West Virginia Blue
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Rec'd via email. Further legislative update... progress is being made on two bills that provide citizens more options for voting in elections.
Yesterday afternoon the Senate Judiciary Committee took up two elections bill and passed them out to the Senate floor with a recommendation that they pass.
HB 2464 - Authorizes early voting satellite precincts: County Clerks would be required to come up with a plan for satellite precincts. They would be required to get agreement from the Republican and Democratic chairs of the county parties. The plan would then be submitted to the County Commission for final approval or denial. If the plan is approved, the satellite precinct would be implemented. Counties are not required to have satellite precincts under this bill, but would be allowed to propose a site if they thought it would be beneficial to the county and the voters.
HB 3134 - Vote by mail pilot program: Beginning with the 2010 elections, Class IV municipalities (the smallest) would be allowed to conduct early voting only entirely by mail. Cities that chose this option would still be required to have precincts open on election day proper. This bill also has the Secretary of State's office develop criteria for the selection of five Class I, II, or III cities to participate in a VBM pilot program. These cities could conduct their election entirely by mail in the style of Oregon.
I'm a big fan of early voting. I can't remember the last time I voted on election day. In addition to accommodating work schedules, early voting is great if you plan on volunteering as a poll worker or for a campaign on election day.
SB 238 NEEDS YOUR HELP - We are getting down to the wire; help add sexual orientation to WV's non-discrimination clause.
Contact the house speaker Thompson & ask him to allow the bill a vote on the house floor. Contact House Judiciary members and encourage them to put SB238 on the agenda & move it to the house floor for a vote.
To contact Speaker Thompson:
Speaker Richard Thompson
Room 228-M, Building 1
Capitol Complex
Charleston, WV 25305
Why Protect the Identity Of Out of State Wealthy Contributors?
In West Virginia there is a long standing tradition of openness and honesty that is being challenged today by wealthy outside interests under the guise of individual freedom.
Why would anyone object to disclosing their name as a contributor to any public policy issue campaign or supporting the election or defeat of any candidate if the campaign is honest and within the guidelines of our election laws?
The Governor, a majority of the legislature, the Council of Churches, Citizens Action Group and the West Virginia AFL-CIO all support passage of HB 219 and are working together to ensure that citizens have all information needed to make informed decisions on Election Day by requiring full disclosure by both in-state and out-of-state groups who would rather hide behind their special interest money.
Gary Zuckett, Executive Director, WV Citizen Action Group stated, "Voters have a right to know who is trying to influence elections in West Virginia."
Kenny Perdue, President, WV AFL-CIO agrees that, "HB 219 will raise the cloak of darkness and expose wealthy outside contributors who want to influence elections and public policy in our great state of West Virginia."
Full disclosure is important. For the sake of the kids, and all.
I'd like to start a simple little project and I need your help.
I've been looking around and I can't find any broad range scorecards -- I'm thinking of something like Progressive Punch, but much simpler -- that track the votes of W.Va. legislators. Yes, there are several groups who do a very good job of honoring legislators who are supportive of progressive causes. And, there are some issues groups that rate legislative votes.
With your help, I think we can create a simple system to start shining a light on the conservative vs. progressive rating for house of delegates and state senate members.
Here's what I have in mind.
West Virginia Blue Progressive Ratings
Let's pick no more than a dozen votes for the house and for the senate (they will, by necessity, be a slightly different list... not all bills came up for vote in both houses). The optimal list will span a broad range of issues: non-discrimination, the environment, labor issues, health care, choice, the occupation of Iraq, and anything else that may have come up in the most recent session.
Once we have a list of 8-12 votes for each chamber, I'll put together a spreadsheet showing how each legislator voted on each bill. From there, we figure out a percentage score and we've got W.Va. Blue Progressive Legislator ratings and rankings to share with the world.
Your Help
Here's where I need your help. What were the key votes for this session? If you can provide a specific bill number, all the better, but even if not, let's just start brainstorming about ideas.
A few that come to mind... the employee non-discrimination bill is an obvious choice. My memory is already hazy, it was voted on in the Senate but never made it to the House floor?
On the House side, the bill restricting the ability of employers to force employees to attend meetings was voted on in the House but never made it to the Senate floor, right?
I didn't follow the ins and outs of the floor fights on the Tier 2, 2.5, 3 water way designations. Were there key votes in each chamber related to that issue?
What do you think?
1. Is this worth doing?
2. If so, any suggestion on votes?
Please add your thoughts in comments or feel free to suggestions via email to me at: wvablue@gmail.com.
Let us know if you find any errors or omissions, or if you have any additional information about candidates. Post your information as a comment in the appropriate diary, as a comment here, or email wvablue {at} gmail.com.
The session is picking up steam and floor sessions and committee meetings are running longer as we come up against several important deadlines in the legislative process.
Monday is the 41st day of the session and the last day to introduce bills in either the House or the Senate. That’s fine with me as a search on the legislative web page lists 1,901 introduced so far. However, this cutoff date does not apply to bills that suddenly originate in a committee meeting, so watching committees will become more interesting after Monday’s cut off.
Monday is also President’s Day and most state employees have the day off. This day is traditionally when state workers rally at the Capitol so I expect to see highway workers, school bus drivers, office staff and lots of other state employees represented by AFSCME, CWA, UMWA, and the new start-up United Electrical workers (UE). When I lobbied for AFSCME a few years back I was shocked to find that some state workers (including some of the ones that get up in the middle of the night to clear and salt our roads) are paid so little that they rely on food stamps to feed their families. This is just plain wrong. State workers deserve a decent wage and the same collective bargaining rights that workers in the private sector enjoy.
Speaking of the private sector, the AFL-CIO’s “Worker Freedom” bill is drawing heat from both big business and religious conservatives as it seeks to prevent employers from forcing employees to attend meetings on politics, anti-unionism and religion. Legislators are calling it the “captive audience” bill and the House version (HB 4132) is a captive of a Judiciary subcommittee. The SEIU’s Healthy Families Act, HB4447, a measure to provide WV workers with paid sick leave, is also stalled in House Judiciary. Both bills need your calls to committee members (list on next page).
Rumors have it that McDowell Landfill proponents are looking to revive last year’s bill that would double or triple the allowed tonnage so daily trainloads of out-of-state garbage can begin filling up the newly opened facility. This is just the scenario that our Comprehensive Solid Waste Act of the early 90’s was designed to prevent and we’ll oppose any attempts to subvert it. Stay abreast of all the session’s environmental issues by signing up for the WV E-Council’s weekly update or reading it online at www.wvecouncil.org
Each session is like a second Christmas for big business as every year they receive gifts from the state. This year’s giveaway is a total phase-out of the Business Franchise Tax. Last year they set up a schedule to carve it down to less than half. However, the only good tax is a dead tax to the big corporations and so SB 465 will continue the phase out until it’s all gone. No one has said where the state will make up the $48 million loss in state revenue but if I were you I’d hold on to my wallet. Next, watch for a bill reducing the Corporate Net Income tax and get ready for state services, roads, schools and infrastructure to suffer as tax funds continue to dry up. Remember to check www.wvpolicy.org for more details on these give-aways.
Now for some good news – a poll released this week by our national affiliate indicates that, overall, swing voters are still as fuming mad as they were in 2006 when they sent conservatives packing and turned over Congress to new leadership. This year they are leaning 41% in favor of any Democratic presidential candidate (just 34% are leaning toward Republican candidates). See the Invest in America’s Future campaign at www.USAction.org and click on “more details” for the poll results.
Last weekend’s AP poll was an eye-opener, too. When asked the best way to stimulate the economy, the majority of citizens said, “bring the troops home from Iraq!” The cost of war is finally sinking in. The people are leading – let’s hope our leaders follow.
As promised, I've started rolling out the 2008 state Senate election diaries. Use them as open diaries to comment on those races. If you have any additional information on the candidates, please post it.
I would especially like to know of candidate websites.
I'm skipping the uncontested districts. Here's what I've got so far:
Yesterday marked the halfway point for the 2008 legislative session. Only one bill has made it all the way through the legislative process to the governor’s desk. Everyone agrees that overall it’s been a slow session so far, but that’s about to change.
Remember riding a rollercoaster where the first half of the journey was the slow plodding ascent to the top of the first tower then, all of a sudden, you’re whizzing down a steep slope into loop de loops and around hairpin turns? Well, we just crested the top and are looking down…
Actually, here at Citizen Action we have already hit the slippery slope. For the CAG team, this week was a whirlwind. On Tuesday and Wednesday we hosted John Ferrari, President of NexCycle, a big California recycling business who wowed the crowd at a joint Judiciary hearing set up especially to review our bottle bill. Meetings followed with Senate & House leadership and finally taking the message to the governor that NexCycle wants us to pass a bottle bill so they can come into WV and set up operations to provide 200-250 jobs! The governor, who was there with the head of his REAP program, took notice…
Wednesday our landowners’ rights group, working to protect surface owners from the ravages of oil and gas drillers, hosted its day at the legislature with a morning press conference attended by diverse media including WV Public Broadcasting and the State Journal. Then the 30-40 citizen activists who came in from a dozen different counties fanned out to track down their representatives to lobby them on the Surface Owners Bill of Rights. We extend a big thanks to all who traveled long distances to tell their tales of abuse by careless drilling outfits. Our efforts to “balance the scales” for surface owners were greatly enhanced by your presence this week. See SORO’s web page for recent press coverage: www.wvsoro.org
The Insurance Consumer Advocate bill I mentioned awhile back is now out. HB 4466 would create an independent advocate who would go to bat for consumers in rate hike cases and other matters involving insurance regulation. This office could do for insurance matters what the PSC Advocate has long done for us in utility affairs. It is a much needed change and the sponsoring delegates - Webster, Caputo, DeLong, Fragale, Mary Poling, White, Morgan, Miley, Hrutkay, Proudfoot, and Fleischauer should be commended for going up against the big insurance interests who never cease to find new ways to pick our pockets with their state-sanctioned protection racket. You can read the bill at: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2008_SESSIONS/RS/Bills/hb4466%20intr.htm
National issues tend to get pushed to the back burner during the session but we must take notice of several DC events. The big news in DC this morning is the passage of the economic stimulus package made necessary by the Bush recession. As I mentioned last week this needed shot-in-the-arm for the national economy may have an unintended backlash for our state budget. According to Ted Boettner, former CAG researcher and now Executive Director of the WV Center for Budget & Policy, West Virginia could see a loss of $74 million because the state’s laws are automatically tied to any change in the federal tax code. To prevent this, a law would have to be passed allowing West Virginia to “decouple” from the federal business tax breaks.
We’ll also be working with our national USAction coalition to oppose the cuts in federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, housing, education and you name it proposed in Bush’s budget which came out this week. The “elephant in the living room” continues to be the cost of the Iraq war WHICH ISN’T EVEN IN THE BUDGET! The red ink bleeding out of Bush’s budget is not harming the military slice of the pie that continues to expand even while essential domestic programs get the ax. Watch Ted’s new budget group for cutting-edge analysis on both federal and state economic policies that will affect us all: www.wvpolicy.org
As the session continues to pick up steam please consider taking off a day from your usual routine to give yourself a lesson in civics. Come on down to the Capitol and become a citizen lobbyist for a day. We’ll show you the ropes and can probably locate a place for you to stay over if it’s too far to make it a day trip.
Everyone should see how laws are made – it isn’t pretty but it’s your government and it needs your guidance from time to time. Contact us at 304-346-5891 or 1-866-WVB-FAIR or e-mail me for more info.
Major kudos to retiring Delegate Jon Blair Hunter (D-Monongalia). What other legislators will have the moral courage to join him in opposing Mountain Top Removal?
From a press release: "I introduced Senate Bill 588 because I fervently believe that God did not intend for us to destroy the mountains, the streams, the forests and His people in order to mine coal," Sen. Hunter said.
[...]
"Senator Hunter's bill would stop mountain top removal operators from continuing to use West Virginia's mountain streams as giant garbage cans to dispose of billions of tons of mining waste," said Joe Lovett executive director of the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment. "West Virginians overwhelmingly oppose mountaintop removal, and I hope that the Manchin administration and others in the Legislature will stand with Senator Hunter to stop the permanent destruction of a huge swath of one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. It is time for the madness of mountaintop removal to come to an end, and Senator Hunter's bill is an important step in that direction."
Hunter is promising a public hearing on mountaintop removal. As acting chairman of the Senate Energy and Mining Committee, he has the power to at least put the bill on the agenda.
But first, he gave what he called a public confession on the Senate floor.
Hunter was visibly nervous as he shuffled the papers of his speech. Other Senators turned in their chairs to watch.
"I have a confession to make," Hunter said. He came out against mountaintop removal, saying God "didn't intend to destroy mountains."
Hunter's bill, Senate Bill 588, would prevent mining companies from dumping excess dirt and rock into streams. It could end most mountaintop removal in the state.
Hunter knows his bill has almost no chance of passing - even though recent polls show a majority West Virginians oppose mountaintop removal.
He said other lawmakers are opposed to mountaintop removal, but they don't dare come out against it. He said like gambling, the state is addicted to the tax revenue.
The recent energy boom has led to more mountaintop removal mining. It's also reviving long-simmering tensions between landowners and the people who drill for oil and natural gas.
It is great news to have the issue of Mountain Top Removal on the legislative agenda. It's time for an honest debate about the true social, ecological, and environmental costs of allowing mountain top removal to continue unabated.
The Associated Press Meadow Bridge High School principal Al Martine joins in the West Virginia Education Association protest for higher wages at the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston on Monday.
A few hundred teachers, members of the West Virginia Education Association, rallied at the state capitol Monday. Part of their cry was against the governor's three percent pay increase for teachers; they say it's not enough.
The governor reacted in a news release saying the pay hike is really 5.5 percent.
"I'm not convinced the public or even most teachers understand that our budget includes additional classroom teacher pay increases of approximately 5.5 percent," Manchin said.
[snip]
Manchin says that package would result in "a fair and substantial increase in their base pay. This is a well-deserved increase for our teachers and an amount that's fiscally responsible and fair to all taxpayers."
Members of the West Virginia Education Association sent that message to Gov. Joe Manchin Monday.
Union officials, teachers and other educators said Manchin's proposed salary increase doesn't make it any easier to work in West Virginia.
"We will remain at '48' based on the amount proposed," said Charlie Delauder, WVEA president, referring to a recent National Education Association report that shows West Virginia ranks 48th in average teacher pay.
[snip]
"We feel that the governor's put out a responsible and practical package," she said.
Delauder said the state should be able to promise new teachers the money to support a spouse, family and buy a home.
Sheila Haid, a teacher at Petersburg Elementary in Grant County and a single parent, said she adds small jobs to help support two sons in college.
"I have to do other things to keep teaching," she said.
She tutors, mows lawns and works at athletic events.
Last summer, she worked for the Division of Highways and flagged motorists in construction zones. That job paid more per hour than her teaching job, she said.
"I really don't need a degree ... if I can tell one side says 'stop,' one says 'slow,'" she said.
[snip]
Last year, teachers received a 3.5 percent salary increase that many said was too low. That raised the minimum salary for starting teachers to $25,832, up from $25,019.
Delauder wants teacher salaries to start at $35,000. The American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia has asked for a similar amount, a $10,000 raise over the next three years.
WVEA member Thomas Fletcher, who teaches in Berkeley County, regularly sees colleagues leave home for better-paying jobs in Virginia and Maryland.
"I'm a teacher and I realize education is the No. 1 priority in the state," he said. "If we say it, then we've got to live it, and we're not living it right now."
[snip]
Also Monday, Delauder and others pushed to allow teachers in a newer retirement system the one-time option of jumping into the older, defined-benefit plan.
Delauder and Adkins said in years past, school employees were given misinformation and encouraged to enroll in the defined-contribution plan. Fletcher said the older system is more secure. Yet for state lawmakers, it's become an unfunded liability that demands tens of millions of dollars each year.
Earlier this month, the state Supreme Court of Appeals declined to consider, by a 3-2 vote, a case regarding the state's bid to merge the two pension programs. Now, the AFT, WVEA and state service personnel association want the Legislature to act.
[snip]
She expects Manchin to work with union representatives and consider the best way to tackle the problem without turning the state's finances "upside-down."
Unger urges action be taken to protect against toxic imports
CHARLESTON - Senator John R. Unger II (D-Berkeley) urged a caucus of West Virginia legislators today to take action in protecting their families, homes, workplaces and communities from toxic imports. The caucus was held in conjunction with the United Steelworkers nationwide day of action to draw attention to the need for trade regulations that will prevent imports of toxic goods and the enforcement of current trade laws.
"During this national day of action, I support the United Steelworkers in their demand for the immediate protection from the dangerous threat posed by the millions of lead-laced toys and other unsafe products infiltrating our country," Unger said. "It is time for a fair trade policy that creates new business and good paying jobs at home and puts an end to the global exploitation of cheap labor."
Unger also introduced a concurrent resolution (SCR 20) today in the West Virginia Senate urging the United States Congress to pass legislation to protect the American public from toxic imports. The resolution states that bad trade deals have lowered standards and harmed workers in the environment in the United States. Unger believes the time is now to change course and insist that trade deals bring world standards up everywhere for product safety, labor and the environment.
Last year, one of the big education stories was teachers going on strike. The West Virginia Teacher Shortage Task Force has returned a series of recommendations. Teacher pay is sure to once again be a topic of consideration for this year's legislature.
With one out of every five teachers in the state's public schools eligible for retirement at the end of the present school year, a special task force has made several recommendations to fill the holes, including increasing teacher pay.
The Teacher Shortage Task Force recently released a list of six short-term and five long-term solutions that educators and lawmakers should pursue to address the looming shortage.
[snip]
Topping the list of short-term solutions was increasing teacher salaries, although the task force didn't say by how much. The recommendations were unveiled at the West Virginia Board of Education meeting Dec. 13 and came only a couple of days after a National Education Association report ranked the state 48th in the nation for average teacher pay.
[snip]
West Virginia public schools currently employ more than 24,000 teachers, state Superintendent of Education Steven Paine wrote in a recent report. It is projected that 5,404 teachers -- or 22 percent of the positions in the state -- will be eligible for retirement at the end of the present school year.
But just as big of a concern for Van Dempsey, task force member and dean of the school of education at Fairmont State University, is that many young teachers are dropping out of the profession long before they reach retirement age. Nationwide, about half of new teachers leave the profession within five years.
Increasing teacher pay is at the top of the list of recommendations.
Teachers' unions have long pushed for higher salaries for their members, arguing better pay would help in recruiting teachers. Average pay in the state for a starting teacher with a bachelor's degree and no experience is just over $29,000, said David Haney, executive director of the West Virginia Education Association.
However, the average starting pay in 27 of the state's 55 counties is $28,587, he said.
The union wants to boost average starting pay up to $35,000, a plan that could cost the state $68 million a year for three years. That would put the state in the middle of the pack for average pay among states, Haney said.
"We're only asking to be average," he said.
The remaining recommendations require far less in the way of additional expenditures.
Other short-term recommendations included:
- expanding certification of elementary school teachers to allow them to teach content at the middle school level;
- expand subject area certification of all teachers by using Praxis II -- tests that teachers take for certification -- as a means of demonstrating competence in a subject area;
- allow retired teachers to return to the classroom when no fully certified teacher is available without losing retirement benefits;
- provide financial incentives to teachers -- student loan forgiveness, tax credits and signing bonuses -- in areas of critical shortage; and
- develop a centralized recruitment and retention center.
The task force developed five long-term recommendations, some of which overlap with the short-term solutions:
- develop a centralized recruitment and retention center;
- continue to improve the working conditions for all teachers;
- develop streamlined alternative routes to certification in collaboration with institutions of higher education;
- provide financial incentives to teachers in areas of critical shortage; and
- develop "content institutes" that prepare currently certified teachers in content areas such as math, science and world languages.
What do you think? Are you concerned about a teacher shortage in West Virginia? Do you think these suggestions will make a difference?
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Major kudos to retiring Delegate Jon Blair Hunter (D-Monongalia). What other legislators will have the moral courage to join him in opposing Mountain Top Removal?
Kudos to Boone County Del. (Dr.) 
