For all the partisan rhetoric, the just-completed 60-day regular session of the Legislature was, in some ways, one of the most bipartisan in the last several years. Consider these unofficial numbers put together by the state Senate Government Organization Committee.
The Legislature passed a total of 261 bills this session; 135 originated in the Senate while 126 came from the House. Fifteen percent of the bills passed have Democrats as primary sponsors, while 19 percent were bipartisan and 66 percent were Republican bills.*
That sounds like a significant disparity between the two parties, until you compare them with previous years when Democrats held the majority at the statehouse.
Last year, the Legislature approved only four Republican bills, representing just two percent of all the bills passed. In 2013, only one percent (three bills) of all bills passed were sponsored by Republicans.
In 2012, the Legislature passed 214 bills; 195 were Democratic bills, 17 were bipartisan and just two were GOP bills. That means only nine percent of the bills passed in 2012 were bipartisan or Republican bills.
Meanwhile, many of the key pieces of legislation passed this year had some degree of bipartisan support.
The fetal pain bill prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks passed out of the House 87-12 with 24 Democrats joining with the Republicans. The bill then passed the Senate 29-5 with 11 Democrats voting for the bill.** Later in the session, both chambers overrode Governor Tomblin’s veto by substantial margins.
Legislation revamping the system used to determine the state’s prevailing wage produced protests by labor and some Democratic lawmakers. The bill received just one Democratic vote in the House, but five Democrats crossed over in the Senate, where the bill passed 23-11.
The controversial bill eliminating the requirement for a permit to carry a concealed weapon was a Republican bill, but 14 of the 16 Democrats in the Senate voted for it. In the House, 19 Democrats voted with the Republican majority.
The Republican-sponsored Coal Jobs and Safety Act passed the Senate 26-8 with the support of 8 Democrats. Republicans picked up a handful of Democratic votes in the House.
The Governor still has a bunch of bills on his desk, but of the ones he has considered so far, only one has been vetoed for any reason other than technical flaws (the fetal pain bill). Otherwise the Democratic Governor has signed all other bills.
Of course there were partisan fights and philosophical differences during the session, but that’s expected. Lawmakers bring to Charleston a variety of views and constituent interests. Additionally, the legislative process is designed to be deliberative, which encourages opposing points of view, even if those expressing contrary opinions end up on the losing side.
Ultimately, the 2015 session, the first one in over 80 years where the GOP held the majority in both chambers, may be remembered more for cooperation than confrontation.
*The statistics are based on overall sponsors. If a bill had ten sponsors and the majority of them were Democrats, then the bill was considered a “Democratic bill,” and vice-versa. If an equal number of Democrats and Republicans were sponsors, then it was listed as bipartisan.
**Vote totals refer to the first time the bill passed the originating chamber.