CHARLESTON (AP) - In this era of Twitter and smartphones, citizens and lobbyists alike have all sorts of ways to reach out to lawmakers at a moment's notice. But the West Virginia Legislature has rules meant to insulate its members from last-minute pressures while they're debating and voting on bills.
Leaders in the House of Delegates reminded the majority Democrats of their rules during a recent closed-door meeting. One rule bars lobbyists from the House during floor sessions, and forbids any attempt to influence a lawmaker's vote or opinion once the gavel sounds. A separate rule sends delegates to the chamber's rear vestibule to use a cell phone or other electronic communication device during floor sessions. It also bans communicating by computer with someone outside the chamber "for the purpose of receiving information relating to any pending legislative matter" during sessions.
Whether a lobbyist "is in the gallery or outside the chamber, we're not to be having those communications," House Majority Leader Brent Boggs said Friday.
Boggs said the rapid evolution of handheld devices and social media helped spur the caucus discussion. While perhaps half the 100 delegates had cellphones when the Braxton County Democrat first arrived in the mid-1990s, Boggs said most now carry models with browsers and applications for Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
"The capabilities are substantially different," Boggs said. "We just wanted to broaden the awareness."
One or more legislative bodies in at least 36 other states have rules addressing electronic devices, according to a 2011 review by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Rules in several of these states take particular aim at lobbying. In Colorado, for instance, lawmakers in both houses are barred from sending or receiving electronic messages when a bill is up for a vote on passage.
West Virginia lawmakers from both parties said they agreed with rules meant to buffer them.
"A lobbyist is not allowed to be on the floor of the House while we're in session. They shouldn't be allowed to sort of get around that by tweeting and texting members about what they would say if they were here on the floor of the House," said House Minority Leader Tim Armstead.
But the Kanawha County Republican and other legislators also support engaging citizens through social media and technology. Armstead cited how the House and Senate stream audio of their floor sessions and committee meetings online. At least 28 lawmakers, meanwhile, have Twitter accounts. Several routinely tweet their roll call votes, or announce a bill that their committee is about to take up, or opine on pending measures or issues.
"That we think is appropriate," Armstead said. "If you're trying to put out to the public more information about whatever bills we're working on, we don't see anything problematic about that."
Besides personal smartphones, House members have had laptop computers at their desks since 2002. Each delegate also received an iPad late last year. After lacking such technology in its chamber, the Senate last year issued iPads to its 34 members. Senate Majority Leader John Unger believes his is the first legislative body in the country to do so.