CHARLESTON —
Time is running out for legislation that would set a fall vote for the seat held by the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, after it sat idle Sunday.
The Senate passed four more school-related bills from Gov. Joe Manchin’s special session agenda. The House’s Education Committee began reviewing those measures, advancing four of them.
But neither chamber acted on either version of the proposal that would put Byrd’s seat on the Nov. 2 ballot following a special Aug. 28 primary.
One version awaits a final vote in the House of Delegates. The other has passed both chambers, but with dueling amendments that require a joint conference committee to resolve.
As West Virginia’s elections chief, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said her office could keep the tight timetable set out in either version if it wins final passage Monday.
“If they can get it passed tomorrow, we will be OK,” Tennant said Sunday.
But that bill must also be written to take effect Monday. For now, only the Senate-passed version would do that. When the House approved the other version Saturday, supporters failed to muster the two-thirds majority needed for that effective date.
Without a bill, Manchin may still declare a special election, said Jim Pitrolo, his legislative liaison. Pitrolo cited the recent legal opinion from the state attorney general that concluded the governor had that power.
But Manchin may also do nothing, Pitrolo said Sunday.
The latter option would allow Manchin’s temporary appointee to the seat, Carte Goodwin, to serve beyond November.
Manchin named Goodwin, his former chief counsel, on Friday under the premise that the 36-year-old would serve until a fall election. Goodwin is slated to be sworn in Tuesday.
Byrd died June 28 with slightly more than 30 months left in his term. The 92-year-old Democrat was history’s longest-serving member of Congress, holding his Senate seat for more than a half-century.
Goodwin is a Democrat as is Manchin, who has said it’s highly likely he would run for the seat if there is an election. Manchin’s probable candidacy has played a role in the special session debate. So has the special election’s estimated $5.9 million cost.
The attorney general’s opinion, meanwhile, has prompted some lawmakers to question the need for the legislation. A related, party-line debate centers on whether Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, the GOP’s top prospect if there is an election, can run both for Byrd’s seat and a sixth U.S. House term on the same ballot.
The education bills passed Sunday by the Senate include one that would redraw some of the in-school decision-making or advisory committees. Another would require annual teacher evaluations. The remaining two would create pilot programs offering temporary pay boosts to educators and alternative settings for disruptive elementary and middle school students.
West Virginia
Special election for U.S. Senate seat in doubt
Bill must pass today for Aug. primary election
- West Virginia
-
-
Man gets life sentence for ex-wife’s death
A man was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in the beating death of his ex-wife.
Thomas Charlie Lee Runner, 46, of Galloway, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Wednesday at the Barbour County Courthouse in Philippi. -
State campaign finance limits challenged in court
A political group formed to aid West Virginia incumbents this November won a partial victory Thursday after suing over the state’s limits on campaign contributions and a policy addressing corporate spending.
-
Relatives other than parents raising kids
Sharon Davis jumped in and obtained custody of her young grandson when her daughter got tangled in a web of drugs. A decade later, her daughter is straightened out and now has her own little girl, while her son remains with Davis.
-
Project aims to get West Virginians active
A new wellness project aims to motivate West Virginians to get off their couches and be healthy.
LiveWell West Virginia is a collaboration of the West Virginia University Extension Service and the Charleston Gazette. -
Missing girl’s mother gets eight months for welfare fraud
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the mother of a 3-year-old girl who vanished eight months ago this week to spend eight months behind bars for welfare fraud.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey ruled that Lena Lunsford must begin serving her sentence June 28. -
West Virginia seventh in death rates for accidents, violence
Drug overdoses and motor vehicle crashes helped push West Virginia’s death rate involving accidents and violence to the seventh-highest in the nation, according to a report on injury prevention released Tuesday.
-
W.Va. could add hurdles to primary ballot
West Virginia officials have several options if they want to avoid repeating an outcome of this month’s primary election, when imprisoned felon Keith Judd attracted nearly 41 percent of the vote against President Barack Obama.
-
W.Va. could add hurdles to primary ballot
West Virginia officials have several options if they want to avoid a repeat outcome of this month’s primary election, when imprisoned felon Keith Judd attracted nearly 41 percent of the vote against President Barack Obama.
-
Computers used to grade WESTEST essays
Thousands of essays written by West Virginia students are largely going unread by human eyes.
-
West Virginia coal mining employment at high level
State figures show that coal mining employment in West Virginia is at its highest level since the 1990s.
The Charleston Gazette says a recent analysis of Workforce West Virginia figures by Ted Boettner with the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy shows there were nearly 22,700 mining jobs in 2011. - More West Virginia Headlines
-
Man gets life sentence for ex-wife’s death
