Session Shorts, Day 30

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: "A bill that would require pharmaceutical companies to disclose the cost of advertising and gifts to doctors as early as March passed a key hurdle Wednesday, with no sign of the battle it caused in previous years," The Associated Press reports.

TEACHER PENSIONS: House Speaker Rick Thompson tells MetroNews that the debate over teacher pensions ranks among the biggest of the session. Some are begging lawmakers to let them transfer ailing 401(k)-style retirement accounts into the traditional pension program for teachers. "The Manchin Administration is working on a proposal that would allow those switches to happen. No bill has been introduced at the State House at this point," MetroNews notes. With audio.

MTR: Retiring state Sen. Jon Blair Hunter, D-Monongalia, "introduced a bill Wednesday that would essentially outlaw mountaintop removal mining," Public Broadcasting reports. "Hunter is promising a public hearing."

SCHOOL BULLIES: The Register-Herald of Beckley looks at "a new Senate bill aimed at dealing with disruptive students who are costing schools valuable instruction time."