The Legislature, Day 44

* BROADBAND: A Senate committee had endorsed legislation that aims to increase broadband Internet access in the Mountain State. But Tom Breen cites industry sources in The Associated Press article who say that while 75 percent of residents have access, relatively few subscribe to broadband.

Breen also reports on a recent study that found that 27.5 percent of households in the state get broadband service, compared with 36.5 percent nationally. And while 58 percent of state residences have a computer, 68 percent do nationally.

*DUI: The House had voted to change the prison sentencing for fatal DUIs, to ensure a longer minimum term. A delegate tells AP that the bill was prompted by the September death of his cousin, a 49-year-old nurse and mother of three broadsided by a driver high on drugs. That bill now goes to the Senate.

* HOSPITAL DAY: The state's acute care hospitals will visit and lobby the Legislature today, amid a fight with doctors over which can offer what procedures in a heavily regulated health care industry.

* MEDICAID: The House has passed a bill to the Senate that would add two legislators to the state Medicaid Advisory Board. The Charleston Gazette quotes the measure's backers, who seek greater oversight in the wake of controversial decisions in the Medicaid program.

* PAY RAISES: Public Broadcasting is the latest to try to pin down Gov. Joe Manchin after he changed his stance earlier this week on proposed increases for teachers and state employees.

* TABLE GAMES: After dropping the issue from its agenda Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee may consider the House-passed racetrack table games bill this afternoon.

* TOBACCO BOND: Manchin's bill to raise cash with bonds backed by tobacco settlement payments has gotten some traction, MetroNews reports, as one of several bills from his agenda to clear the Senate Finance Committee.

* WATER QUALITY: Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Unger, D-Berkeley, touts the merits of a pending water quality measure to the Register-Herald of Beckley.