LEANN RAY – West Virginia Watch
West Virginia’s 60-day legislative session begins Wednesday, and Gov. Jim Justice will give his final State of the State address.
After the Republican supermajority successfully fast-tracked many of their bills by suspending the House and Senate rules during last year’s regular session and August 2023’s special legislative session, we can surely expect more of the same this session since there aren’t enough Democrats to stop them, and even when they held public hearings, they continued to vote how they wanted.
On the first day of session last year, the Senate suspended its rules to pass 25 bills that legislators discussed in 2022 and couldn’t get passed. And they weren’t small bills — Senate Bill 126, which divided the Department of Health and Human Resources into three departments; Senate Bill 127, which increased the reimbursement amount of hospital inpatient rates by the Public Employees Insurance Agency; and Senate Bill 130, the “Anti-Racism Act of 2023,” which should actually be called the “We Don’t Want to Acknowledge White Privilege Act of 2023.”
But what issues are legislators going to prioritize this year? Here’s some of what we’re expecting to see during this session:
Reversing the high school athlete transfer law
During the 2023 session, the legislature passed and Justice signed into law House Bill 2820, which allows student athletes the opportunity to change schools one time during their high school career without having to change residency. During high school football season, this led to blowout games week after week.
Legislators and Justice were upset about the consequences of their actions, and immediately started talking about changing the law.
Some lawmakers said they were “shoehorned” into voting for the bill because it allowed homeschooled or private school students who receive the Hope Scholarship to play on public school teams.
Along with the lopsided scoring football games, the bill has led to students traveling long distances to attend school and play sports, said Del. Dana Ferrell, R-Kanawha.
Fixing this bill is sure to take up much more time than it should because it’s high school football.
Transparency in foster care and Child Protective Services cases
The foster care system and Child Protective Services in West Virginia are both a mess. The Department of Health and Human Resources, which as Jan. 1 has been split into three agencies, has not been able to provide West Virginia Watch with records related to the number of children in foster care housed in hotels, and a spokesperson said CPS employees aren’t required to track what individual addresses they visit.
CPS denied West Virginia Watch’s requests for records on a case in Sissonville, stating that because it involves minors, they can’t release that information to protect them.
Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, and Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor, said they will file legislation aimed at improving child welfare.
Summers, chair of the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability, suggested legislation that would allow her committee members to go into executive session to discuss CPS case details in private.
“We’re sworn to confidentiality, but at least it’s a checks and balances,” she said.
Weakening of the state’s immunization laws
West Virginia has a great immunization rate for school-age children — it’s one of five states that allows only medical exemptions for mandatory school vaccines. Religious or philosophical exemptions are not allowed.
Unfortunately, some Republican lawmakers are not fans of the strict law.
“Nothing against you, but this is arrogance,” said Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, during the October legislative interim meeting of the Joint Committee on Children and Families. “And we live in America, and if a parent says they don’t want their kids to have a vaccine, they have the constitutional right to do that.”
The state also requires that students who move into West Virginia follow our vaccination requirements, which upset Sen. Rollan Roberts.
“So we are telling people from other states ‘don’t come into West Virginia’?” said Roberts, R-Raleigh.
“What I’m saying is that if you live in another state and you want to attend a West Virginia public school, you have to meet our immunization requirements,” said State Epidemiologist Shannon McBee.
The heated meeting ended with Committee Chair Mark Hunt, R-Kanawha, saying it wouldn’t be the last conversation about West Virginia’s vaccine requirements.
Cool, cool, cool. Get ready for the measles outbreak of 2025.
Legalization of cannabis and capitol punishment for fentanyl
During the Legislative Lookahead hosted by the West Virginia Press Association on Friday, Senate President Craig Blair said he will be a sponsor for a bill that would allow capital punishment for the illicit manufacturing and distribution of fentanyl.
Blair said he “doubts anyone will be put to death in West Virginia, but it will scare them.”
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, states that have death penalty laws don’t have lower crime or murder rates than states with death penalty laws. The death penalty is not an actual deterrent.
“Stay the hell out of West Virginia” is the message Blair said he wants to send to those who deal fentanyl.
House Minority Leader Del. Sean Hornbuckle said he believes it’s time to legalize cannabis in West Virginia — it’s polling high, he said, and suggested a constitutional amendment to allow the people of West Virginia to vote for it.
Blair seemed receptive to legalizing cannabis — he lives in the Eastern Panhandle and says when he’s in border states he notices a lot of West Virginia license plates at dispensaries.
For years, recreational cannabis bills have been introduced in West Virginia, but it’s never gotten enough support to pass. Its uncertain how lawmakers will vote on a cannabis bill this year,
The only thing that is certain is that we’re in for a wild 60 days.
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