Legislature 2009: Day 37

• The Senate Finance Committee has advanced Gov. Joe Manchin's "double-dipping" bill -- but only while the committee member most opposed to the measure, Majority Leader Truman Chafin, was out of the room, The Associated Press reports.

• But Chafin, D-Mingo, didn't miss an opportunity to liken parking meter readers to "Nazi people" during a Senate discussion of a bill to expand their powers, Public Broadcasting reports (with audio).

• The Register-Herald of Beckley focuses on a component of the gambling regulation bill for The Greenbrier "allowing the state’s racetrack casinos and the historic hotel to give away promotional free play coupons to entice gamblers to their venues."

• MetroNews reports on The Greenbrier bill's endorsement from the Senate Judiciary Committee, and notes the coupon provision.

• In the wake of a legislative audit that questioned its future usefulness, senators have proposed abolishing the state Pharmaceutical Cost Management Council, The Charleston Gazette reports. "Hamstrung by pharmaceutical industry lobbyists, and given less-than-fervent support by the Manchin administration, the council never achieved its goal of being a national pacesetter on the issue," the article said.

• Thursday is Children's Day at the Legislature, and Public Broadcasting and Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia are co-hosting a forum that allows state youth to quiz legislators via YouTube.

• The Charleston Daily Mail asks lawmakers about college basketball.

Report: W.Va. Official Steered Funds to Since-Convicted Son

The Charleston Gazette alleges that "a state employment programs' administrator distributed federal grant money that was ultimately used by her son, convicted felon Martin R. Bowling, two months after he was indicted by a Kanawha County grand jury on computer fraud charges."

The newspaper cites computer and other records to trace proceeds from a $100,000 federal grant to Cross Lanes-based Comar Inc. and subsidiary Vec3, where Martin Bowling was chief technical officer "until he was sentenced to three years in prison on March 5."

The article said Mary Jane Bowling, an administrator at Workforce West Virginia, "hand-delivered at least one of the grant payments" and "also directed subordinates...to make an additional grant payment."

"What's more, Mary Jane Bowling helped to write Comar's preliminary application for the $100,000 federal grant," the article continues. "Bowling also worked closely with a Comar consultant hired to help write the federal grant request before it was submitted to Workforce West Virginia."

State ethics law "prohibits public officials and employees from using their position for private gain 'or the private gain of another,'" The Gazette notes.

Manchin Pitches The Greenbrier to The Donald

Gov. Joe Manchin tells The Associated Press that he reached out to Donald Trump while seeking potential buyers for The Greenbrier, and that The Donald called him back to discuss the world-famous but troubled resort.

MetroNews spoke earlier to the governor about his pitch to Trump.

Legislature 2009: Engineering Contracts (Updated)

West Virginia's consulting engineers have come out in force against Gov. Joe Manchin's proposal to change the way they bid for and win state-funded design contracts. The Associated Press sets the stage for Wednesday's public hearing on the legislation.

Updated: As expected, engineers packed the House Chamber for the hearing and lined up to denounce the governor's proposal. Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox represented the administration. AP has details, as does The Charleston Gazette.

The Buzz About George Clutter

West Virginia's Department of Agriculture has apparently fired George Clutter, an agency veteran credited with nurturing the state's growing beekeeping industry.

As both The Associated Press and The Register-Herald report, Delegate Ray Canterbury brought Clutter's dismissal as state apiarist to the House's attention with a Tuesday floor speech.

The Greenbrier County Republican is a beekeeping enthusiast, and lauded Clutter at length to his dedication, care and service to this pursuit. Canterbury said Clutter helped the state's industry evolve "from scattered hobby clubs to more than a thousand beekeepers with 20,000 hives."

An Agriculture spokesman declined comment to AP, citing personnel policy. But the vice chairman of the House's Agriculture Committee urged lawmakers to seek both sides of the story, and not to retaliate against the department by threatening its budget.

Legislative Roundup

• The Associated Press weighs the prospects for legislation that would allow West Virginia's state employees to bargain collectively. Gov. Joe Manchin is willing to consider such a proposal if it "promotes the best practices in government," but he "has not made a decision to support or oppose the measure yet, only to hear out its proponents and foes," his spokesman tells AP.

• AP also notes the House's unanimous passage of the governor's legislation to provide out-of-state veterans free tuition at West Virginia colleges through the new G.I. Bill, by offering them in-state rates.

• The House Finance Committee had endorsed a bill that offers to help both underfunded police and fire pension programs, and volunteer firefighters seeking pension-like benefits. But the resulting price tag includes an estimated $14.2 million in tax hikes, and would allow further increases on the municipal level. AP covered Tuesday's action, as did MetroNews and The Charleston Gazette.

• Both The Register-Herald of Beckley and MetroNews (with audio) observe progress for a bill to ban hands-on cell phone use while driving.

• A Senate committee has scuttled a bill that would regulate towing companies, after the industry argued the measure responded to a single rogue outfit. Both MetroNews and Public Broadcasting (with audio) have coverage.

• Another bill on the ropes "would let dealers sell a vehicle without a warranty if the vehicle is at least 7 years old, or has at least 75,000 miles on it," The Gazette reports. It received a chilly reception at a Tuesday public hearing, where "opponents of the bill far outnumbered supporters," the article said.

• The Charleston Daily Mail highlights the latest attempt to "allow licensed retailers to sell liquor on Sundays during the same hours beer can be sold - after 1 p.m."

Charleston: Tanning Capital of U.S.?

A medical journal finds that among the nation's 116 largest cities, Charleston has the most tanning salons per-capita, The Associated Press reports.

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine counted 18 tanning locations in West Virginia's capital city.

"The journal says the use of tanning lamps has been linked to two types of skin cancer. It cites estimates that 20 percent of Americans between 18 and 29 have used indoor tanning booths in the last year," the article said. "A bill introduced this month in the Legislature would require parental consent for children under 18 hoping to use a tanning salon."

Legislature 2009: Day 35

• The Associated Press talks to a West Virginia University law student about the bill she researched and drafted to target repeat drunken drivers - while noting that legislators may put one of its key provisions on hold. Student Jennifer Tampoya earlier spoke to The Charleston Gazette about her effort, prompted when a chronic drunk driver "killed three children and two fathers in Monongalia County."

• AP reports on advancing legislation spurred by the 2007 death of a Lincoln County 6-year-old, struck by a car that illegally drove past her stopped school bus. The Register-Herald also covered the bill, which would hit such offenders with felonies and prison time.
  

• The Beckley newspaper reports as well on an area delegate who says his bill to toughen penalties for elder abuse is threatened by a colleague's "long-running effort to revive the death penalty."

• Legislators are moving on a proposal to shore up municipal police and fire pensions and provide a pension-like benefit for volunteer firefighters, MetroNews The Register-Herald also has an item on the topic.

• The Gazette highlights a Senate measure that would make "sweeping changes to how courts decide child custody."

• The Charleston Daily Mail hears from more engineers who oppose Gov. Joe Manchin's bill to change the way they bid for certain state contracts.

• Eastern Panhandle lawmakers and the region's horse racing industry, meanwhile, sound off to The Journal of Martinsburg about the governor's bid to place all gaming under a single agency's oversight.

• AP highlighted legislation that would set the rules - and revenue rates - now that voters have approved a casino for The Greenbrier. A portion of any gambling proceeds would benefit a a fund that the world-famous resort "could tap that fund to recoup employee benefit costs, " the article said.
  

• While money is tight, West Virginia still plans to spend $3.4 million to keep its highway rest areas running, The Gazette reports. "It's a different story in Virginia, where state government - faced with a $2.6 billion budget deficit - has proposed closing 25 of the commonwealth's 41 rest areas, to cut spending in the cash-strapped agency by about $12 million a year," that article said.

• The State Journal profiles the "carbon capture" issue, reporting that the governor has proposed bills "that would set up a study group to research technology and build a legal framework to protect the state from liability."

• The Gazette reports on the House passage of legislation "to redirect $2.4 million of state economic development funds to rebuild and repair housing in low-income minority neighborhoods."

Recession Draining W.Va. Jobless Benefits Fund

As early as Tuesday, legislators expect to move on Gov. Joe Manchin's proposal for shoring up West Virginia's unemployment compensation trust fund by charging temporary "assessments" to both employers and workers, The Associated Press reports.

But Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeff Kessler says that his committee may take the proposal a step further, by also hiking the rate on the existing employer tax that now supplies the fund with revenue.

"We're going to try to avoid what clearly is a train wreck waiting to happen," Kessler told AP. "We can avoid this, with a little bit of planning and a little bit of pain now."

Employers are hoping lawmakers take a different route, given the burden they already shoulder amid a persisting recession.

But as AP previously reported, West Virginia may not have much time to avert the fund's projected path toward insolvency.

"The fund balance dropping below $180 million would trigger those payments," Monday's article said. "But as written, the bill would not take effect until July 1. Program officials say it could fall to that level as early as this month."

MetroNews also has an item on the governor's bill, with audio from state Chamber of Commerce president Steve Roberts.

GOP's Steele Coming to W.Va.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele will headline a May 22 fundraiser for West Virginia's GOP, the state party announced in a Monday release.

Steele's state counterpart, Doug McKinney, has touted how he supported the former Maryland lieutenant governor throughout his January bid to head the RNC.

But whether Steele remains chairman by the time of the scheduled May fundraiser is not completely certain, given reports on Politico, Political Wire and elsewhere.

Update: Political Wire relays a Monday article in Roll Call (subscription required) to report that "Steele doesn't look like he's planning on leaving his post anytime soon."

The Associated Press has an item.

W.Va. Senate Votes to Add Sexual Orientation to Human Rights Act

The Legislature has revisited one of the thornier topics of last year's session.

As The Associated Press reports, the Senate voted 23-10 Friday to send the House a bill that would include sexual orientation among the categories covered by the state Human Rights and Fair Housing acts.

Supporters included Judiciary Chairman Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall, who argued from the floor that "I will not shrink from, nor be silenced by, the political attacks of any group who preaches discrimination over dignity, intolerance over fairness, or fear over hope," AP reported.

Opponents countered that the "muddled, vague legislation...could unleash a wave of lawsuits along with other unintended consequences," the article said.

Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, "argued that under the bill's language, a heterosexual fired from a job could theoretically sue on the basis of discrimination over sexual orientation," AP reported. "'By passing this bill, we would literally destroy employment at will in the state of West Virginia,' he's quoted as saying.

The bill would exempt religious institutions while also adding age as a category in the Fair Housing Act.

Update: MetroNews also has a report, and audio from the floor debate.

Legislature 2009: All Downhill from Here

With half the 60-day session behind them, legislators will see the pace pick up as bills jockey to clear the series of procedural deadline that mark the final weeks.

• To spur their proposals along, advocates of a tobacco tax hike and calorie disclosures by chain restaurants touted poll numbers to argue statewide support, The Associated Press reports. Others with coverage include The Charleston Gazette and The Register-Herald of Beckley.

• AP also reports on the House's passage of a four-year repeal of the state severance tax on timber. MetroNews also has an item on the bill, meant to help get the logging industry through the recession.

• The Gazette and The Register-Herald set the stage for Friday's possible Senate vote on a bill "that would protect people from being fired or denied housing because of their sexual orientation." The Beckley paper adds that "religious groups are exempt, but fireworks are still set to explode."

• Gov. Joe Manchin is getting some pushback from consulting engineers over his proposal to change the way they bid for and win state engineering and design contracts, The Times West Virginian of Fairmont and the the Charleston Daily Mail report.

Legislature 2009: Best Use of Props

Sen. Randy White elicited some gasps in the Senate chamber when he gulped from a bottle of water drawn from a coal slurry-contaminated well, Public Broadcasting reports.

The Webster County Democrat invited his colleagues to do the same, having passed around bottles to them, to underscore the need for his proposed moratorium on underground slurry injections.

Public Broadcasting also offers audio and video, while the Charleston Daily Mail has a report as well. The Associated Press had earlier reported on White's bill, and on the apparent failure by the Department of Environmental Protection to complete a study of slurry injections mandated by the Legislature.

Rahall, Capito Make Highlight Reels

Two members of West Virginia's congressional delegation have made YouTube after separate episodes on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

It is safe to say that critics of Rep. John Culberson posted one of the videos, which shows Rep. Nick Rahall, D-3rd, targeting the Texas Republican with a procedural motion meant to discipline him over discourteous remarks aimed at Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, meanwhile finds herself stymied while trying to secure more time for opponents of a banking-related amendent to speak against it. But an apparently unwitting Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., helps her out.

(Belated) Quote of the Week

"The more vague a law is, the less likely it is to be enforced. I really believe that we have to make sure that hallowed ground is not hollowed ground or harrowed ground."

-- House Health and Human Resources Chairman Don Perdue, D-Wayne, to The Associated Press about legislation meant to protect vulnerable grave sites from industrial encroachment.

Legislative Roundup

The Associated Press previews a bill "that would impose a moratorium, starting May 1, on the practice of injecting the byproducts of coal washing into the earth."

The Charleston Gazette reports on a West Virginia University law student's quest to reduce repeat DUIs through legislation she researched and drafted after a chronically drunk driver killed three children and two fathers in Monongalia County.

The Register-Herald of Beckley is among those marking the House passage of a bill "to allow the sale of high-quality craft beers in West Virginia." The Gazette also has coverage.

Public Broadcasting focuses on a pending bill that "would allow coal companies until July 1, 2012—more than two years after the current deadline—to comply with selenium standards established by the DEP." Also offering audio, the report explains that "in small amounts, it is harmless, but some studies have found that it is toxic to aquatic life and humans in larger amounts."

The Charleston Daily Mail reports on legislative concerns regarding the state's unemployment compensation fund, and also duly notes Jay Leno's Barbie Bill joke at West Virginia's expense.

The House Judiciary Committee may prove a tough audience for the long-delayed "welfare" drug testing bill, The Gazette and MetroNews report.

MetroNews and the Beckley newspaper highlight this session's attempt at a bottle deposit measure.

Legislature 2009: Day 30

The West Virginia Legislature is halfway through its regular session (not counting the extended session routinely required to finish the budget, which lengthens lawmakers' stay in Charleston by about a week).

As The Associated Press reports, "the unprecedented federal stimulus package and the recession that prompted it" has framed the work of legislator so far.

"The first bill to pass underscores the situation," the article said. "Legislation allowing highways projects to spend $40 million from the stimulus this fiscal year was sent to Gov. Joe Manchin on Wednesday."

With 1,632 bills introduced so far, the House and Senate have exchanged about 50. AP also offers a glance of several bills of note, mostly from Manchin's agenda.

W.Va Turnpike in Legislative Crosshairs

The majority and minority leaders of the state Senate expect to introduce a package of bills today that aim to rid the West Virginia Turnpike of its tolls in 2020, The Associated Press reports.

"That's one year after the turnpike is scheduled to pay off bonds that require toll revenue," AP explains. "One of Wednesday's bills would make the turnpike keep that timetable, while another would bar any new debt."

The article notes further that Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, also "wants to divert stimulus dollars to fund turnpike repairs," while Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, "questions why the roadway has failed to seek annual federal highway dollars."

The Register-Herald of Beckley reports on the latter, quoting a state Transportation official who says "he was unaware the Turnpike has been leveraging $10 million a year in federal dollars without benefiting from it."

Same-Sex Adoption Case Before W.Va. Supreme Court

The Associated Press offers a preview of arguments scheduled before the state Supreme Court, over "whether a foster baby would be better off adopted by a husband and wife or the same-sex couple who have cared for her since birth."

Kathryn Kutil and Cheryl Hess "are challenging a November ruling by Fayette County Circuit Judge Paul Blake to place the now 15-month-old girl under the care of a heterosexual couple who might adopt her," AP explains.

As the court's docket listing for the case shows, the dispute has attracted "friend of the court" briefs from the Family Policy Council of West Virginia, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Social Workers, among others.

Update: AP covered the hearing, as did The Charleston Gazette and MetroNews (with audio).

West Virginia: Wild, Wonderful, Unhappy, Unhealthy

A survey conducted by Gallup in partnership with Healthways and America's Health Insurance Plans asked Americans about their well-being, and "West Virginia was ranked last among the states," The Associated Press reports.

"In general, highest well-being scores came from states in the West while the lowest were concentrated in the South," the article said. "Jim Harter, a researcher at Gallup, said he was reluctant to explain regional differences without more study, but he suspected that some of the variations are explained by income."

AP also offers examples of some of the things asked during the 15-minute survey, which involved more than 350,000 interviews and 42 core questions:

• Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?
• Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your job or the work you do?
• Did you eat healthy all day yesterday?
• Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?

The online survey results show that West Virginia ranked 50th in the sub-categories of life evaluation, emotional health and physical health (but not health behavior, work environment or basic access).