West Virginia House of Delegates Leaders Focus on Regulations, Taxes, Education
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CHARLESTON -- Republican and Democratic leaders in the West Virginia House of Delegates laid out their top agenda items Wednesday during the second day of the West Virginia Press Association's annual Legislative Lookahead.
Members of the press heard from House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay; House Majority Leader Amy Summers, R-Taylor; and House Majority Whip Paul Espinosa, R-Jefferson. The House Democratic Caucus was represented by House Minority Leader Doug Skaff, D-Kanawha; and House Minority Leader Pro Tempore Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell.
Much like the state Senate, Hanshaw said the House is taking precautions to limit any possible spread of COVID-19 among lawmakers and staff. Galleries are being used to spread out lawmakers and press in the typically cramped House chamber, committee meetings will be held either in the chamber or the House Government Organization Committee room due to its size, and audio livestreaming of meetings will continue to be available for the public, press, and interest groups.
"We will be making a game-day decision each day and each week about access … when committees will meet and their agendas," Hanshaw said.
In order to get as much done early in the 60-day session that starts at noon Wednesday, Feb. 10, Hanshaw said the House will work aggressively to push legislation through the process quickly.
"We do anticipate working a fairly aggressive agenda early in the session because other states have seen their sessions shut down because of COVID … so if we're shut down, we can still have a positive session," Hanshaw said. "We know there's important business to be done to make West Virginia the easiest choice to live here and work here."
One way Republican lawmakers are working to make West Virginia a destination for people leaving other states is through incentives through the Department of Commerce and Division of Tourism, equitable tax treatment for remote workers, making some of Gov. Jim Justice's executive orders permanent in regard to removing regulatory barriers, and occupational licensing reform to put more people to work.
Summers said the COVID-19 pandemic has helped show how valuable county health departments are and helped bring to light their shortcomings. Legislation will be forthcoming to help address these issues. Lawmakers are looking at unemployment fraud issues due to people trying to game the system during the pandemic. Even the Governor's executive authority powers will be looked at to determine at what level lawmakers should be involved during an extended emergency.
"We want our governor to be flexible and able to react, but at what point do we want some buy-in or legislative approval for that," Summers said.
Both Summers and Espinosa said additional education reforms will be presented, including making it easier for parents to start charter schools and other school choice options. The only attempt to create a charter school -- a group of parents in Monongalia County -- failed when the county school board voted no to the application.
"I'm certainly optimistic we'll offer legislation to remedy that during this legislative session," Espinosa said.
Skaff is leader of a 23-member Democratic minority after Republicans picked up a supermajority in the House. While Democratic lawmakers will stand up to Republicans when necessary, Skaff said the minority wants to work with Republicans on issues. Two issues both parties have wide agreement on is broadband expansion and reforming the Governor's state of emergency powers.
"When an emergency becomes a … long, drawn-out saga, we need to look at how those rules are defined," Skaff said. "We are elected to be the eyes and ears of West Virginia."
House Democrats want to push for legislation dealing with food insecurity in communities, greater access to mental health services in schools, changes to the state medical cannabis law to allow local companies to participate, and legalization and taxation of recreational marijuana.