We discover as we travel through life that some things never change. Those things are the anchor that stabilizes our feeling of stability. That feeling of stability extends to the workings of our government.
But, we find much to our dismay that somethings we thought would always stay the same are subject to change in one fell swope. This rocks us to our core and makes us wonder “what is next?
The WV Legislature operated on the same set of rules for years and once you knew the system you could pretty much predict the outcome of many bills if you knew the intricate machinations of how a bill is passed. Given that knowledge, you also knew how to kill a bill. I was versed in both.
But, it’s a whole new ball game down south this session with a change in house rules. No longer will people flock to Charleston for public hearings and no longer can you slow up a bill by calling for a public hearing.
Thus, I opted to this look at the action that impact us here in the northernmost county in Legislative Musings where I’ll take an informative and philosophical look at what’s going on down south.
Each day I scan the list of bills introduced and the progress of bills which have made the cut and are up for consideration. Here’s a few:.
VACCINATION EXEMPTIONS
SB passed the Senate yesterday and is now in the House of Delegates for consideration. It was introduced on behalf of the Governor so we know if the bill had wings it would fly through both chambers. It is not without its detractors, however, and those who see flaws that are troublesome.
An encouraging situation occurred in the Senate yesterday, The two Senators from our District stood on both sides of an amendment to the bill. Sen. Laura Wakim-Chapman (R-1st) is Chair of Health & Human Services Committee, and as such must fight amendments to the bill (this is where you must understand the unwritten laws of the Legislature. A committee chair does not put a bill on the agenda if he/she does not have the votes to pass it out of the committee. That also applies to his/her responsibility to assure its passage on the floor of the house. Similarly the committee chair fights off all amendments. (he ability to control his/her committee is a sign of an effective and strong committee chair)
The bill as written allowed for no exemptions to the exemptions and meant that religious schools could not set a more stringent policy adhering to the no exemptions currently in place. Sen. Ryan Weld (R-1st) thought that religious schools should be able to adhere to a more stringent vaccination policy and he offered an amendment on the floor to exempt faith-based schools from the loosened requirements. Weld lost his amendment and the bill passed and was referred to he House unamended. It was refreshing to see two senators from the same district have differing views and express them pretty eloquently. I am becoming more and more impressed by Sen. Weld’s stances on issues and his ability to convey his reasoning for those stances.
I predict the same will happen in the House. This is a Governor’s bill and the word has been put out that there are to be no amendments. I predict the bill will be effective from date of passage and will be promptly signed by Gov. Morrisey.
I asked who is in charge of making those changes locally. I was told the Board of Health has no role in the process. It vaccinates, but does not monitor vaccinations. The responsibility falls to the school administration and school board. Superintendent Dan Enich tells me that if it is the law, the schools will enforce that law. If a policy change has to be made, it will be up to the School Board to enact those changes.
Some other bills, I noticed which may be of interest to residents:
SB 75 – Addresses the excess video lottery account and seeks to return money to it. Although it does not address the one percent the County Commission lost to New Cumberland and Chester (I have yet to see a bill that addresses that problem.) it does open the same section of code in which the allocations can be found. What am I saying? That with a few words amended into that section, the 1 percent could be returned. Can that be done? Sure can and a move like that is how we got coin drop and a rise in the betting limit.
Governor Underwood was no friend to gambling and he wanted nothing to do with gambling bills. He was not, however, averse to using the money from gambling. On the last night of the session, his bill to . It used video lottery revenues to pay for the gold leafing. The original bill to up the bet limit, etc., had died an ugly death that morning in the Senate. (To answer the question, does a bill ever truly die,,,,the answer is no and this is a perfect example.)
The bill had been referenced to Finance Committee of which I was a member. My bill, which had died, was simply amended into the Governor’s bill in Finance Committee. When the bill came before the full house for a final vote, Finance Committee Chair Bob Kiss explained the bill had only one small amendment and he explained it. What happened next was controlled chaos. Weirton Steel had given every delegate a tin can bank. Republicans were not just on their feet, they were standing on their chairs banging the tin cans and shouting “gambling, gambling, no ….no.” The Speaker ruled the amendment germane to the bill and the vote was taken. Did even gambling opponents want to vote against the Governor’s bill to gold leaf the capitol dome? Of course not. The bill passed and Mountaineer embarked on a whole new phase of building and growth. Did I notice a coolness on the part of Governor Underwood towards me? Maybe. Was knowing the rules of the House valuable? Absolutely! .We discover as we travel through life that some things never change. Those things are the anchor that stabilizes our feeling of stability. That feeling of stability extends to the workings of our government.
But, we find much to our dismay that somethings we thought would always stay the same are subject to change in one fell swope. This rocks us to our core and makes us wonder “what is next.”
The WV Legislature operated on the same set of rules for years and once you knew the system you could pretty much predict the outcome of many bills if you knew the intricate machinations of how a bill is passed. Given that knowledge, you also knew how to kill a bill. I was versed in both.
But, it’s a whole new ball game down south this session with a change in house rules. No longer will people flock to Charleston for public hearings and no longer can you slow up a bill by calling for a public hearing.
Thus, I opted to this look at the action that impact us here in the northernmost county as Legislative Musings where I’ll take an informative and philosophical look at what’s going down south.
Each day I scan the list of bills introduced and the progress of bills which have made the cut and are up for consideration. Here’s a few:.
VACCINATION EXEMPTIONS
SB passed the Senate yesterday and is now in the House of Delegates for consideration. It was introduced on behalf of the Governor so we know if the bill had wings it would fly through both chambers. It is not without it’s detractors and those who see flaws that are troublesome.
An encouraging situation occurred in the Senate yesterday, which the two Senators from our District stood on both sides of an amendment to the bill. Sen. Laura Wakim-Chapman (R-1st) is Chair of Health & Human Services Committee, and as such must fight amendments to the bill (this is where you must understand the unwritten laws of the Legislature. A committee chair does not put a bill on the agenda if he/she does not have the votes to pass it out of the
committee. Similarly the committee chair fights off all amendments. (he ability to control his/her committee is a sign of an effective and strong commitment chair) The bill as written allowed for no exemptions to the exemptions and meant that religious schools could not set a more stringent policy adhering to the no exemptions currently in place. Sen. Ryan Weld (R-1st) thought that religious schools should be able to adhere to a more stringent vaccination policy and he offered an amendment on the floor to exempt faith-based schools from the loosened requirements. Weld lost his amendments and the bill passed and was referred to he House unamended.
I predict the same will happen in the House. This is a Governor’s bill and the word has been put out that there is to be no amendments. I predict the bill will be effective from date of passage and will be promptly signed by Gov. Morrisey.
I asked locally who is in charge of making those changes locally. I was told the Board of Health has no role in the process. It vaccinates, but does not monitor vaccinations. The responsibility falls to the school administration and school board. Superintendent Dan Enich tells me that if it is the law, the schools will enforce that law. If a policy change has to be made, it will be up to the School Board to enact those changes.
Some other bills, I noticed which may be of interest to residents:
SB 75 – Addresses the excess video lottery account and seeks to return money to it. Although it does not address the one percent the County Commission lost to New Cumberland and Chester (I have yet to see a bill that addresses that problem.) it does open the same section of code in which the allocations can be found. What am I saying? That with a few words amended into that section, the 1 percent could be returned. Can that be done? Sure can and a move like that is how we got coin drop and a rise in the betting limit.
Governor Underwood was no friend to gambling and he wanted nothing to do with gambling bills. He was not, however, averse to using the money from gambling. On the last night of the session, his bill to . It used video lottery revenues to pay for the gold leafing. The original bill to up the bet limit, etc., had died an ugly death that morning in the Senate. (To answer the question, does a bill ever truly die,,,,the answer is no and this is a perfect example.)
The bill had been referenced to Finance Committee of which I was a member. My bill, which had died, was simply amended into the Governor’s bill. When the bill came before the full house for a final vote, Finance Committee Chair Bob Kiss explained the bill had only one small amendment and he explained it. What happened next was controlled chaos. Weirton Steel had given every delegate a tin can bank. Republicans were not just on their feet, they were standing on their chairs banging the tin cans and shouting “gambling, gambling, no ….no.” The Speaker ruled the amendment germane to the bill and the vote was taken. Did even gambling opponents want to vote against the Governor’s bill to gold leaf the capital dome? Of course not. The bill passed and Mountaineer embarked on a whole new phase of building and growth. Did I notice a coolness on the part of Governor Underwood towards me? Maybe. Was knowing the rules of the House valuable. Absolutely.We discover as we travel through life that some things never change. Those things are the anchor that stabilizes our feeling of stability. That feeling of stability extends to the workings of our government.
But, we find much to our dismay that somethings we thought would always stay the same are subject to change in one fell swope. This rocks us to our core and makes us wonder “what is next.”
The WV Legislature operated on the same set of rules for years and once you knew the system you could pretty much predict the outcome of many bills if you knew the intricate machinations of how a bill is passed. Given that knowledge, you also knew how to kill a bill. I was versed in both.
But, it’s a whole new ball game down south this session with a change in house rules. No longer will people flock to Charleston for public hearings and no longer can you slow up a bill by calling for a public hearing.
Thus, I opted to this look at the action that impact us here in the northernmost county as Legislative Musings where I’ll take an informative and philosophical look at what’s going down south.
Each day I scan the list of bills introduced and the progress of bills which have made the cut and are up for consideration. Here’s a few:.
VACCINATION EXEMPTIONS
SB passed the Senate yesterday and is now in the House of Delegates for consideration. It was introduced on behalf of the Governor so we know if the bill had wings it would fly through both chambers. It is not without it’s detractors and those who see flaws that are troublesome.
An encouraging situation occurred in the Senate yesterday, which the two Senators from our District stood on both sides of an amendment to the bill. Sen. Laura Wakim-Chapman (R-1st) is Chair of Health & Human Services Committee, and as such must fight amendments to the bill (this is where you must understand the unwritten laws of the Legislature. A committee chair does not put a bill on the agenda if he/she does not have the votes to pass it out of the
committee. Similarly the committee chair fights off all amendments. (he ability to control his/her committee is a sign of an effective and strong commitment chair) The bill as written allowed for no exemptions to the exemptions and meant that religious schools could not set a more stringent policy adhering to the no exemptions currently in place. Sen. Ryan Weld (R-1st) thought that religious schools should be able to adhere to a more stringent vaccination policy and he offered an amendment on the floor to exempt faith-based schools from the loosened requirements. Weld lost his amendments and the bill passed and was referred to he House unamended.
I predict the same will happen in the House. This is a Governor’s bill and the word has been put out that there is to be no amendments. I predict the bill will be effective from date of passage and will be promptly signed by Gov. Morrisey.
I asked locally who is in charge of making those changes locally. I was told the Board of Health has no role in the process. It vaccinates, but does not monitor vaccinations. The responsibility falls to the school administration and school board. Superintendent Dan Enich tells me that if it is the law, the schools will enforce that law. If a policy change has to be made, it will be up to the School Board to enact those changes.
Some other bills, I noticed which may be of interest to residents:
SB 75 – Addresses the excess video lottery account and seeks to return money to it. Although it does not address the one percent the County Commission lost to New Cumberland and Chester (I have yet to see a bill that addresses that problem.) it does open the same section of code in which the allocations can be found. What am I saying? That with a few words amended into that section, the 1 percent could be returned. Can that be done? Sure can and a move like that is how we got coin drop and a rise in the betting limit.
Governor Underwood was no friend to gambling and he wanted nothing to do with gambling bills. He was not, however, averse to using the money from gambling. On the last night of the session, his bill to . It used video lottery revenues to pay for the gold leafing. The original bill to up the bet limit, etc., had died an ugly death that morning in the Senate. (To answer the question, does a bill ever truly die,,,,the answer is no and this is a perfect example.)
The bill had been referenced to Finance Committee of which I was a member. My bill, which had died, was simply amended into the Governor’s bill. When the bill came before the full house for a final vote, Finance Committee Chair Bob Kiss explained the bill had only one small amendment and he explained it. What happened next was controlled chaos. Weirton Steel had given every delegate a tin can bank. Republicans were not just on their feet, they were standing on their chairs banging the tin cans and shouting “gambling, gambling, no ….no.” The Speaker ruled the amendment germane to the bill and the vote was taken. Did even gambling opponents want to vote against the Governor’s bill to gold leaf the capital dome? Of course not. The bill passed and Mountaineer embarked on a whole new phase of building and growth. Did I notice a coolness on the part of Governor Underwood towards me? Maybe. Was knowing the rules of the House valuable. Absolutely.
