In a Tuesday posting on her website, Sen. Patricia Puertas Rucker, R-Jefferson, announced she is withdrawing as a candidate for President of the West Virginia State Senate.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
In a Tuesday posting on her website, Sen. Patricia Puertas Rucker, R-Jefferson, announced she is withdrawing as a candidate for President of the West Virginia State Senate. She made the challenge to current Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, for the position back on Aug. 31. She said in the posted letter that she does not have the votes to win.
“I believed that by running for Senate President, I could provide an alternative that could act as a catalyst to provide the unity needed to get things done. I still do,” Rucker said in the letter. “At the time of my announcement to run, I believed that I had the votes needed to win. Today, November 22nd, I no longer believe that to be true.”
After her initial announcement, Blair removed Rucker as the chair of the Senate Education Committee but then gave her leadership of a newly-established committee — the Select Senate Committee on Alternative Education, focusing on school choice.
Rucker said in her letter that she withdraws from the Senate presidency race with strongly conflicted feelings.
“I gave these reasons for running for that position: I believe that the people of our state expect more from a super majority Republican led legislature and so do I,” Rucker said in her letter. “We are now at an inflection point where the momentum is stalling. We are squandering our opportunities. In the recent special session we literally got nothing done. No tax relief. No right to life legislation. No nothing.”
Following Rucker’s initial challenge, right to life legislation was passed by the legislature and tax relief goes back to square one with the defeat of Amendment 2, and Gov. Jim Justice’s continued push to cut personal income taxes.
Rucker said on Tuesday that she will never stop fighting for the people of the 16th Senatorial District.
“I will never stop fighting for what I believe is right, and what will make West Virginia a better place for all of its citizens,” Rucker said. “Those guiding principles will never change, regardless of who Senate leadership may be. Let’s keep a close eye on how things proceed from here and pray for God’s will that we resolve our current issues and do what is best for the people of West Virginia.”
Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, and Finance Committee Chair Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, say they need to participate in Gov. Jim Justice’s “community conversation” public forums on Amendment 2.
Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, and Finance Committee Chair Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, say they need to participate in Gov. Jim Justice’s “community conversation” public forums on Amendment 2.
The proposed constitutional amendment would give the legislature authority to regulate property taxes. It is one of four amendments on the Nov. 8 ballot.
“There’s misinformation that’s been passed on in those forums that is just inaccurate,” Blair said. “If we did the forum together, they can make their argument against Amendment 2, we can make our argument for the amendment and let the public know what the real answers are.”
Blair said the amendment doesn’t do away with any taxes and Justice’s claim that business and inventory taxes only benefit corporations is false.
“Seventy percent of state business is made up of small West Virginia businesses and they pay taxes on their equipment and inventory, machinery and their vehicles, regardless of their annual sales or the profits,” Blair said. “Another Justice argument completely disregards the fact that there’s a pile of agreements out there that make it so that the large corporations are already exempt from business and inventory taxes.”
Blair said the Senate Finance Committee’s property tax regulation plan, which is still subject to revision, details how West Virginia county governments, schools and services will actually get more funding, not less. He said this proposal is far from a state power grab.
“We’re doing it transparently so that they can see what we’re talking about up front. But it still has to go through the legislative process and everything can be adjusted,” Blair said. “We’re partners, we’re partners with the counties, we’re partners with the local school boards, we’re partners with municipalities. They have been on the decline for a long time — but our state government, we’ve got that right sized and it’s working well.”
In response to the call for public debate, Justice said that when Blair and Tarr were presenting their plan around the state, he wasn’t invited.
“I’m not looking for a food fight,” Justice said. “I’m not looking for a debate. I’m looking for the fact that I have not presented the other side. All I need to do is peacefully present my side and then let the people decide. And whatever they decide I’ll be all in.”
The question of whether the state Senate can restrict recording of meetings is still open after a court hearing on Thursday.
The question of whether the state Senate can restrict recording of meetings is still open after a court hearing on Thursday.
Kanawha Circuit Judge Carrie Webster refused to issue an injunction against the Senate that would have limited its authority to control chamber proceedings.
When Tiffani Morgan Walton tried to video record a heated July 29th Senate debate on the abortion bill from the gallery, she was threatened with arrest by the Capitol Police.
The ACLU of West Virginia filed legal actions, on Walton’s behalf, in state and federal courts against the West Virginia Senate, Senate President Craig Blair and the Capitol Police. They requested an injunction from Webster claiming the move violated their client’s first amendment rights and was a violation of an open meeting “sunshine” law, the West Virginia Open Governmental Meeting Act.
An attorney in the case said the act did not apply directly to the Senate or the House of Delegates. The attorney said the law applies to boards and committees, but not to the full Senate or House.
“The Senate has the power to control its galleries,” Senate attorney Michael Hissam said in court.
The attorney said Webster noted that language in the act shows the legislature may have exempted itself from the law.
Senate President Craig Blair said it’s his understanding that the rules on recording restriction options are the same for the U.S. House and Senate. He said the gallery rules on recording are posted and there’s full transparency.
“We are not trying to keep anybody from being aware of what’s going on and I can prove it,” Blair said. “Everything is available online. it’s archived for historical purposes, you can see everything that takes place.”
However, Blair said with the subject matter of abortion being passionately debated on the Senate floor, the gallery became out of control, forcing him to clear the gallery and shut off all recording cameras.
“When I put the Senate in recess and had the sergeant arms clear the gallery, what you couldn’t see or hear was all the profanities being shouted from the galleries by these people,” Blair said. “It was an embarrassing moment and there may be recordings of that out there, I have no idea. But I’m pretty certain that the Senate recording system, whenever I put us into recess for 15 minutes, our cameras were turned off.”
Webster asked both sides to research if the open meetings law applies to the Senate, prepare new briefs and then return to court later in the fall.
Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, has announced she will challenge Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, for the presidency of the West Virginia Senate.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
On Wednesday, Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, announced she would challenge Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, for the presidency of the West Virginia Senate.
Rucker said she was frustrated Republicans have failed on priorities like tax reform and banning abortion. She said, unlike the political dynamic in the House of Delegates, her philosophies don’t differ that much from Blair’s. However, Rucker does take pride in her leadership style.
“I am honest and forthright and welcome opinions and information from everyone,” Rucker said. “I don’t separate myself from those who disagree with me, I am actually happy to learn from them. And I try to work out differences of opinion, even if they are in opposition to what I want to do.”
Also on Wednesday, Blair replaced Rucker as chair of the Senate Education Committee. He appointed Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, to the position.
“Sen. Rucker has done a tremendous job in promoting and advancing school choice options in the state of West Virginia,” Blair said. “We have made monumental strides in providing educational options and expanding school choices for our families. It’s now time to usher in a new era with a focus on supporting our state’s public schools and increasing student achievement. I believe there is nobody better to lead that focus than Sen. Grady.”
Grady was elected to the Senate in 2020. She is vice chairman of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee and serves as a member of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development, Judiciary, Military, and Natural Resources committees.
She’s a career public school educator and is currently a 4th grade teacher at Leon Elementary School in Mason County. She is the first full-time public school educator to serve as chairman of the Senate Education Committee since 1970.
Grady has been a public school classroom teacher since 2007 and a 4th grade teacher for the last 12 years
“I am excited and humbled to be trusted with such an important role in our state legislature. I look forward to assuming my new role and working with others to make positive changes in public education in West Virginia,” Grady said in a statement. “My focus when it comes to education is (and always will be) making sure that student success is at the center of every decision considered.”
With the appointment of Grady, Blair also said he’s been working with state education leaders to establish an office and position that supports non-traditional education programs.
“We can’t simply check the box and move on simply because the legislation has passed,” Blair said. “We need to ensure the appropriate support is provided to parents and entities taking advantage of education options so that they flourish and are successful.”
As chair of the Senate Education Committee, Rucker was the architect of the Hope Scholarship program, now under court review for constitutionality.
“I have complete confidence that we were within the constitutional grounds,” Rucker said. “The West Virginia Constitution mandates that we provide a free public system of education. It does not say that that is the only system that can be supported.”
Rucker said she also takes pride in her other achievements as education committee chair.
“Until our education reform bill, the local school boards really did not have much ability to do anything,” Rucker said. “Everything was decided centrally in Charleston. I’m very proud of the fact that I fulfilled that campaign promise to bring much more control and power to the local school systems.”
President Blair said Sen. Rucker would be a perfect fit and a “rock star” as the shepherd of West Virginia’s non-traditional education programs.
House Bill 2966 would put together an independent panel and create the West Virginia Sentencing Commission.
It was taken up by the House Judiciary Committee Monday afternoon and is sponsored by House Speaker Tim Armstead.
The Sentencing Commission would look at all of the criminal penalties in state code and make recommendations to lawmakers for potential legislative changes.
That’s what House Judiciary Chair John Shott, of Mercer County, says is the commission’s main purpose.
“We’ve had many laws on the books for decades and some new laws, and during our discussions here in the House chamber, there have been concerns expressed about disproportionality between certain crimes and others,” Shott explained, “so this would be an effort to get someone to take a look at that and give us some suggestions on how to rewrite some of those.”
Shott says the commission would help create fair and uniform sentencing guidelines for West Virginia.
It would be made up of 14 members appointed by the House Speaker, Senate President, and the Governor. Commissioners would serve for two years and wouldn’t be paid for doing so.
The House Judiciary Committee also adopted amendments to the bill Monday. One would require the commission to place a special emphasis on the state’s drug laws, and appoint additional members – two attorneys appointed by the President of the state’s bar exam, and two counselors from the West Virginia Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.
The bill was approved by the committee and now moves to the full House for its consideration.
This weekend, members of the West Virginia Legislature will return to Charleston for their December interim meetings.
Democrats and Republicans from the House and Senate will meet behind closed doors Sunday separately to choose the next Senate President and House Speaker, and the two chamber minority leaders, all influential posts.
But with a Democratic governor and a Republican majority in both legislative chambers, there’s one position that seems to control policy a little more than the others: West Virginia’s next Senate President.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael during a Senate floor session.
“I probably would take exception to that a little bit,” Republican Sen. Mitch Carmichael said when asked about the balance of power in the statehouse.
Carmichael has 16 years of legislative experience and in all likelihood will be the next Senate President.
The Senator, like most people, points to the governor as the elected official with the most power in state government.
“It’s easier to understand,” West Virginia University Political Science Department Chair Scott Crichlow said, explaining that common narrative.
“A governor, a president, that’s one person. It’s very easy to see them as the embodiment of government because there is just one of them.”
West Virginia’s governor does have a lot of power, including setting the state’s revenue estimates and directing state agencies how to interpret the laws the Legislature has written.
“We can direct it from policy, but the implementation of it is, really a lot of authority goes to the executive branch,” Carmichael said.
The Legislature, however, has a lot of authority too, and the two people who sit at its helm, the House Speaker and Senate President, get to make a lot of decisions.
“The Senate President directs all agendas, decides what will be voted on and what will not be voted on, decides who heads every committee, also decides whether or not something even gets debated.” Democratic Sen. Mike Romano said.
“So that’s a tremendous amount of control when you can stop any piece of legislation that you choose to or have any piece of legislation considered if you want it to be.”
That list of powers is also true of the House Speaker, but if you look back at the previous two legislative session since Republicans took control of both chambers, it’s very clear that if a bill was going to be passed, that bill started in the Senate.
Now that could be because of personality– former Senate President and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Cole was a strong leader who had firm stances on policy.
Credit Martin Valent / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Democratic Sen. Mike Romano, left, speaks with former Sen. Jack Yost, right, during a 2016 floor session.
Or because of term length– Senators serve for four years while Delegates only serve for two, therefore, Senators are often thought to be more pragmatic rather than responsive, but Romano said it’s also just the sheer numbers.
“It’s a lot easier to herd 34 Senators than it is to herd 100 House of Delegate members,” Romano said.
There are checks and balances built into our government framework to make sure all three branches have their own authority, but when it comes to policy, when it comes to moving the state solidly in a single direction, who decides?
In West Virginia, the governor actually isn’t as powerful as others because of one Constitutional provision– the simple majority veto override, a provision only a handful of other states also have.
When lawmakers don’t agree with a gubernatorial veto, they only have to get a simple majority of the votes in each chamber (or half plus one) to override that decision and make a bill law.
Republican lawmakers have exercised that power more than a few times over the past two years. During the 2016 Legislative Session, they overrode vetoes to repeal the state’s prevailing wage, make West Virginia a right-to-work state, allow people to carry concealed weapons without a permit, and prohibit certain types of abortions, all bills that were considered divisive in the chambers.
Romano called the simple majority veto one of the biggest weaknesses he can see in the state’s Constitution. After all, for Congress to override a Presidential veto, two-thirds of the members of both chambers must vote to do so, or a super majority.
But for Carmichael, those votes to override vetoes seemed less controversial.
Credit Walter Scriptunas II / AP
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AP
Jim Justice gave his victory speech in the main ballroom of the Greenbrier Resort after winning the 2016 race for governor.
He said his party will welcome Democratic Governor-elect Jim Justice’s ideas to move the state forward, but if the two branches disagree, the Legislature will not back down.
“We are going to do what’s right for the people of West Virginia as we see it and to the extent that one person in the executive branch disagrees, if the majority of the people’s representatives do agree with that policy position, we will not hesitate to override gubernatorial vetoes and make our will known,” Carmichael said.
This weekend, lawmakers will caucus in Charleston to unofficially choose the next leaders of each chamber.
Carmichael is expected to become the next Senate President, and Speaker Tim Armstead will likely maintain his control of the House. The official votes for chamber leadership take place on the first day of the Legislative session.
