By Tom Breen and Lawrence Messina
Associated Press
CHARLESTON — Teenage tanners, seat belt scofflaws and adults who text while driving are among those who will evade further legislative restriction this year.
With three days to go before the regular legislative session ends, Thursday was the last day for most bills to reach the full House or Senate in time for a final vote.
The constitution requires the three-day wait so the bills can be read. Suspending that rule requires a four-fifths majority, and that won’t likely happen for the vast majority of bills left.
More than two-thirds of the nearly 2,080 measures introduced this session never got past even one committee, according to an ongoing analysis by The Associated Press. But even bills that pass either the House or the Senate don’t always clear both. An average of one-third of the bills exchanged between the two chambers during the past four regular sessions ultimately failed to reach the governor’s desk.
Among this session’s doomed measures:
• A requirement that teenagers get written permission from parents before visiting a tanning salon.
• Stiffer penalties for people involved in animal fighting rings.
• A ban on writing text messages while driving for adults. Younger drivers are already barred from using cell phones while behind the wheel.
• The creation of a voluntary retirement savings program for workers without pension plans.
• A suicide prevention training requirement for teachers, principals and other school workers.
• A bid to allow police officers to pull drivers over solely for not wearing a seat belt.
The reasons behind their demise vary. The Senate Finance Committee, for instance, sank the suicide prevention bill after questioning who would handle the training. House Roads and Transportation opted to ignore the seat belt bill. Chairman Dale Martin noted that drivers can already be ticketed for wearing a seat belt — though only after being pulled over for another offense.
The Putnam County Democrat also cited statistics suggesting the state already has a high usage rate.
“There were no statistics to show that the law needed to be changed,” Martin said. “If the (usage rate) goes down, the committee will be first in line to change the penalties.”
The House of Delegates also rejected virtually every item on its Republican members’ legislative agenda. Those included a bid to require drug testing for welfare recipients and a statewide referendum on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
Some lawmakers hope that at least a few missed opportunities will return at a projected special session later this year.
“We get focused on so many things here, but the core of our mission has to be public education,” said Sen. Mike Oliverio.
The Monongalia County Democrat was disappointed in the failure of several education measures, including a bill that would have allowed for the creation of West Virginia’s first charter schools.
Gov. Joe Manchin said at the beginning of the session that if West Virginia failed to qualify for $80 million in federal funds available from the first round of a competitive federal grant program called Race to the Top, he would call a special session to focus on education.
Earlier this month, state officials learned West Virginia lost out on the money.
However, lawmakers couldn’t even come up with legislation on one major policy problem this year: The nearly $8 billion liability in public retiree costs known as other post-employment benefits.
Fifty of the state’s 55 county school boards sued last month, asking a circuit court judge to shift the burden of funding these costs to the state. Lawmakers had hoped to craft a bill that could find a solution to the problem and stave off a lawsuit, but couldn’t get it done in time.
Sen. Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha, who led the effort to create an OPEB bill, has said he expects it to return at a special session this year.
