Tag: WV Senate

Senators Consider Pay Raise for DNR Officers

Members of the Senate Natural Resources Committee took up a bill that would give Division of Natural Resources law enforcement officers a raise in the upcoming fiscal year and every year following. 

The bill raises the base salary for new officers from $31,222 in their first year to $33,994. All other officers will receive a bump in the range of two to six thousand dollars a year.

The introduced version of the bill also grants the officers a $400 a year raise for every year they remain on the force.

Senate Bill 92 comes with a $1.1 million fiscal note for the upcoming budget year, and a $1.6 million implication for the following year. 

DNR law enforcement head Col. Jerry Jenkins told members of the committee his division is competing with the West Virginia State Police, counties and even some city departments that can pay more.

“Right now we’re trying to fill seven positions which we didn’t have much of an applicant pool to pull from,” he said, “and we’re finding a lot of these people have already applied for other agencies and they’ve been turned down.”

Jenkins also told the committee his officers, unlike many other law enforcement agencies, must have a four year degree or some combination of a two year degree with specialized law enforcement or military training.

The bill passed the committee and goes to Senate Finance for further consideration.

Bill to Scale Back Prevailing Wage Passes Senate

State Senators have approved a bill to scale back the state’s prevailing wage law and change the way it’s calculated.

A bill that would have repealed the state’s prevailing wage completely was altered and then approved by senators on a final vote of 23 to 11 Thursday with only Democrats voting against it.

The approved version moves the calculation of the wage from the Division of Labor to Workforce West Virginia in conjunction with economists from West Virginia and Marshall Universities. The bill also requires a half a million dollar minimum cost on public improvement projects for the wage to kick in.

Democratic Senator Doug Facemire opposed the bill saying no one has provided him enough information about what the change would do to the wages of the dozens of union workers who packed the galleries during the floor session.

“Look up in them chambers, these people with coveralls on, work clothes. You reckon’ they think this is good,” he said during a floor speech.

“We don’t know what we’re getting ready to do to these people. Nobody has given me any kind of a figure that says what’ going to happen to these people. I don’t think that’s good government. I think that’s reckless government,” Facemire said.

Other Democrats remarked they would vote against the bill because no one knew for sure the effects the legislation would have on workers’ wages, but Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael said that’s true under the current system.

“It should be absolutely clear to everyone in here, we don’t know what the prevailing wage is going to be next year. It’s a survey method and it can change from year to year under the current system,” he said during his remarks.

“So, nobody in the balconies and nobody in here knows what the current rate, or what the rate for the prevailing wage will be next year under the current system.”

The bill now moves on the House where Speaker Tim Armstead said he expects intense discussion on the bill.

Senate Health Panel Moves Vaccine Bill

A Senate committee approved an agreement Thursday that would modify the way immunization exemptions are granted in West Virginia, taking the power from…

A Senate committee approved an agreement Thursday that would modify the way immunization exemptions are granted in West Virginia, taking the power from the county level and centralizing it at the state Bureau for Public Health.

Members of the Senate Health Committee initially received a bill that would have allowed parents to seek religious exemptions from some immunization requirements. A committee substitute offered last week removed that exemption, but members still had concerns and asked for more time to work on a compromised version.

The committee substitute now requires a family doctor provide the Bureau for Public Health with a request for a medical exemption. The request would then be reviewed by a new chief immunization officer within the state Bureau.

The bill also sets up an appeals process for parents who disagree with the immunization officer’s decision. It can first be appealed to the Commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health and then to a state court.

“This is obviously a good attempt in ensuring that the issue of inconsistencies are addressed while keeping the strong immunization policies intact,” Dr. Rahul Gupta, Commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health and the state’s chief health officer, told the committee, “and I think that’s a really good step forward.”

The bill was approved unanimously by the committee and now goes to Senate Judiciary for further consideration.

W.Va. Senate GOP Says Deal Struck on Prevailing Wage Changes

State Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael says there's a tentative deal to scale back the state's prevailing wage.The Jackson County Republican said…

State Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael says there’s a tentative deal to scale back the state’s prevailing wage.

The Jackson County Republican said Wednesday the agreement would avoid repealing the wage for public construction projects. Republicans have proposed the repeal.

Carmichael said one provision would remove the wage’s calculation from the state Division of Labor.

Instead, Workforce West Virginia would calculate it, along with West Virginia University and Marshall University economics specialists.

The wage would be reported to lawmakers to approve the methodology.

Carmichael said projects less than $500,000 wouldn’t be subject to the wage.

Steve White, Affiliated Construction Trades director, said it’s promising there will be a deal, but the devil’s in the details.

After delays and behind-the-scene negotiations, the bill is slated for amendments and a vote Thursday.

W.Va. Senate Clears Bill Touted by State's Coal Industry

The Republican-led state Senate has cleared a proposal lauded by the struggling coal industry and criticized as dangerous for worker safety by the miners'…

The Republican-led state Senate has cleared a proposal lauded by the struggling coal industry and criticized as dangerous for worker safety by the miners’ union.

Senators voted 26-8 Tuesday for the bill changing safety and environmental standards related to coal mining.

Environmental groups warned the legislation could weaken water quality protections.

Bill proponents said the industry needs all the help it can get. Diminishing coal seams, competition from other states and natural gas, federal regulations and lousy markets are hurting Central Appalachian coal.

Opponents say it’s wrong to reduce protections in a state defined by deadly mining accidents.

Changes range from shielding coal mine companies from some citizen Clean Water Act lawsuits, to allowing less rail track to be laid in mines.

A similar House bill has passed one committee.

W.Va. GOP Squashes Democrats Attempt to Stop Prevailing Wage repeal

In a close party-line vote, Republican state senators stymied a Democratic effort to stop a bill that would repeal the state’s prevailing wage. 

Democrats failed in a 16-18 Senate vote Thursday to reject the repeal bill, which passed a committee Tuesday.

Democrats said the bill was being wrongly fast-tracked and a compromise between labor and business should have been considered.

“This has been coming. There was plenty of time for compromise, but that compromise was not seen nor embraced,” Sen. Herb Snyder, a Democrat from Jefferson County, said on the floor Thursday.

“What we have done is put fear in the hearts of tens of thousands of West Virginia citizens. Our citizens, Mr. President. Their fear is that they do not know, if this repeal bill passes, what their wages will be.” 

Republicans say the free market should dictate wages. They expect amendments to come on the Senate floor.

The bill will be on first reading Friday and up for a vote as early as next week.

The House of Delegates has not considered yet the repeal.

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