Veto Override Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Senate Votes to Override Right to Work Fix

Senators have voted to override Governor Jim Justice’s veto of Senate Bill 330.

The bill was an attempt to clarify some language in the state’s Right to Work law which was approved by lawmakers in the 2016 session.

After its passage, the law was challenged in court and was recently ruled unconstitutional by a Kanawha County judge.

Justice noted in his veto message that lawmakers should wait for a final decision from the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals before changing the law– which is expected by late April.

“This does not interfere in anyway with the adjudication of the question of whether the legislation is somehow inconsistent with the United States Constitution or the West Virginia Constitution,” Senate Judicairy Chair Charles Trump said on the floor Thursday.

“Our action in the bill that we passed, Senate Bill 330, was just to take out the part of the statute that the court found to be vague or ambiguous.”

It takes only a simple majority vote to override a gubernatorial veto. Senators voted 21 to 12 Thursday to do so.

It will also take a vote in the House of Delegates for the bill to become law without the governor’s signature.

The Legislature Today: Cole Says Balancing Budget With Reserve Funds OK in Tight Budget Year

As the 2017 budget deficit looms, members of both chambers are looking for ways to balance the budget in a tight fiscal year.

Senate President Bill Cole says additional agency cuts should come from the Governor, but says using the state’s Rainy Day Fund to help fund the deficit is a reasonable measure.

Members of both the House and Senate vote to override Governor Tomblin’s veto of a bill to ban certain second-trimester abortion methods.

In the Senate, a floor debate over the budget questions if the chamber will have a strong position going into negotiations in the House without any revenue increasing measures while in the House, members are one step closer to allowing voters to choose if alcohol in their county should be sold on Sunday mornings.

West Virginia Legislature Votes to Reverse Tomblin's Veto of Abortion Ban Bill

The West Virginia Legislature has voted to reverse Governor Tomblin’s veto of a bill to ban a certain second-trimester abortion method.

Senators voted 25 to 9 Thursday morning, while House members voted 85 to 15 during an afternoon floor session to overturn the veto.

Tomblin vetoed Senate Bill 10 Wednesday evening. In his veto message, the governor said the bill was overbroad and “unduly burdens a woman’s fundamental constitutional right to privacy.”

The bill bans dilation and evacuation abortions unless the physician first stops the heart of the fetus. The bill does not prohibit the abortions in cases of medical emergency.

There are no criminal or civil penalties included in the bill, but doctors who perform the method could lose their physicians licenses.

Those opposed to the bill have said it interferes with the doctor-patient relationship and takes away the safest option for women.

“Quite honestly, a second trimester abortion is something that’s troubling to most of us, myself included,” Sen. Corey Palumbo said on the floor, “but this bill has been found unconstitutional in two states, but beyond that, we’re saying the safest procedure cannot be. We’re requiring them to do the less safe procedure that we’ve been told is sometimes impossible.”

Similar laws have been deemed unconstitutional in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Legislature Overrides Permitless Carry Veto

Senators joined the House of Delegates in a vote to override Governor Tomblin’s veto of a bill that would allow anyone over the age of 21 to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

The Senate voted 23 to 11 during a Saturday morning floor session. The House had voted on the measure Friday.

Along with removing the current permitting and safety training requirements to carry a concealed weapon over the age of 21, the bill also puts a provisional licensing system in place for 18 to 20-year-olds and includes a $50 tax credit for anyone who goes through the permitting process.

The bill increases penalties for people who unlawfully carry concealed, including felons who are prohibited from carrying, or who use a weapon while committing another crime.

Tomblin vetoed the bill Thursday during a ceremony at the Capitol, surrounded by law enforcement officers from across the state. In his veto message, Tomblin cited public safety concerns. Law enforcement also pointed to the bill’s language that would not just allow people to carry a concealed firearm, but also other weapons like knives and brass knuckles.

A recent public opinion poll conducted by the West Virginia firm Orion Strategies found 71 percent of likely voters in the state believed people should have to get a permit in order to carry a weapon.

“This is not just a slap in the face of the Governor,” Democratic Sen. Corey Palumbo said on the Senate floor Saturday, “this is a slap in the face of the State Police, Sheriffs, municipal police, and the majority of the people of West Virginia.”

Republican Sen. Craig Blair stood to support the override, saying the measure will be a crime deterrent in the state.

“I recognize that there are issues as it relates to public opinion on this, but at the end of the day, it is a constitutional right and we really don’t see much difference between carrying in an open manner without a permit or putting a jacket on over your weapon and then being a felon,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael said of the vote Friday.

Carmichael also said he has heard the concerns of law enforcement, but said he hopes they’ll work with lawmakers to ensure West Virginians can exercise their Constitutional rights.

The bill will take effect in mid-May.

House Passes Raw Milk Bill, Goes to the Governor

After a veto from Governor Tomblin last year, members of the Senate and the House have both taken up a bill that would allow West Virginians to consume raw milk. Members of the Senate passed the bill earlier this month on a vote of 22 to 12, and yesterday, Delegates cast their final votes.

Senate Bill 387 would allow West Virginians to enter herd-sharing agreements, or shared ownership of milk producing animals. After filing the agreements with the state Department of Agriculture, it would then be legal for all of the owners to drink the raw milk produced by the animal. The herd-sharers would also be required to meet state and federal standards set by the state veterinarian and report any instances of illnesses.

The bill would not allow the owners to sell or distribute the raw milk to anyone else.

Delegate Kelli Sobonya, a Republican from Cabell County stood in favor of the bill.

“There’s many products that remain legal in West Virginia that have presented true dangers,” Sobonya noted, “Tobacco’s still legal, yet we keep talking about how dangerous it is; artificial sweeteners, certain legal drugs are dangerous. Ladies and gentlemen, this bill has been discussed for several years. Let’s get this out of the House, back to the Senate for a House message, let it go to the governor. If you’re against it, vote against it, but if you’re for liberty and food freedom, vote for it.”

Delegate Don Perdue is a Democrat from Wayne County and the former chair of the House Health Committee. He stood against the bill.

“We bring this down to suggest it’s an issue of freedom. It’s freedom we’re talking about here; freedom to do whatever you want. Well folks, that means we need to get rid of all the public health laws; smoking in buildings, we need to get rid of all of those; that’s what’s being said. And the troubling thing about that is; your right to be sick ends where my right to be healthy begins,” Perdue said.

House Health Committee Chair Joe Ellington spoke in support of the bill, citing other foods like raw meats, certain vegetables, and even water that could contain harmful bacteria.

“So you have to put in perspective as far as numbers. Yes there are potential serious infections, yes people can potentially die, but as I mentioned last year, most of the things we’re exposed to everyday can do the same thing,” Ellington explained.

Senate Bill 387 passed 88 to 11 and now goes to the governor for consideration.

In the governor’s veto message last year, Tomblin said the bill could pose serious risk to public health particularly in children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.