The Ultimate Pre-Session Update
It's the "ultimate" because it's the last one before we do this for real.
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days — grab a coffee and cozy up to your phone, tablet or computer (or the sheet of paper you printed this off on, if you actually did that).
There are only two days until the 86th West Virginia Legislature convenes for its first regular session on January 11th.
(That’s just a formal — and somewhat nerdy — way of saying there was an election in November and a new class of lawmakers will have 60 days carved out to make policy for West Virginia citizens starting Wednesday. Come 2024, it’ll be the second regular session of the 86th Legislature — and after that year’s election there’ll be an 87th Legislature, which will have two regular sessions. And so on and so forth…)
By the way: this is the final pre-session update from us before things get rolling. So, hopefully, we’ll pack some punch into this one, get you up to speed — and ready to run the 60-day marathon alongside us.
Which is also a good time to mention — having done this before in a much more intensive way (reporting, writing and producing for TV, radio and digital platforms) — I am now very seriously questioning why I let Giles talk me into this endeavor in the first place.
This newsletter is certainly toned down from my old job where I’d be on the ground in Charleston for every day of the session — but to have agreed to take this on is still somewhat intimidating for me.
Honestly, every session is intimidating and a total whirlwind. So, really, I say that now because I’ve signed up to hit a deadline at least a couple times a week. And, well, it’s been a little while for me.
Luckily, over the course of the pandemic, I’ve invested a lot (some might argue too much) in my home office/studio.
Some of that stuff in the photo belongs to my current employer, but most of it is equipment I figured would make my real job more efficient — and it’s stuff I wanted to have around for projects like this. (Really, I’m just a tech nerd. The comically large clock amuses me tremendously — and is there mostly to add to my radio-guy quirk.)
I’ll just need to remind myself to hit record on the committee meetings I’ll be tuning into — and to click the right buttons at the right time so we can quote people when news happens.
So, make all this effort worth it for Giles and me — and buy us a coffee or two, will you?
From Wednesday on out (have I mentioned that Wednesday is Day 1?), we’ll be dropping updates in your inbox Monday through Friday mornings until the session culminates on Day 60 — which happens to always land on a Saturday.
Admittedly, we haven’t quite figured out what to do with the end of the session yet — considering Giles anchors newscasts starting at 5 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and that’s right about when I am getting off from my overnight shift.
Believe it or not, coherence is a commodity for newspeople (hence the asking for caffeine all of the time) — so we might take Day 60 off from our real jobs. We’ll have to see if we can swing it.
Anyway, let’s recap the past week and take the session one day at a time, as we’ve promised.
Gov. Justice teases another tax reform proposal
In his latest (once-daily-then-less-frequently-and-now-weekly) briefing on the state’s response to the coronavirus, Gov. Jim Justice teased out yet another proposal to lower income taxes for West Virginians.
While he offered no specifics, Justice promised more details when he delivers his State of the State address as the session kicks off. (That’s the evening of the first day of the session — Wednesday, January 11 at 7 p.m., to be exact.)
“I want everybody to stay really close in tune to what we say that night,” he said. “Absolutely, we’ll be announcing the biggest tax cuts in the history of this state, hands down.”
Under previous governors and their administrations, reporters would get a sneak peek at the State of the State speech — at least on the day-of. But Gov. Justice has played it differently — at least for his annual speeches so far.
There have been no heads-up, embargoed transcripts “as prepared for delivery” (which is a common phrase in the biz) for reporters to get a jump start on getting their stories together ahead of deadline.
Instead, Justice has delivered off-the-cuff — yet arguably rather focused — orations that have been highlighted by props (the tackle box and the axe come to mind, and there have been whiteboards aplenty) and at least one moment that made national news. (Remember when Justice used his Bulldog’s, uh, rear-end to throw some shade towards Bette Midler last year?)
All of the governor’s spontaneoussness aside, his ambition to reform taxes will likely be a big focus again this session. This latest mention of proposed tax reform comes after years of efforts on Justice’s part (that link will take you to a story I did almost two years ago, but it proves my point that this issue has been discussed for a while). There have been other ideas — namely, from Senate Republicans — that haven’t made it across the finish line and into state code or the constitution. (Example: the failed Amendment 2, which was championed by GOP Senators.)
Justice said at last week’s briefing that he’s stands ready “to talk and to compromise” to make something happen. He also said discussions between his office and House leaders have left him optimistic.
But the governor did allude to some tensions with Republicans in the Senate on the issue.
“I think if we’re adults, absolute adults — and, at times, people have a struggle and a hard time with being an adult and not being a child that’s absolutely just trying to hit out because you lost something, or whatever it may be,” Justice said. “If we can be real adults and we can absolutely have conversations that are meaningful and we don’t get bogged down with needless stuff — childish stuff — the momentum is unbelievable right now.”
Governor rebrands briefings, moves away from coronavirus as the focus
Also during last week’s briefing, Justice made mention that his regular news conferences would be rebranded as “Justice Administration Update Briefings” rather than be billed as being focused on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In the “Before Times” (what I like to call the pre-COVID era), Justice conducted some in-person news conferences. Namely, to discuss the negotiations aiming at ending the teacher strikes of 2018 and 2019 and other big hub-bubs around the Capitol.
But, really, the pandemic was when Justice stepped into the spotlight on the regular. He was praised by national media as being a forerunner in getting vaccines distributed across the state and, generally, taking the whole situation rather seriously.
As the pandemic continued, he did get some pushback from members of the media for not allowing reporters in the room during briefings — especially as he rolled back restrictions on what kinds of businesses could reopen and where (and how many) folks could wander indoors in public.
Regardless, Justice said last week he’ll continue to read aloud the home counties and ages of those who die of COVID (he’s done that for the more than 7,600 West Virginians that have died of the disease so far). But, he said, he wants to focus on other goings-on in state government.
The governor said he’ll invite other heads of his administration to join briefings to speak about what’s happening in their respective realms.
“If, by chance, this thing turns tough again and it really, really, really gets going — then we’ll go back to a purely COVID briefing.” Justice said. “But this way, it gives us the opportunity to reflect on all the things that are happening all across the state.”
One can imagine — at least over the course of the session — Justice will talk and take questions about what’s happening upstairs in the House and Senate. We hope so, considering the governor plays no small role in policy overall, given that his office wields veto power. But, then again, these super-duper mega majorities could override any potential vetoes, if they remain united.
Senate leaders send letter to interim head of DHHR
The agency that runs public heath, child welfare and a whole bunch of other aspects of wellbeing in West Virginia has continued to make news. This past week was no different.
In a letter to Interim Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources Dr. Jeff Coben (who also serves as the Dean of West Virginia University’s School of Public Health), a coalition of Republican high-profile senators (including Senate President Craig Blair, Minority Leader Tom Takubo, Judiciary Chair Charles Trump and Finance Chair Eric Tarr) outlining some suggestions for the newly appointed department head.
As we’ve mentioned before in this newsletter (we’ve not been at it very long, as you know, so a call back seems rather remarkable), Justice vetoed a bill following the last session that would have split the agency in two.
Just recently, President Blair told WVMetroNews he sees an opportunity to divide the agency into three parts with three separate secretaries.
So, it remains to be seen if lawmakers come up with a plan to fix the beleaguered agency — one in which the governor is amenable to — this session.
“[W]est Virginia’s children and families have suffered from critical failures in the agency you now lead. A lot of work has gone into fixing these problems, but we must have outcomes,” the top Senate Republicans wrote at the end of the letter to Coben. “We are pleased the Administration has joined the Legislature in realizing the status quo cannot continue and we look forward to working collaboratively on solutions moving forward.”
Final round of interims set the stage for session
As is customary in the run-up to a new session — and as freshmen-and-women wait to be officially sworn in on Day 1 — lawmakers from the 85th Legislature (the-current-soon-be-outdated group) are getting their last chance to weigh in during interim committee meetings.
Those meetings kicked off yesterday and will wrap up as the session kicks off.
We’ll try to squeeze in some news from those panels come Wednesday if anything makes headlines, but we’ll really be looking ahead to session proper.
That does it for me.
(I started to type “That does it for me this week.” but then I realized that’s not the case at all. It’s very much NOT it from me — or Giles — this week.)
Things will get very real TWO DAYS from now and, as I already said, I’m not overly convinced I’m prepared for it.
But I’ll keep reminding myself this is a marathon and not a sprint. I’ll also try to hit the right buttons at the right time so we can deliver the goods for all y’all.