Tag: House Judiciary Chairman John Shott

Impeachment Committee, West Virginia Supreme Court Continue Chamber Tour Negotiation

Updated: July 23, 2018 at 5:55 p.m.

 

A committee of West Virginia lawmakers investigating the possible impeachment of one or more state Supreme Court and an administrator for the court are continuing to negotiate the terms of a tour of the high court’s offices. The negotiations follow concerns last week over press freedoms and open meetings laws — as the committee agreed to delay the orginally scheduled tour.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Shott sent a formal request Monday to court interim administrator Barbara Allen, which was hand delivered to the court. The committee is requesting a tour on Friday, July 27.

 

Shott and members of the committee are requesting a look at “the justices’ office suites, conference rooms and any additional areas on the third and fourth floors of the East Wing of the West Virginia State Capitol that were renovated between 2010 and the present day.”

 

Lavish spending by justices on office renovations has been a key focus of the possible impeachment proceedings.

 

Allen responded to the committee’s request late Monday afternoon, but outlined some limitations on the tour, including some places in the offices that would be off limits for filming and when the tour could take place.

 

“First, for security reasons we ask that no videography or still photographs be taken of interior hallways, doorways or windows in any of the areas visited,” Allen wrote in response to Shott’s letter. “Second, as I informed your counsel earlier this morning, we are unable to conduct the tour on Friday, July 27, 2018, but can accommodate the Committee and the media pool members on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, August 1, 2 & 3, 2018, at your option.”

 

Allen also stated that the court still prefers that the committee be broken up into two groups “to limit the number of people crowded into rooms at one time and to limit the number of Court personnel necessary to accompany the legislators.”  

 

The discussion of the tour being broken down into two groups raised questions last week of whether a quorum would be established — indicating official business on behalf of the committee — although Shott had stated that the tour was voluntary for the committee.

 

Other members suggested that the committee may use what is discovered on the tour as part of the evidence being considered in possible impeachments.

 

“As long as the media is still present, that alleviates my concern over the possible open meetings law violation,”  said Del. Shawn Fluharty, who pushed for media to be allowed to accompany lawmakers on the tour.

 

“I’m still concerned that the Supreme Court has been less than cooperative throughout this process. Last week, they sent a letter calling the work of the committee a ‘fishing expedition’ — and this week they are making demands of the committee that go above and beyond what is reasonable,” he added.

 

Chairman Shott said he had received word about Allen’s response from staff on his committee.

 

“I have never considered this to be the most urgent part of the investigation. So, we will schedule it at a time that is convenient for all parties,” Shott said.

 

The court initially said that media would not be allowed to take part in the committee’s tour of the court facilities, which was originally scheduled for July 20.  

 

The committee agreed to delay the tour and make it conditional upon a pool of three reporters being granted the same access.

 

West Virginia House OKs Deductions for Unreturned Equipment

Employers could deduct from a worker’s final paycheck the cost of unreturned company equipment and uniforms valued at $100 or more, under legislation passed Monday by West Virginia’s House.

The bill, approved 61-35, would apply where employees sign an agreement to take care of the company property. They would have an additional 10 days to return it.

Employers could deduct the original cost of equipment, such as an iPhone or uniform, despite subsequent use or depreciation, Judiciary Committee Chairman John Shott said.

“The purpose of the bill is the person who replaces that employee has to have that same item in order to perform the job for the employer,” said Shott, a Bluefield Republican. “So the employer is going to have to replace it whether the phone costs more.”

Shott voted for the bill along with most of the House’s majority Republicans.

The law wouldn’t apply to workplaces covered by union agreements.

Those who challenge deductions in court and win could collect those wages, plus damages equal to twice the original amount and attorney fees, Shott said. Claims up to $7,500 can be brought in West Virginia’s Magistrate Courts.

Currently an employer would have to go to court to get back unreturned equipment, said Delegate Mike Caputo, a Rivesville Democrat. Under the bill, the employer could withhold pay and the employee who disagrees will have to go to court, he said.

Caputo voted against the bill along with most of the chamber’s minority Democrats.

The Senate on Monday unanimously passed legislation that would require a worker to notify the company of claims for accrued unpaid fringe benefits by certified mail both to the employer’s registered agent and to the employer’s principal address before going to court. The written notice requirement won’t apply to claims exclusively for unpaid wages.

TANF Drug Testing Bill Soon to Be Considered in the House

A House committee has passed a bill that would require drug testing for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Senate Bill 6 requires the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to apply for permission from the federal government to begin a drug screening and testing program.

In that program, applicants of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF benefits could be tested if there’s “reasonable suspicion” those applicants are using drugs or if they’ve been convicted of a drug crime in the past five years. But House Judiciary Chairman John Shott said that provision was amended in his committee.

“And that was with regard to the screening instrument that the Department of Health and Human Resources will be using when new applicants come in, and it just changed the timeframe within which to look for previous drug use from five years to, shortened that to three years,” Shott said.

A recent poll of likely West Virginia voters found 77 percent of voters supported drug testing welfare recipients.

Senate Bill 6 was reported to the full House on Saturday and will likely see a vote Wednesday.

W.Va. House Considering Legislation to Amend U.S. Constitution

Members of the House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing Saturday for three bills that, if passed, could send a number of West Virginia delegates to Washington, D.C. to try and amend the constitution on budget related charges.

The first, House Concurrent Resolution 36, would add West Virginia to the list of states applying for an Article Five Convention of States to amend the U.S. Constitution. Similar to a resolution approved in the state Senate last year, the convention would focus on amending the federal Constitution to require Congress to balance the nation’s budget each year, except in times of a national emergency.

House Bills 2424 and 4449 were also on the public hearing’s agenda. The bills provide the procedure for picking delegates to represent the state at such a convention and limiting the convention to the balanced budget amendment.

34 states would have to approve similar resolutions in order to actually call the convention of states.

Out of the fourteen speakers Saturday, 9 were against the measure and 5 spoke in favor.

House Judiciary Chairman John Shott says he’s astonished at the country’s level of debt and an Article Five Convention of States could be one option to rein in government spending.

“In concept, I think it makes a lot of sense,” Shott explained, “As with most things, a lot depends on how it’s implemented and what kind of protections you have, because I don’t think anybody would want a wide open runaway type conventions where, for instance, the Bill of Rights could be changed. We’ll consider those issues when it’s put on the agenda in the committee, and determine what, if any action, as a committee, we want to recommend to the full House.”

The Senate’s Judiciary Committee also took up a Convention of State’s bill Saturday. Chairman Shott, however, is unsure how soon his committee will take up the three proposals.

House Committee Tweaks, Passes Religious Freedom Bill

In the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning, members took up House Bill 4012, the West Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

In its introduced version, this bill would ensure that, in all cases where state action substantially burdens the practice of a person’s religion, judges would be directed to apply strict scrutiny  in court procedures. The bill also provides a claim or defense to the person who felt they were wronged.

Members of the House Judiciary Committee took up a committee substitute of the bill that proposed some changes.

“The committee substitute basically intends to…put into law, the test that courts would apply in determining whether or not a person’s interest has been substantially burdened by an action of the state government,” noted House Judiciary Chairman, Delegate John Shott of Mercer County, “some agency of the state government, and it’s sort of a balancing test…the court has to weigh various factors in order to determine whether the action of the state agency or the state government is appropriate, or whether it violates the person’s rights under our state constitution.”

Those in opposition to this bill feel it would create a license to discriminate.

However, supporters say by having a standard or a system in place for court’s to follow; it would determine whether a claim stemmed from a sincere religious belief or not.

After hours of debate, the House Judiciary Committee passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 16 to 9. It now moves to the House floor for its consideration.

House Makes Changes to Right-to-Work Bill

In the House Wednesday, Delegates made changes to the Right-to-Work bill, which will be up for a vote in the chamber Thursday.

Senate Bill 1 was on second reading in the House. This is the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act, or more commonly known as Right-to-Work.

This bill would make it illegal for a company to fire someone who refuses to join a union or refuses to pay union fees or dues. Supporters say it protects the rights of workers who disagree with unions politically, but those who oppose it say if non-union employees in union workplaces no longer pay those fees, they’ll struggle to provide services like contract negotiations.

House Judiciary Chairman, Delegate John Shott of Mercer County proposed an amendment that changes some of the language in the senate’s version of the bill.

“The strike and insert basically replaces the Senate bill with a much simpler version of the Right-to-Work bill,” Shott explained, “It eliminates some administrative features, it eliminates some confusing language regarding a daily penalty; the continuation of the daily penalty, it clarifies the rights that an employee who is wrongfully terminated as a result of an employer’s action and forcing a person to join a union or not allowing a person to leave the union without being terminated. So it’s basically an overall clarification and simplification of the original version.”

The amendment passed, but not without obvious division along party lines. The Right-to-Work bill will be up for a final vote Thursday in the House.

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