A special legislative session was envisioned as a one-day blitz of tasty leftovers, but that hasn’t gone exactly as planned.
Going into the session, the plan was to swiftly handle a variety of bills already familiar to lawmakers by suspending constitutional rules that normally would require consideration on three separate days.
But during an evening floor session, delegates began consideration of a bill to establish an economic development fund. A vote to suspend the constitutional rules on that bill fell short of the threshold required. The procedural vote was 66 in favor, 21 against and 13 absent. Those voting against the bill were a mix of Democrats and fiscal conservative Republicans.
So House Majority Leader Amy Summers, R-Taylor, quickly moved for the House to adjourn and reconvene at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
The House Finance Committee had already met for about 90 minutes on Monday afternoon to discuss the bill establishing a fund for infrastructure and economic development projects. Governor Justice had vetoed the bill a few weeks ago because of technical flaws and now has been aiming to have it fixed.
Officials have proposed putting as much as $600 million in the fund at the end of this fiscal year.
That bill and others that were still under consideration still very well could pass, but doing so would take longer than originally anticipated.
Lawmakers had been lined up to deal with 17 bills in a special session, mostly legislation that didn’t quite reach the finish line at the end of last month’s regular session or items vetoed by the governor for technical reasons.
For many of the bills, which were already familiar policy proposals, lawmakers suspended the constitutional rules requiring bills to be read three separate days and went ahead to pass them through.
“We intend to be in and out of the special session pretty quickly today,” House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, said before the session gaveled in. “This is largely a technical cleanup issue.”
A special session is underway at the state capitol. One of the bills that will be discussed and cleaned up is the economic development fund. @SpeakerHanshaw joins @HoppyKercheval to discusses this legislation and more. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/8XnIT60PDL
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) April 25, 2022
Some of the other bills also hit turbulence.
A bill that would have exempted Bluefield State from oversight by the Higher Education Policy Commission was sent to the Senate Rules Committee, sort of a purgatory move. There still remained a chance for the bill to emerge for consideration, but the likelihood seemed to be dimming.
The House and Senate rolled through many of the 16 bills on the special session call during a midday Monday floor session. Lawmakers completed legislation on six bills at that point, leaving the House with 11 to complete passage, vote down or push aside.
When the House reconvened at 7 p.m. Monday intending to complete final action on the development fund bill and to wrap up other business. Now delegates will gather again first thing Tuesday morning.
The Senate adjourned until 8 a.m. Tuesday, gathering again to tie up loose ends and to conclude legislation passed over by the House.
So consideration of the bills will begin again bright and early for the second day.
“We’re doing a lot of great work. I’m proud of the Legislature and proud of those who are putting in the licks,” Governor Justice said today.
The governor added a final bill to the call today. It is a supplemental appropriation of $250 million to provide matching grants for municipalities to use in upgrading infrastructure such as water and sewer projects.
“This is really, really important,” Justice said of the infrastructure funding. “When it really boils right down to it, these are major dollars and they are badly, badly needed. It’ll help make life better for all West Virginians.”
The other legislation on the governor’s call dealt with a range of issues.
One bill would officially establish an unemployment compensation insurance fraud unit, a response to the millions of dollars of fraud that mounted during the period of enhanced benefits in the covid-19 pandemic. That bill also missed a passage deadline in the regular session.
A bill would establish a Military Authority Reimbursable Expenditure Fund and providing for the adjutant general to handle it.
A couple of bills have to do with adjustments to the Public Employees Retirement System and another focuses on the West Virginia Municipal Police Officers and Firefighters Retirement System. Another includes family court judges in the Judges’ Retirement System.
A bill makes adjustments to the configurations of several state boards and another makes changes to the West Virginia Real Estate License Act. A bill limits the number of medical cannabis testing labs in West Virginia to two. And another deals with prescriptive authority for physician assistants.
A bill prohibits and defines enforcement for flying an aircraft while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Another establishes alternative educational opportunities for elective course credits.
A bill streamlines ways to give to the consistently successful West Virginia University Rifle Team. Another makes some changes to hunting regulations, particularly permitting the use of air rifles when hunting.
Democrats from both chambers had press conferences earlier Monday to say the special session’s priorities have been misplaced. The Democrats urged consideration of bills dealing with foster care, the prices of insulin and medical equipment for diabetics and a proposed gas tax holiday.
“I cannot think of more pressing matters,” Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin, D-Greenbrier, said during a press conference this morning.
But bills that the Democrats introduced in the Senate on some of those topics were parked in the Rules Committee, unlikely to emerge.