Veto Story Archives - Page 2 of 4 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

With 99 To Go, Justice Signals Hesitation Over Signing Certain Bills

The governor has signed 73 bills into law, and vetoed one. There are slightly fewer than a hundred bills waiting for action – including some controversial bills.

Most of what Gov. Jim Justice has signed since the legislative session ended are appropriations bills that allot funding to specific state agencies.

Contentious bills, like ones that would reduce unemployment benefits, change the legislative auditor’s office, and loosen vaccine requirements for school-age children are still hanging in legislative limbo.

Justice expressed concern about the vaccine bill that would exempt students from receiving vaccinations who attend private schools or attend public school virtually.

“We’re bombarded with calls, bombarded with calls,” Justice said. “You know, from ‘docs’ and all kinds of different people who say ‘what are we doing, what in the world are we doing?’”

He said he wants to expand freedom but is unclear on the ramifications of the bill, if it is signed into law.

“I had a gentleman just in my office not long ago,” Justice said. “You know, talking about when he was growing up, one of the family members had Polio.”

With ten days left to sign the bill, Justice said it’s premature to say what he will do.

According to West Virginia Legislature website, while the Legislature is in session, the governor has five days to approve or veto a bill. After the Legislature adjourns, the governor has 15 days to act on most bills. However, the budget bill and supplemental appropriations bills must be acted upon by the governor within five days regardless of when they are received. If the governor does not act within these time limits, bills automatically become law without his or her signature.

If the Legislature is still in session when the governor vetoes a bill, a simple majority vote of the members of both legislative bodies is necessary to override the veto.

In cases when a budget bill or supplemental appropriation bill is vetoed, it requires a two-thirds vote of the members of both chambers to override the veto.

Gov. Justice Vetoes Health Department Split, Seeks Review

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice vetoed a bill Wednesday that would have split the massive Department of Health and Human Resources into separate agencies, saying he first wants a review of its “issues, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies.”

“I am committed to making the DHHR better, but we cannot afford to play politics when people’s lives hang in the balance,” Justice said in a statement. “We need to be certain before we act.”

Under the bill, the DHHR would have been divided into the Department of Health and Department of Human Resources.

The bill originated in the House of Delegates, where some supporters had said the move was long overdue for such a large agency and could help better address the state’s substance abuse crisis. West Virginia has the nation’s highest drug overdose death rate.

There also were attempts in the recent legislative session to address the state’s foster care system, which falls under the DHHR. More than 6,500 children are in the care of the state. Pay raises for social workers were gutted after a bill aimed at improving foster care services unraveled on the Legislature’s final day in March.

“We all want to address and correct the very real issues within DHHR, but before we undertake such a drastic change to an enormous agency that affects the lives of our most vulnerable West Virginians, I believe we need to take a deeper look at every aspect of how this would work,” Justice said.

The Republican governor said the DHHR bill “does not provide adequate direction on the many questions that must be addressed in this massive endeavor, including important questions regarding how the federal funds will flow to ensure we don’t jeopardize significant federal funding.”

While the bill would have split the DHHR by next January, budgetary changes would not have been effective until July 2023.

“It is unclear how the different effective dates could work in concert,” Justice said.

The DHHR currently has one cabinet secretary, Bill Crouch, overseeing a $7.6 billion budget, or 39% of the state’s entire spending, while 11 secretaries from other departments oversee the remaining 60% of state spending.

Under the bill, there would have been one cabinet secretary for each new department without deputy secretaries. The change’s financial cost to the state in the next fiscal budget would have been $300,000 for the additional cabinet secretary and administrative assistant.

The DHHR split goes back to a 2013 consulting firm report that suggested such a move would allow for a more efficient use of agency resources.

Among the agencies that would have been included under the Department of Human Resources are the bureaus of Social Services, Medical Services, Child Support Enforcement, Family Assistance, and Behavioral Health. The West Virginia Bureau for Behavioral Health includes the state Office of Drug Control Policy and the Office of Maternal Child and Family Health.

The Department of Health would have included the bureaus of Public Health, Health Facilities, Inspector General, the Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification, and the state Health Care Authority.

The bill would have allowed the new departments to decide how to oversee the state Women’s Commission and the Human Rights Commission.

Justice said he plans to implement a “top-to-bottom review of the DHHR, so that we may clearly identify its issues, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies. We will work to develop a plan to address any and all problems, which may very well require a full reorganization of the agency. But we will do so in an effective and efficient way, so we can make sure there is no lapse in any vital support or services for the West Virginians who rely on the DHHR.”

Gov. Justice Vetoes Economic Development Bill, Calls Special Session

Gov. Jim Justice has called a special session of the West Virginia Legislature for April after vetoing Senate Bill 729. The bill creates a self-sustaining loan fund with the West Virginia Economic Development Authority.

Justice said the bill had several technical errors that would have made it nearly impossible to use the money consistent with the intent of the bill. He said the special session is intended to fix those errors.

The governor said the bill is also intended to create a $200 million revolving loan fund for WV Department of Transportation to use for major road projects. He said he’s committed to ensuring the revolving loan fund remains in the bill.

This Special Session will be scheduled to coincide with the April Legislative Interim Meetings to avoid additional costs.

Justice Budget Veto Means Special Session Ahead

Gov. Jim Justice has vetoed the budget bill lawmakers approved early Sunday morning.

The bill relies on $90 million from the state’s Rainy Day Fund to find a balance and Justice said signing it would be like signing the state’s death certificate.

The $4.1 billion budget includes major cuts to the state Department of Health and Human Resources and higher education, including 12 percent reductions to West Virginia University and Marshall University.

It does not include the governor’s proposed 2 percent teacher pay raise or his increased marketing budget for tourism, and because of the failure and veto of several pieces of legislation, is actually short about $32 million, according to the governor.

Justice vetoed the bill during a press conference at the Capitol Thursday, calling it “political bull-you-know-what,” revealing a plate of feces in the Capitol rotunda.

Justice said Republican leaders in the Legislature weren’t being honest with the public, claiming they asked for a veto.

“The Republicans passed this and turned around and called and called and called and said, surely you’re going to veto this,” he said. “Surely you’re going to veto this because we don’t want to own it.”

But Justice also went after Democratic members of the Legislature, saying he had brokered a deal with Senate President Mitch Carmichael late Saturday night, right before the end of the session, that included increased taxes and changes to the personal income tax.

Justice said Democrats in the Senate initially refused to back the plan and then the bill never surfaced during the late night meeting.

Both Democrats and Republicans in the House of Delegates said Saturday night they were never informed of a deal between the Senate and Governor’s Office, which angered some members.

Justice did not mention during the press conference when he would call lawmakers back to Charleston for a special session. They are constitutionally required to approve a balanced budget by June 30, or risk an unprecedented government shutdown.

Governor Will Veto Bill to End Greyhound Funding

Gov. Jim Justice has announced he will veto a bill that would have effectively put an end to the greyhound racing industry in West Virginia, according to its supporters.

Justice traveled to Wheeling to announce the veto of Senate Bill 437 Saturday morning.

The bill would have ended the Greyhound Breeding and Development Fund, a $14 million annual appropriation from video lottery and table game proceeds at casinos.

The fund helps pay for dog breeding and the purses, or bet winnings, at the state’s two dog racetrack casinos in Nirto and Wheeling.

The racing industry said getting rid of the fund would have resulted in the loss of some 1,700 jobs in West Virginia, which is why Justice said he will veto the bill.

“Eliminating support for the greyhounds is a job killer and I can’t sign it,” Justice said in a written statement. “The last thing we need to do is drive more people out of West Virginia. We can’t turn our back on communities like Wheeling that benefit from dog racing.”

Justice said the bill would jeopardize the health of the state’s casino industry. Proceeds from gambling support education and senior programs, among other things in the excess lottery portion of the budget.

Editor’s Note: This story originally said that Gov. Justice vetoed the bill. He announced Saturday he will veto the legislation.

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.