MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When lawmakers are in Charleston next week for their special legislative session, one item that is expected to be introduced by Gov. Jim Justice is legislation to continue the Division of Culture and History as a new department in the executive branch.
The agency, which is expected to be called the Department of Arts, Culture and History, would be led by a curator, which would not be equivalent to a secretary position with the governor’s cabinet.
The legislation stems from House Bill 4006 — which Justice signed in March — that eliminated the Department of Education and the Arts and moved functions to existing agencies such as the Department of Education. Critics said they were concerned about how losing an advocate for arts programs would affect initiatives and funding.
House Education Committee Chairman Paul Espinosa, R-Jefferson, said Justice took note of the concerns.
“The governor was concerned about anything that would send the message that perhaps we were diminishing the role of the arts in West Virginia. It certainly would be something he would be concerned about,” he said on MetroNews “Talkline.”
According to Espinosa, committee members worked with the Justice administration to draft legislation.
The department would be divided into sections addressing arts, archives and history, museums, historic preservation and administration.
“The department will continue to include two citizens commissions: a commission on the arts, which has a governor-appointed board, as well as a commission on archives and history,” he said.
“A lot of the roles, the functions that were under the Department of Education and the Arts will continue. Essentially, what we’ve done is eliminated that extra layer of bureaucracy. And now, instead of having that division of culture and history under another department, this Department of Arts, Culture and History will be a stand-alone department reporting directly to the governor,” he added.
The biggest change will be with the head of the department, the curator. Unlike the secretary under the preceding agency, the curator would not be among the other agency head positions. The curator would participate in cabinet meetings.
“I think that addresses one of the concerns the governor had,” Espinosa said. “He wanted to make sure the arts continue to have a very strong voice in his administration.”
The governor would appoint the curator and have to be confirmed by the state Senate.
A special session call was not released Thursday, but the designated start time for May interim meetings is 6 p.m. on Sunday.