Public Hearing Story Archives - Page 3 of 3 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

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.

W.Va. PSC Reviewing Possible Settlement in Mountaineer Gas Rate Case

Members of the West Virginia Public Service Commission are considering a tentative settlement in a case that could have caused rate hikes for more than 221,000 Mountaineer Gas rate payers across the state. The settlement, according to the PSC’s Consumer Advocate Division, could result in an actual decrease of customers’ rates.

Mountaineer Gas Company filed for a rate increase in January of this year, increasing their base rates by $12.2 million. That increase would have resulted in a nearly 5 percent increase for ratepayers across the state.

An agreement entered Tuesday morning says instead of seeking the 4.7% increase, Mountaineer Gas would seek a 3 percent increase or about $7.7 million in base revenues.

In addition, Mountaineer Gas is filed an annual report with the PSC Monday with the company’s purchased gas adjustments rates. The report details how much the utility is paying for gas from producers.

Heather Osborn with the PSC’s Consumer Advocate Division said Tuesday because the price of natural gas is currently low, they expect the price adjustment filed to off set the 3 percent base rate increase, resulting in a reduction of cost on the gas bills of West Virginia customers.

Mountaineer’s Chief Operations Office Dave Lokant later said that savings could be as much as $63 a year for the average customer.

The PSC held its final public hearing in the case at 6 p.m. Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, Commissioners were presented the settlement for review.

The PSC has the final say on the agreement which, if approved, would go into effect November 1.

Bill on Local Smoking Restrictions is Rejected in the House

It was Tobacco Free Day at the Legislature, Friday. Coincidentally, the Government Organization Committee held a public hearing about smoking. Currently, a county board of public health passes smoking regulations. House Bill 2208, in its introduced version, would make it so only members of the county commission elected by voters have the power to regulate public smoking.

The bill has since changed and now county commissions could only decide if smoking will be allowed in casinos and video lottery businesses in the county. However, the introduced version stirred up a lot of emotions this morning as almost 30 citizens spoke to the committee.

Only one speaker expressed support for the bill.

Kenny Smith with the American Legion says putting restrictions on veterans who want to be able to go inside certain places and smoke isn’t fair.

“We are obligated to tell a man or a woman serving in the United States services under the age of twenty-one, he may not consume alcohol within our fraternal organizations; however this ship has sailed and it is accepted by this generation. We are now telling these same men and women they no longer enjoy the freedom of smoking within our walls as well,” Smith said, “To this extent, what freedoms will be taken next?”

Donna Gialluco with the Hancock County Health Department couldn’t understand why smoking was not deemed a public health issue in the introduced version of the bill.

“Fifty-one years ago, the surgeon general’s report already sounded an alarm saying the dangers of smoking and how bad they are for us. Moving forward, secondhand smoke has also been a leading cause of cancer among non-smokers in particular,” Gialluco noted, “So again, I ask this question of you. How can a legislation define smoking as not a part of public health?”

After the public hearing ended, the Government Organization Committee began to discuss the bill.

Delegate Isaac Sponaugle, a Democrat from Pendleton County, was the first one to point out that members were no longer looking at the introduced version of the bill but instead at a committee substitute.

The committee substitute no longer restricts smoking regulations to only the county commission, but instead makes it so the commission only has authority over regulations at casinos and video lottery sites. The smoking regulations set down already by each county’s public health board would remain the same as before.

Delegate Sponaugle was curious if the county commission even wanted the authority of regulating public smoking at these sites.

Jack Woodrum with the Summers County Commission spoke on behalf of the commission and says there are language issues with the bill that concern him.

The committee continued to discuss the bill questioning counsel and Woodrum on the issues of liability in the current language, of safety, and of health.

But in the end, House Bill 2208 allowing county commissioners to decide if smoking would be permitted at casinos and video lottery establishments was rejected.

W.Va. House Committee Holds Hearing on Drilling Waste

The public has an opportunity to weigh in on a bill that would allow landfills in West Virginia to increase capacity to accept waste and cuttings from natural gas horizontal drilling.

The House of Delegates Judiciary Committee has scheduled a public hearing on the bill for 5 p.m. Monday in the House Chamber at the Capitol.

House Energy Committee chairman Kevin Craig and Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman say landfills are the best option for disposal of drilling cuttings.