West Virginia Legislature begins planning for session
November 15, 2012
By Phil Sletten
CHARLESTON, West Virginia: The West Virginia State Legislature began to piece together an agenda for next session after an election that re-elected a Democratic governor and Democratic majorities in the legislature, but elected Republican candidates to more seats in the House of Delegates than they have held since at least 1942.[1][2]
Both Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (D) and the Republican House leadership are drafting their own sets of priorities. Republicans are prioritizing education policy and hoping to take advantage of substantial turnover on the House Education Committee resulting from the election. Governor Tomblin and President of the Senate Jeffrey Kessler (D) also aim to reform the state education system, which is currently tightly controlled by state regulations.[2]
House Republicans plan to propose a constitutional amendment to reduce taxes on certain kinds of property, including equipment and business inventories, and replace those revenues with taxes on natural gas production. Kessler, who has not been re-elected to the head of the Senate by the chamber's membership yet, is skeptical of this proposal and favors more dedicated sources of funding. The legislature is also considering adding an intermediate appeals court, but Governor Tomblin has been concerned by the cost of the proposal.[2]
The increase in Republican seats has brought new questions about the membership and relative policy positions of the legislative leadership. The larger Republican bloc means that Republican votes could be deciding factor in elections for leadership, specifically for Speaker of the House.[3]
As a result of the 2012 elections, the West Virginia State Legislature is the only state legislature in the southern states that is controlled by Democrats.[1] The Libertarian Party, although it did not win any seats in the state legislature, gained enough votes in the gubernatorial race to qualify as an official party in West Virginia, joining the Democratic, Republican, and Mountain parties as those that do not need to gather signatures to earn ballot access.[4] Notably, delegate-elect Stephen Skinner (D) will be the first openly gay member of the West Virginia legislature.[5]
See also
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- West Virginia State Legislature
- West Virginia House of Delegates
- West Virginia State Senate
- Governor of West Virginia
- West Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2012
- West Virginia State Senate elections, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Associated Press, "Five things about the state Legislature results," November 7, 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Associated Press, "Lawmakers hash out '13 agenda," November 11, 2012
- ↑ WTRF, "Politicians make statehouse predictions for increase in Republican delegates," November 11, 2012
- ↑ The State Journal, "WV gains fourth political party," November 8, 2012
- ↑ The State Journal, "New Delegate Stephen Skinner talks LGBT issues," November 8, 2012
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