the fuss in the Senate Finance Committee yesterday, as Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy explained the governor’s proposed budget.
Given the governor’s work to kill Amendment 2 last year — and his planned tax cuts clashing with the GOP Senate’s own ideas — it made for quite the back-and-forth. At one point, Sen. Rupie Phillips (R-Logan) accused the Justice administration of going to his home county and calling the Senate “crooks” as the governor’s office worked to fight off Amendment 2.
We highly suggest taking it all in for yourself. So, get the popcorn ready and listen back to or watch the archive of that meeting. (Things really got going around 4:43 p.m., which you can jump to on the menu on the right side of that page.)
WVMetroNews also has a great recap of all the recent movements on tax reform ideas and the state budget.
Both the House and Senate will gavel in today at 11 a.m.
Looking ahead to committee meetings already confirmed (you can click on the links for each committee to see the full agendas, though some are simply organizational):
9 a.m. — House Committee on Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services, Room 460-M
9:30 a.m. — House Political Subdivisions, Room 410-M
10 a.m. — House Veterans’ Affairs and Homeland Security, Room 215-E
2 p.m. — House Committee on Education, Room 432-M
3 p.m. — House Committee on Government Organization, Room 215-E
As a couple of Marshall grads, we’d be remiss without mentioning that a bill to establish Nov. 14 (the anniversary of the 1970 Marshall football team plane crash) as a state holiday is on the agenda.
Over on the Senate side, the following panels will get together today:
1 p.m. — Senate Committee on Economic Development, Room 451-M
2 p.m. — Senate Committee on Outdoor Recreation, Room 208-W
2 p.m. — Senate Committee on Pensions, Room 451-M
This agenda features a bill calling for a one-time retirement bonus for state employees.
3 p.m. — Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 208-W
For this one, we’re taking note of a bill that would allow guns on college campuses — an issue that’s lingered around the statehouse for quite some time.
3 p.m. — Senate Committee on Finance, 451-M
Finally, we couldn’t help but point to this photo from legislative photographer Perry Bennett of WVU men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins. Yesterday, Huggins was recognized by the Legislature for his illustrious coaching career. Here’s the link to the resolution congratulating Huggins on his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame back in September.
That does it for me today.
With Giles and I both off from our regular gigs tomorrow, I guess we’ll flip a coin to see who’ll be delivering tomorrow morning’s edition of the newsletter. (It’s kind of difficult for us to arm wrestle one another, given the distance between Martinsburg and Morgantown — and, well, I’m a weakling, anyway.)
Regardless, we’ll see you in your inboxes.