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Senate Acts In Frustration Over House Inaction On Bills

With four days left in this legislative session, tension between the two chambers is rising. Each chamber is waiting for their prospective bills to be passed by the other chamber before the fast-approaching deadline.

The Senate passed 25 bills Tuesday, about half of which were House bills and the others Senate appropriations bills.

The Senate cruised through the other chamber’s bills like House Bill 4998. It would increase the penalties for the third offense of shoplifting. House Bill 4768 expands a program for out-of-state medical students who receive in-state tuition if they agree to stay in the state and work for the same number of years they received in-state tuition.

However, the process hit a snag when an otherwise non-controversial bill was introduced. House Bill 5002 would require at least one baby changing station to be placed in all men’s bathrooms in rest areas in the state.

Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, opposed the bill. He said this is essentially in retaliation for the House’s failure to advance bills sent over to them from the Senate and urged a no vote.

“None of those bills, or very few, of those bills,” Woelfel said. “based on my review of today’s agenda in the House had been looked at or even examined, much less never, never, showing up on an agenda.”

He said that one of the committees he is part of, the Judiciary Committee, sent 27 bills to the House that have yet to reach the floor.

“What they send us. A bill about changing a poopy diaper at a rest area is a metaphor,” Woelfel said. “I’m sorry, Mr. President, but it’s a pretty good metaphor for how they do business down the hall.”

After a brief discussion between Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley and Majority Leader Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, the bill was parked in Senate Rules, a small but powerful committee responsible for setting the agenda for what bills hit the floor and have a chance to advance.

Constitutional Protection From Euthanasia Could Appear On Ballots This Fall

Republicans in the West Virginia House of Delegates have backed a resolution allowing residents to vote to add protection from euthanasia to the state constitution during this fall’s general election.

Republicans in the West Virginia House of Delegates are calling on their colleagues in the West Virginia Senate to place constitutional protections from euthanasia on voters’ ballots this fall.

Euthanasia, or medically assisted suicide, is already illegal in the state.

With both chambers’ support, House Joint Resolution 28 would allow residents to vote on adding protections against euthanasia to the state constitution during this fall’s general election.

But lawmakers held conflicting views on the measure at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Monday.

Resolution sponsor Del. Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, was invited to speak to senators in committee, stating that the state’s stance against euthanasia is important.

“There’s this phenomenon of nihilism that’s sort of spreading across the country, and I think it’s an important issue we need to address,” McGeehan said. “To the best of my knowledge, we’ll be the first to place this and take a stand in the state constitution.”

While euthanasia prevention received some bipartisan support, pushback on aspects of the bill fell along party lines.

Republican lawmakers wanted to add language to the amendment so it could not affect capital punishment policies.

But Democratic lawmakers like Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, said that contradicts the purported pro-life nature of the resolution.

Woelfel said he supported the resolution generally, but that protecting capital punishment gave him pause. Other lawmakers expressed concern over outright condemning euthanasia.

Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, said he became more sympathetic to legalizing euthanasia after watching his father-in-law suffer through hospice care at the end of his life.

“We was praying for him to die, that’s how much he was suffering. We was literally praying for him to die,” Caputo said. “I know that, if he could have made this decision to end it earlier, he would have done that.”

Caputo also expressed concern that the resolution would hold legal implications for medical professionals, but McGeehan said the measure would not hold legal weight beyond what is already in place in state law.

Ultimately, members of the committee voted in favor of the resolution, sending it to the Senate floor with the recommendation that it pass.

If members of the Senate approve the resolution, West Virginia voters will be able to vote on constitutional protections from euthanasia in the state general election this November.

Justice Coal Company Ordered To Surrender Helicopter In 72 Hours

The sale of the 2009 Bell helicopter, valued at $1.5 million, would help to partially settle a $10 million debt Bluestone Resources owes to a Caribbean investment firm.

A federal judge in Virginia has ordered one of Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies to surrender a helicopter to a third party in Texas.

The sale of the 2009 Bell helicopter, valued at $1.5 million, would help to partially settle a $10 million debt Bluestone Resources owes to a Caribbean investment firm.

In his Friday order, Judge Robert S. Ballou of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, gave Bluestone 72 hours to turn over the helicopter to Heli-X of Colleyville, Texas.

If Bluestone fails to do so, U.S. Marshals would seize the helicopter.

Bluestone, based in Roanoke, Virginia, is one of numerous companies owned by the Justice family that owe vast sums of money to their creditors.

There are multiple cases involving Justice’s companies in the Western District of Virginia.

Last month, 1st Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, sued Bluestone in the court, charging breach of contract and seeking $4.5 million in damages.

The complaint accuses Bluestone of defaulting on loan agreements and also seeks attorney’s fees and possession of collateral.

According to the complaint, that collateral consists of “equipment owned by Bluestone Coal” and three properties that are part of the Wintergreen Ski Resort near Charlottesville, Virginia.

Another federal judge in Roanoke late last month held Southern Coal in civil contempt. That Justice company failed to reimburse a Charleston insurance company for more than $500,000 in workers’ compensation payments.

Judge Elizabeth Dillon gave Southern Coal seven days to repay BrickStreet Mutual Insurance. After that, the court will impose a $2,500 daily penalty on Southern Coal until it complies.

Justice is a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Senate Effort To Raise Indecent Exposure Penalties Causes House Confusion

Members of a House of Delegates committee expressed confusion over a bill modifying indecent exposure penalties in West Virginia, and had extensive debate over additional amendments to the bill.

A bill that would raise penalties for indecent exposure moved swiftly through the West Virginia Senate last month, passing the chamber just two days into this year’s legislative session.

But a West Virginia House of Delegates committee reviewed the bill this week with less certainty than their colleagues across the rotunda.

Senate Bill 160 would allow for stiffer penalties for individuals repeatedly convicted for “indecent exposure for purposes of sexual gratification,” permitting them to be both fined and imprisoned.

The bill prompted more than an hour of debate in the House Judiciary Committee Thursday morning.

Members of the committee widely supported reinforced protections against sexual misconduct.

But Del. Chris Pritt, R-Kanawha, sought to amend the bill to expand definitions of — and penalties for — indecent exposure when a minor was knowingly present.

Pritt said his amendment aimed to address “news across the country” of “sexually explicit” conduct in libraries and schools.

“We’re talking about shows in which individuals are dancing in a manner that is sexually suggestive in front of children at libraries, at schools,” he said. “We’ve all heard about it in the news.”

Pritt did not cite any specific examples of these performances.

Several committee members applauded Pritt’s impulse to reinforce protections for minors, but some expressed concern that his amendment would modify case law cemented in West Virginia courtrooms.

“If we’re applying a different standard than what has historically been applied, we would basically be getting rid of 100 years of case law by switching this,” said Del. Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, who is an attorney.

The amendment would have changed the bill’s language to include references to “private parts,” defined later in the amendment to encompass body parts such as the “post-puberty female breasts with less than fully opaque covering of any part of the nipple.”

It also specified a wide range of “sexually explicit” acts that would fall into the purview of the new bill, like the “lascivious exhibit of simulated sexual intercourse.”

But opponents said these changes were too far-reaching, and gave too much authority to an individual’s definitions of nudity and sexual conduct.

They worried incidents of sexual dancing at a wedding or wardrobe malfunctions at a beach could fall into the definition of indecent exposure under the amendment.

“This is just getting worse and worse and worse. We are in a hole so deep we need a bigger shovel,” said Del. Rick Hillenbrand, R-Hampshire. “I don’t like the amendment to the amendment, [and] I don’t like the amendment.”

Ultimately, Pritt’s proposal was defeated in a vote of 11 to 11, with 3 members of the committee absent or not voting.

Still, the initial bill itself raised further concerns from lawmakers.

The Senate bill would remove a clause explicitly stating that breastfeeding did not qualify as sexual misconduct under state law.

Committee members suggested that this was because senators felt it was an unnecessary addition to state law, because breastfeeding does not constitute an act of “sexual gratification.”

But lawmakers with legal experience, like Steele, said that removing the explicit breastfeeding exemption could be seen as an effort from lawmakers to authorize prosecution for public breastfeeding.

“I don’t want anybody looking back at this legislative intent and seeing that we removed that language,” he said. “When we cross out language like that, I can see a judge saying, ‘Well, the legislature must have intended to recriminalize this.’”

Steele proposed an additional amendment to reverse the removal of the breastfeeding clause, which passed unanimously.

After extensive debate, the committee ultimately voted in favor of the bill, sending it to the full House for further discussion.

Capito Will Rise To Senior Senator. What Does That Mean For W.Va.?

Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, is not seeking re-election. When he leaves the chamber next January, that elevates Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s seniority.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito will become West Virginia’s senior senator next year. What does that mean for the state’s clout in Washington?

Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, is not seeking re-election. When he leaves the chamber next January, that elevates Capito’s seniority.

Capito is a member of the Senate Republican leadership, and she is the senior Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Both serve on the Appropriations Committee, which gives West Virginia an unusual amount of say over federal spending. Manchin, though, is a committee chairman of Energy and Natural Resources. His departure could diminish the state’s influence.

Unless Republicans wrest control of the Senate after November, which would make Capito chair of the environment committee. That committee authorizes road and bridge projects, as well as water and wastewater infrastructure. Capito took a lead role in what became the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which has brought billions of dollars in funding to the Mountain State. Manchin had a hand in it as well.

West Virginia has a long history of senators leveraging their seniority, up to and including Manchin and Capito. Capito says she’ll continue to leverage hers.

“Well, I will be the senior senator after this next election,” she said. “And that means that my clout is more powerful, and my voice will be more powerful.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Thursday he’d be stepping down as Republican leader in November. McConnell said he’d complete his term. Still, Political observers in Kentucky say that will diminish the influence the state has long enjoyed.

It’s similar to West Virginia’s longtime Sen. Robert C. Byrd. Byrd served in various leadership positions, including majority leader, and he spent more than 50 years in the chamber, using his influence on the state’s behalf. After Byrd’s death in 2010, Manchin took his place.

Capito took the place of Sen. Jay Rockefeller in 2015. By the time he retired, Rockefeller had been in the Senate for 30 years and was chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Senate Changes, Passes Bill To Reduce Unemployment Benefits

The engrossed bill that passed the Senate shaves two weeks of the current 26 weeks of unemployment benefits available to workers who have lost their job due through no fault of their own. It increases the initial benefit to up to $712 per week, or 70 percent of the original wage, for the first four weeks of unemployment. That’s up from $624 per week, and 65 percent of the wage. However after those first four weeks, the benefit decreases by 5 percent of the original wage, or max benefit.

Updated: 02/29/2024 5:13pm

The Senate passed a bill that would reduce overall unemployment benefits but increase initial benefits.

Senate Bills 840 and 841 would have steeply cut unemployment benefits. Those bills were combined and amended- and for the most part gutted with a new amendment.

The amended bill that passed the Senate shaves two weeks off of the current 26 weeks of unemployment benefits available to workers who have lost their job due through no fault of their own. The bill would also allow people to work part time while receiving unemployment. They would receive reduced benefits while working.

Under this amended bill the benefits are front loaded, and taper off as time goes on. It increases the initial benefit to up to $712 per week, or 70 percent of the original wage, for the first four weeks of unemployment. That’s up from $624 per week, and 65 percent of the wage. However after those first four weeks, the benefit decreases by 5 percent of the original wage, or max benefit.

For example, on week five, the benefit would be 65 percent, and on the ninth week it would be 60 percent. On week 20 through week 24, the last weeks of the available benefit, unemployed people would receive 45 percent of their original benefit.

The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy said that the average time an unemployed person collects benefits in the state is 13 weeks.

Sen. Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, said that this bill would benefit the average unemployed person, because they would collect that initial larger benefit.

The bill also requires that employers contribute more to the unemployment insurance fund.

“The average wage of those on the unemployed base is roughly $35,000,” Nelson said. “And so currently, over that 14 week period, they would receive $5,166. Under the proposed method, they would receive $5,991 to an increase of $800.”

However, Josh Sword, West Virginia AFL-CIO president, said the bill would cost some West Virginians who use the full duration of the benefit thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits.

“As it stands now, compared to the bill that was adopted in the Senate last night,” Sword said. “We know that individuals are going to receive about $4,000 less in benefits than they would today. So that’s concerning.”

The original bills would have reduced the maximum benefit to $550 per week and reduced the duration based on the current unemployment rate. It would reduce the benefits duration down to 12 weeks based on the current unemployment rate of 4.3 percent.

The 28 page amendment, which significantly changed the bill, was introduced on the floor 30 minutes before the bill was voted on.

Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, said he understands the need for the bill but wanted more time to work out the details and bring stakeholders like business and labor unions to the table to talk about the bill.

“Don’t think it should be done in the 11th hour. I think it’s bad, bad government to do this,” Caputo said.

He said this sends a horrible message to the working people of West Virginia and the nearly 2,000 people who are slated to lose their jobs from layoffs from the closures of Allegany Woods and Cleveland Cliffs.

Sword agreed, and said he would have liked the AFL-CIO to have been involved in the drafting of legislation that would affect workers in the state.

“The best way to get good policy is to bring all impacted parties to the table,” Sword said. “And come up with a good common sense solution that makes sense for everybody. That absolutely did not happen. And that’s part of the reason that we don’t know what’s in it because we weren’t at the table trying to put something together.”

Nelson says the bill, that was put together privately over the course of three days, does include a few errors.

“One of the unfortunate things that does happen when we’re here at this speed at the end. This is not a final product, this goes over to the house. There’ll be additional discussions, and I’m gonna have more discussions with Senator Caputo and labor and others because we want the best product going forward. And that’s what we have,” Nelson said.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include Sen. Eric Nelson, and AFL-CIO President Josh Sword.