House of Delegates Story Archives - Page 28 of 43 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Delegates Push for Transparency in Legislative Fundraising

Members of the House are considering a bill that changes the way lawmakers report political donations during the legislative session.

House Bill 2319 would require candidates running for legislative offices, or their candidate committees, to disclose any fundraising they do during the legislative session to the Secretary of State’s Office within 5 days of the fundraising event.

Delegate Jill Upson, a Republican from Jefferson County, is the lead sponsor of the bill.

“Constituents, they want to know what we’re doing,” Upson explained, “they want to know who’s influencing us, so even though receiving contributions during the session isn’t illegal, people just ought to know who we’re receiving money from.”

Upson says it’s not an issue she’s seen among her legislative colleagues, but it’s a law she feels ought to be on the books.

“I just think transparency is important,” she said, “I mean, we do have an issue with people saying they just don’t trust their representatives, and so this is just one way to rebuild that trust.”

House Bill 2319 will be on second reading Friday and eligible for amendments.

House Tries Again to Aid the W.Va. Schools for the Deaf & Blind

During both the 2015 and the 2016 state Legislative sessions, the House of Delegates pushed a bill that would make the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind eligible for funding from the West Virginia School Building Authority, or SBA. In 2015, it was vetoed by then-Governor Tomblin, and in 2016, it never made it out of the Senate’s Finance committee. Now, members in the House are trying once again this year, with House Bill 2123.

The Schools for the Deaf and Blind are located in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle in the small town of Romney. They serve Pre-K to twelfth graders from all over the state. But over the years, the campus and its buildings have fallen into disrepair.

As state-owned schools, they don’t have the ability to raise their own funds through bonds or levies like a county school system to help pay for construction, repairs, or building upgrades. They also aren’t eligible for funding from the SBA, a government agency that awards additional state dollars to counties to help pay for capital improvement projects.

House Bill 2123 is the House of Delegates’ third attempt to change that eligibility.

Delegate Paul Espinosa of Jefferson County is the House Education Chairman. His committee took up the bill Wednesday.

“One of the things that’s become very apparent is members have actually toured the facilities at the Schools for the Deaf and Blind, is that there are significant capital needs that are necessary in order to bring those facilities up to a level that is conducive to a positive education environment,” Espinosa said.

Administrators at the Schools for the Deaf and Bind estimate they need $1.5 million to update their current facilities through new construction or repairs. Over the past two sessions, lawmakers have been reluctant to just appropriate those funds straight out. But making them accessible through the existing SBA funding, Espinosa says, could be a good option.

“This just kind of addresses that gap that has been created over time where the Schools have not perhaps received the funding that’s necessary in order to address their capital needs,” Espinosa explained, “It would make them eligible to participate under the School Building Authority program.”

The House Education Committee voted to advance the bill Wednesday. It now goes to House Finance for further consideration.

House Passes Its First Bill of 2017 Legislative Session

The House of Delegates voted on its first bill of the 2017 state Legislative Session Wednesday – one of many ethics bills expected to move through the chamber this year.

House Bill 2006 increases the penalties for someone who violates West Virginia’s Whistle-Blower Law.

The law protects a public employee who comes forward to alert authorities, or blow the whistle, on an employer who’s involved in an illegal activity. If that employer retaliates against the employee for doing so, current law says they could be suspended from work and also be expected to pay a fine of up to $500.

The newly passed bill, however, strengthens those penalties and makes it possible to terminate the employer from his or her position and also pay a fine of as much as $5,000.

Delegate John Shott of Mercer County is the House Judiciary Chair.

“It also makes it clear that this is a personal fine against the person that up to $5,000 fine is a personal obligation of that person and not of the entity; the governmental entity that employs that person.”

The bill also puts the control for making the decision regarding termination in the hands of the public agency instead of a judge.

House Bill 2006 passed 98 to 0.

House Bill Would Strengthen Whistleblower Protections

Leaders in West Virginia’s House of Delegates say they plan to strengthen a number of ethics laws in West Virginia this legislative session. The first piece of legislation making its way through that chamber this year is House Bill 2006, increasing penalties for violating the state’s Whistle-Blower Law.

A whistleblower is someone who notifies the authorities when a person or organization they work for is involved in some kind of illegal activity. West Virginia’s Whistle-Blower Law protects a public employee from retaliation after coming forward about abuse from his or her employer.

House Judiciary Chairman John Shott, of Mercer County, is the bill’s lead sponsor. He says the penalties currently on the books for an employer who violates this law – or retaliates against the employee doing the whistleblowing – is a fine of up to $500 as well as a suspension from his or her job for up to six months. But Shott says House Bill 2006 changes that.

“It gives them a greater penalty, and it also increases the monetary penalty from $500 to $5,000, but it takes it out of the hands of the judge except to make a finding, and puts it back in the hands of the public agency to take the action against the offender,” Shott said.

The bill makes it clear that the offender would have to personally pay the fine. Instead of the six month suspension, the bill gives the public agency the option to completely terminate any employee who tries to discourage or punish a whistleblower.

“A person who reports misconduct or waste should not be retaliated against,” Shott said, “and this just strengthens the protection of those people so they feel comfortable coming forward if the penalties for someone who retaliates against them are strengthened.”

Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer, of Monongalia County, is the Minority Chair for House Judiciary. She says she thinks the bill is a great improvement, adding her name to the legislation as a co-sponsor.

“If we have somebody that comes forward and says there’s fraud, there’s abuse going on, and then they’re retaliated against, I think they’re doing something that helps the public, and so I think that making the person who is retaliating personally liable is the way it should be,” Fleischauer noted, “The taxpayers shouldn’t have to cover the cost of the fine. I think it’s a really good bill.”

Fleischauer says this bill is an example of how legislators can work in a bipartisan way to create better policy in the state.

Chairman Shott says this ethics bill will be one of several to come before the House this session.

Delegate Phillips to Become Independent

Logan County Delegate Rupie Phillips will officially file his paperwork with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office today to become the only “Independent” in the West Virginia Legislature.

Phillips was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2010 and was just re-elected in District 24 which includes parts of Boone, Logan and Wyoming counties as a Democrat.

GOP Keeps Control of the State House & Senate

Editor’s Note: The previous story reported an incorrect total of seats gained by the West Virginia Republican Party in the state Senate. This story has been updated with correct totals.

Heading into Tuesday night, state Republican Party leaders were confident they could maintain their majorities in both the state House of Delegates and Senate. Their predictions were correct with the GOP’s number increasing in the Senate by four.

Republicans will now hold 22 seats in the Senate with 12 Democrats and in the House, Democrats picked up one additional seat, but Republicans hold a large majority at 63 to 37.

Perhaps the biggest upset for Democrats in the Senate is Republican Ryan Weld’s win over Incumbent, Democrat Jack Yost, who’s held his seat since 2008. Both are from Brooke County.

One of the most heated races in the Senate was likely between incumbent Republican Chris Walters and Democrat Glen Jeffries. Jeffries won Walters’ seat by a couple thousand votes.

Another woman has been elected to the state Senate. Republican Patricia Rucker from the Eastern Panhandle joins Republican Senators Donna Boley and Sue Cline. Cline was appointed to her seat in January, but won her election Tuesday night.

Two major Democratic names in the House of Delegates lost their races this year– Nancy Guthrie of Kanawha County and Democrat Tim Manchin of Marion County. Both Guthrie and Manchin have held their seats in the House for at least ten years.