Government

Members of the legislature are feeling the backlash of bills that failed on the final night of the session. There are three specific bills that are putting not only this year’s, but also next year’s budgets in jeopardy. Jeopardy of a lowered bond rating, something lawmakers do not want to let happen.

On the final night of the legislative session there were two bills that needed to pass—Senate Bill 344 and 345—in order to supplement the finances of some pretty important programs.

Senators and Delegates worked late into the night, as usual, on the final day of the session voting on bills. The frenzy, however, was too much for some issues. Here are a few of the bills that got lost in the mix and didn’t pass before the midnight deadline.

SB 6

A former chief magistrate is the latest defendant sentenced to federal prison time in a probe of corruption in Mingo County, West Virginia, United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced today. Dallas Toler, 45, of Delbarton, West Virginia, was sentenced to 27 months of imprisonment.

Last December, Toler admitted in federal court that he falsified a voter registration application during the 2012 primary election campaign. Toler faked the application so that a convicted felon, still on probation and thus barred from voting, could vote for Toler’s Team Mingo faction. 

West Virginia lawmakers are working out kinks in a budget that gives public workers raises and digs into reserves.
 
The House of Delegates and Senate are meeting this week to finalize the state spending plan for next fiscal year.
 House of Delet

The president of West Virginia University at Parkersburg says she isn't renewing her contract with the school.

Officials said Monday that after 10 years as the head of the university, Marie Foster Gnage won't renew her contract after June 30.

While most of the night is strictly business, the final hours of the legislative session often have some light-hearted moments scattered throughout. Here are a few things you didn’t see in the news.

Sen. Sam Cann rose to speak to House Bill 4343, the West Virginia Launch Pad Act, but maybe he forgot he’d been appointed to a new chamber:

The staff of The Legislature Today--news director and anchor Beth Vorhees, Senate reporter Ashton Marra, and House reporter Aaron Payne--give a recap of the final hours the West Virginia Legislature's final hours on Saturday.  And hear from researcher at West Liberty University who discovering new species of crayfish in West Virginia.

A West Virginia inmate faces federal charges of threatening President Barack Obama and his family.
 
Robert Dale Tasker is charged in an indictment with three counts of threatening Obama and one count of threatening the president's family. The alleged threats were mailed in December and February.
 

Updated 12:29 p.m. Monday, March 10, 2014:

The Higher Education Policy Commission voted to approve the WVU March 3 action to amend its search process and select Gee as the permanent president.

 
“President Gee is a vibrant leader with unmatched credentials whose homecoming has been warmly welcomed at West Virginia University,” said Dr. Bruce Berry, chairman of the Higher Education Policy Commission.

“We look forward to working closely with President Gee and the entire campus as we strive to increase opportunities for our students and expand the positive impact of higher education on West Virginia’s communities.”

Original Post:

The state Higher Education Policy Commission is holding a special meeting to vote on Gordon Gee's appointment as West Virginia University's permanent president.

The university's Board of Governors unanimously approved Gee's appointment last week. The commission also must approve the decision.
 

At midnight on Saturday, March 8, The 81st West Virginia Legislature will adjourn. This post will be the home for The Legislature Today's online coverage right up until the final moments.

News Director Beth Vorhees, Senate Reporter Ashton Marra, House Reporter Aaron Payne, and Digital Editor Dave Mistich will curate this post by aggregating tweets, posting audio of important moments on the chamber floors.

Be sure to keep refreshing this page to see the latest.

With today being the next-to-last day of the regular session, time is running out for lawmakers to complete legislation to be sent to the governor. The House voted on 23 Senate items ranging from rules bills, to education and assisting veterans.

S.B. 477

Several bills were debated during the afternoon House session but the one receiving the most discussion was Senate Bill 477.

The West Virginia Senate has passed a bill to raise the minimum wage by $1.50 over three years.

Members of the state Senate unanimously passed a bill Friday allowing for the drill cuttings from natural gas fracking sites to be disposed of in county or privately owned landfills.

Currently, the drill cuttings can either be disposed of by burying them on site or deposited in landfills, but Senator Herb Snyder said landfills are the most environmentally friendly option.

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito wants to see a long-debated widening project finished on U.S. Route 35 in Mason and Putnam counties.
 
The West Virginia Republican took a tour Friday of a 14.6-mile section of the highway that remains two lanes. The four-lane highway starts at Interstate 64 in Putnam County and is a major truck and bus route connecting to southern Ohio and other points in the Midwest.

Senate Bill 376 would require onsite employees at certain works construction projects to complete an Occupational Safety and Health Administration approved ten-hour construction safety program.

Similar measures have been struck down in the past due to fears the program would decrease worker productivity.

Before the vote, one of the sponsors of a similar bill introduced on the House Delegate Phil Diserio gave an impassioned speech about why this measure needed to be taken.

Senators voted on their version of the budget bill Thursday.

It included the governor’s recommended pay raises for school service personnel and State Police forensic lab technicians, but Senate Bill 306 only accounts for the $837 teacher pay raise passed by the upper chamber. The House has changed that bill to include a $1,000 across the board raise.

Legislation to regulate and improve the training of nurses who collect forensic evidence in sexual assault cases has passed in both the West Virginia Senate and House.
 
The Senate passed the bill Thursday to create a Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Commission to regulate these specially-trained registered nurses at the county and state levels.

The West Virginia Senate has passed legislation to help accommodate pregnant women in the workplace.
 
The Pregnant Workers' Fairness Act allows employees to request modified duties and other accommodations as long as they do not place undue hardship on employers. It allows such accommodations as bathroom breaks and assistance with manual labor.
 

There is little doubt that the bill aimed to protect water resources in the state, in response to the Jan. 9 spill of MCHM into the Elk River by Freedom Industries, has been the most closely watched and widely discussed bill of the session.

Although the Senate passed SB 373 less that two weeks after its introduction, its passage  in the House took far longer--a result of a triple committee reference that offered a chance for roughly 60 delegates to offer amendments to the bill. Delegates also labored over 20 amendments on the bill's Third Reading Wednesday night before deciding to send the bill back to the Senate.

Here's a few highlights from Wednesday night's floor session leading up to SB 373's passage:

The West Virginia Senate Finance Committee has watered down a House bill to raise the minimum wage. The minimum wage would be increased by $1.50 over three years instead of two.
 
Under the bill amended Wednesday, the standard would increase from $7.25 to $7.50 an hour in January 2015, to $8 in January 2016, and to $8.75 in January 2017. Originally the House voted to raise the wage 75 cents each year over two years.