Manchin's Session Agenda Includes Some Heavy Lifting

The Legislature has begun the special session called for by Gov. Joe Manchin. As The Associated Press reports, the House and Senate assigned each of the 16 items on Manchin's agenda to committees Sunday evening before recessing for the day.

The Charleston Gazette focuses today on one bill that "would state that there is an implied covenant in all oil and natural gas leases that allows companies to deduct reasonable post-production costs when calculating royalties to the landowners."

Public Broadcasting also singles out the gas royalty bill (update: and offers audio). As with the AP and Gazette, it notes that the bill "stems from a $404 million verdict in Roane County that landowners won against Chesapeake Energy, parent company of Columbia Natural Resources. A jury found that the company defrauded landowners out of their royalties, and a judge agreed."

Public Broadcasting reports that "Manchin’s bill wouldn’t affect that verdict, but it would affect other landowners in similar situations." The Gazette reports that the bill "would effectively overturn" the verdict, because it would "make the covenant provision retroactive to apply to the companies named in the court verdict."

The bill includes a provision that says it "shall be applied retroactively to all matters in which a jury verdict has not been returned or a final decision or judgment by a court of competent jurisdiction has not been rendered."

Given its apparently confusing nature, "Lawmakers are saying the bill is so complex, they might not have time to pass it in a special session," Public Broadcasting reports.