2016 Legisative Session Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Eastern Panhandle Lawmakers Waiting for Budget Solution

Lawmakers have until June 30 to come up with a state budget for next year, and lawmakers in the Eastern Panhandle are eager to see a solution soon.

Eight Eastern Panhandle lawmakers met with members of the Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce to recap the 2016 legislative session Tuesday during a wrap-up breakfast in Martinsburg.

While many issues and triumphs were considered, the 2017 budget was the major topic of discussion. House Finance Vice Chairman Eric Householder is a Republican from Berkeley County. He says right now it’s just a waiting game until they are called back to Charleston.

“The governor decided the best thing to do is have us come back for special session; we’re hearing that could be next week,” he noted, “Right now, we have to get a complete agreement with the House and Senate and with the governor’s office of which direction the governor wants to go, and once we get that direction, then the governor will call us back.”

Whether balancing the budget through cuts, tax increases, or pulling one-time monies from accounts like the Rainy Day Fund, Householder says lawmakers and the governor will have to work together.

Delegate Stephen Skinner of Jefferson County was the only Democrat at the breakfast. He says his main concern is making sure the Public Employees Insurance Agency is fully funded for 2017.

House Democrats Criticize Speaker's Budget Conferee Appointments

Over the next two days, ten members of the legislature will participate in a conference committee looking to write a balanced budget for 2017 – the fiscal year that begins in July. But Democrats in the House of Delegates are criticizing the makeup of that committee.

House Speaker Tim Armstead appointed five delegates to represent the House on the budget conference committee – Finance Chair Eric Nelson, Vice Chair Eric Householder, Delegates Bill Anderson and Carol Miller, and one Democrat, Delegate David Perry.

Minority Leader Tim Miley criticized Armstead for the decision to appoint only one Democrat when proportionally he says the committee should have included two Democrats to represent the number of members from the party elected to the full House of Delegates.

Miley says he’s disappointed and disheartened by the decision.

“Number one; the Speaker didn’t have the courtesy of even putting the Minority Chair of Finance on the conferee committee, and number two; he didn’t put the number of Democrats that represent the proportionality of Democrats in the House of Delegates,” Miley said.

Miley says the Democrat who Speaker Armstead did appoint doesn’t have the experience that Finance Minority Chair Brent Boggs could bring to the conversation. But the Speaker has the power to appoint whomever he chooses to the conference committee.

Saturday evening, Armstead said he chose not to appoint Boggs because he voted against the budget bill approved earlier in the week in the House.

Miley was not just critical of who House leadership chose to appoint to the committee, but also of the work conferees will do over the next two days, calling it a “complete waste of time.”

“Governor Tomblin presented a budget with various pieces of legislation that would’ve provided both a balanced budget and revenue enhancement mechanisms and not using one time money,” Miley explained, “This group chose to ignore those revenue enhancements, chose to use one-time money, and it took them 60 days to try to make that happen, and they still couldn’t make it happen.”

During the last 60 days, House Finance killed or tabled a number of bills that were aimed at helping to balance the budget – one involved increasing the tobacco tax, another dealt with a tax increase to help with maintenance of roads, and one looked at an increase in the sales tax.

Voter ID Bill Heads to Governor's Desk

Update: Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 11:01 p.m.:

Members of the Senate have also approved the conference committee version of House Bill 4013, requiring voters to show some form of identification at their polling places. The bill passed 26 to 8.

House Bill 4013 now heads to Governor Tomblin for further consideration.

Update: Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 10:23 p.m.

The House of Delegates passed House Bill 4013, the voter ID bill after it was sent to a conference committee. The bill passed in the chamber 77 to 21 with no debate.

Original Post:

A conference committee, made up of three members of the House and three members of the Senate, have agreed to amend House Bill 4013, a bill that would require voters to show some form of identification before casting a ballot.

In the agreed to conference committee report, a voter could use any government issued card, whether it contains a photograph or not. They can also use:

A health insurance card
A utility bill
A bank card or bank statement

Conferees removed from the list the ability to use a credit card or pay check to verify a voters identity, however, a poll worker or any other adult who has known the voter for more than 6 months could verify their identity without signing an affidavit as required in a previous version of the bill.
The conference bill also includes an automatic voter registration process to be housed in the Division of Motor Vehicles. The Secretary of State’s Office is required to write legislative rules detailing the process, which will need the approval of the Legislature during the 2017 session.

Currently, DMV workers are required to ask a a potential voter to opt in to the registration process. This bill would require them to opt out.

“I hate to lose any of the options that we had because I think if we’re going to make a voter ID law, let’s make it as easy for the voter to comply as possible,” Democratic Sen. Corey Palumbo said after the committee finished their work.

Palumbo had sponsored the amendment expanding the list of verifying documents in the Senate’s Judiciary Committee, but some of his provisions were removed.

“Narrowing it down at all troubles me a little bit, but honestly I thought we were going to have to give up more than we did.”

Palumbo had also amended the bill to include the automatic voter registration provision,, which was kept and only slightly amended to include the rule making authority more clear.

The conference committee’s negotiated bill will still need the votes of both chambers before it can be sent to the governor.

House Refuses Senate Amendments to Voter ID Bill

Editor’s Note: For the latest updates on the final day of the legislative session, be sure to keep checking our live blog.

In the final day of the 2016 Legislative Session, the House of Delegates has refused to adopt the Senate’s amendments to House Bill 4013, the voter ID bill.

House Bill 4013 as approved in the House included a list of valid forms of identification beyond just photo IDs, but Senators worked to expand the list even further.

The Senate amended version of the bill allows a voter to use:

A valid drivers license from West Virginia or any state
A valid military ID
A valid employer issued ID from any federal, state, county, or municipal subdivision
A Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP, or TANF card or a birth certificate
A voter registration card
A hunting or fishing license or a concealed carry permit
A utility bill, paycheck, health insurance card, or credit or debit card

The bill also allows an adult who has known the voter for more than 6 months to sign an affidavit certifying a voter’s identity. That person can be a poll worker.
As of 11:15 a.m. Saturday, there has been no announcement for a conference committee for the bill. If put into a conference committee, the bill will be debated between three members of the House and three members of Senate to decide upon a compromised version of the bill.

W.Va. Senate Approves Voter ID Bill with Expanded List of Verifying Documents

The West Virginia Senate voted 20 to 14 Friday to approve a bill that would require voters to show some form of identification before casting a ballot.

House Bill 4013 as approved in the House of Delegates included a list of valid forms of identification beyond just photo IDs, but Senators worked to expand the list even further.

The Senate amended bill allows a voter to use:

A valid drivers license from West Virginia or any state
A valid military ID
A valid employer issued ID from any federal, state, county, or municipal subdivision
A Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP, or TANF card or a birth certificate
A voter registration card
A hunting or fishing license or a concealed carry permit
A utility bill, paycheck, health insurance card, or credit or debit card

The bill also allows an adult who has known the voter for more than 6 months to sign an affidavit certifying a voter’s identity. That person can be a poll worker.
Some Democrats argued on the Senate floor that the provision is unnecessary in West Virginia and puts an additional burden on voters who may be deterred from showing up to their polling place.

“Yet again, this is a solution looking for a problem,” Sen. Mike Romano said. “You have to show a photo ID when you register to vote. This is unnecessary.”

Senate Judiciary Chair Charles Trump took issue with the statements, saying West Virginia has a long, notable history of voter fraud that even sitting West Virginia Supreme Court Justices have written about.

“There is more than one way to disenfranchise a voter,” he said. “It is possible to be disenfranchised by having your vote canceled out by the vote of someone who doesn’t have the legal right to vote.”

Trump said if the bill were signed into law, West Virginia would join 33 other states who have approved voter ID laws. Trump argued that the expanded list of forms of ID would make West Virginia one of the least restrictive states with a voter ID law.

Because of the changes approved by Senators, the bill will return to the House for members to consider the expanded list of identification documents.