The Legislature, Day 34 - Updated

PAY RAISES: House Speaker Rick Thompson and his team plan to begin work on pay raise measures this week, telling The Associated Press that they could start as early as Monday (The story is also here).

Thompson, D-Wayne, told the AP last week that he hope the House would prove more generous with wage hikes and extend them to more groups than what Gov. Joe Manchin has proposed.

UPDATE: The House Finance Committee plans to take up the already-amended racetrack table games bill this afternoon, leaving House Education to address the teacher pay raise bill Tuesday.

(MetroNews earlier underscored the position of Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin on the pending legislative pay raise measure, while previewing the teacher raise and table games bills.)

RETIREES: Retired public employees plan to rally at the Capitol on Monday in support of measures that would give them a break on their income taxes. Retirees have also voiced concerns over looming changes to their state-administered health insurance plan.

ATVs (Updated): The Legislature has begun considering several bills targeting perceived loopholes in the state's all-terrain vehicles law. The Register-Herald of Beckley presents the views of Delegate Margaret Staggers, D-Fayette, part of the freshman class of 2007 and one of the House's two physicians. The Daily Mail has also offered an overview of some of the session's ATV safety bills.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: New House Judiciary Chairwoman Carrie Webster earned some bipartisan applause during Friday's floor session. Committee members of both parties, including the minority chair, praised the Kanawha County Democrat for her handling of the lengthy, discussion-laden meeting that resulted in an amended table games bill advancing in the House.

OUSTED DELEGATE: Last week's vote to remove Ron Thompson from the House for refusing to take his oath made some major dailies, including the New York Times. It also received mention over the weekend in The Thicket, the blog of the National Conference of State Legislatures. I happily note that the item links to the AP's story.

NEW FEATURE: At a reader's request, I've added links atop the right hand column to the bills passed to date this session and the official summary that includes bills passed by each chamber that day.