WEIRTON — Delegate Patrick McGeehan says he will introduce legislation this session to limit the emergency powers of West Virginia’s governor.

Other Northern Panhandle legislators in the House and Senate — both Democrat and Republican — say the passage of such a bill is needed.

Restrictions placed by Gov. Jim Justice this year in response to COVID-19 concerns in the state have McGeehan, R-Hancock, concerned. Among these, he said, were business lockdowns, and institution of mandates requiring open businesses to force customers to wear masks.

These have been in place for most of 2020.

Justice also has authorized the spending of $1.25 million in CARES Act funding during the emergency. McGeehan said that, typically, all money spent must be approved by the Legislature.

“These are all extracurricular powers the governor has claimed for himself, but it is no more than the usurping of constitutional law and infringements upon the basic rule of law,” McGeehan said.

“Regardless of good intentions, these simply cannot be tolerated because we are ignoring objective rules of constitutional law. And something has to be done about that.”

McGeehan said his bill will set a time limit for how long a governor can maintain emergency authority during a crisis situation.

He said it is just a sign of “just how much government has been concentrated into one man’s hands when one man can essentially become the law for an extended period of time — for close to a year now.”

“This is simply unacceptable,” he said. “Those powers I think are largely unconstitutional have to be curtailed.

“Only the legislature has the power to make law. Only the legislature has the power over the purse. It has been unfortunate that the legislative branch — not only here but throughout the country — has been reduced to little more than a social club.”

Sometimes legislatures have willingly abdicated their duties to the governor because they don’t want to take on the responsibilities of necessary actions, according to McGeehan.

McGeehan suspects there could be support on both sides of the aisle for the legislation.

“I think so,” he said. “The average rank and file legislator knows something’s just not right with one man in Charleston essentially becoming the law. There is something anti-American about that.”

Delegate Phil Diserio, D-Brooke, said a number of delegates are concerned about the governor’s control over the $1.25 million in CARES Act funding that came to the state.

“Up until a couple of weeks ago it was still sitting there,” Diserio said. “I don’t think any of us as legislators were pulled in on any decisions about the money. Overall, I don’t think anyone had an impact.”

Struggling small businesses could have put the funding to use, and he said he hopes it was spent properly.

“It’s a lot of money and a lot to look at,” Diserio said. “Hopefully, we don’t have to send it back.”

On the Senate side, senators William Ihlenfeld, D-Ohio, and Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, also questioned Justice’s exclusion of the legislature when making decisions during the pandemic.

“It has felt like a monarchy over the past year with how the governor has managed affairs,” Ihlenfeld said. “He has done good things, and he has been dealt a tough hand. But it also is clear we need more voices to be heard, and more voices at the table.

“People don’t feel like their voices are being heard,” he added. “We have one person making decisions without input from those who elected him. As legislators, we have been left out of a number of conversations”

He and Clements predict there will be a bill seeking to rein in the power of West Virginia’s governor during emergency situations.

“I’m not necessarily against the governor, but how long can this go on?” Clements said. “How long can it last before the legislature has to get involved?”

McGeehan also plans for the seventh straight year to introduce this session his “Defend the Guard” legislation. The bill would prohibit West Virginia’s governor from sending the state’s National Guard troops overseas into battle when no war has been declared by Congress.

Past years have seen the legislation stalled in committee, win and lose on discharge votes, and fall victim to tie votes in the House.

This year he said there will be more conservatives filling the chairs on the House floor, and he is cautiously optimistic this should bode well for the legislation.

McGeehan also has often ran afoul of Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, forcing him to be removed from committee assignments at times.

McGeehan said his relationship with Hanshaw has improved since the pandemic began in the spring.

“By necessity, ever since the pandemic set in in March, I believe I have a decent relationship with him now, and I think he would agree with that,” McGeehan said. “I don’t think he will stand in the way.”