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West Virginia legislature finishes session
April 15, 2013
By Phil Sletten
CHARLESTON, West Virginia: The West Virginia State Legislature finished its session with a flurry of legislation on April 13, with topics ranging from free school lunches to gun control to campaign finance reform for judges.[1][2][3] Major policy reforms passed this session include education and criminal justice system overhauls.[4][2]
The criminal justice reforms, which passed on the final day of the legislative session, seek to save the state money by improving drug treatments and other observation of former prisoners after release. Theoretically, fewer repeat offenders would lower the recidivism rate, potentially saving the state money and avoiding the $200 million of building a new prison.[2]
The legislature also used the final day to pass a bill that would provide public funding for elections. The legislation calls for candidates to receive $300,000 in contested primaries and $525,000 in contested general elections. The stated goal of the legislation was to minimize the impact of, including perceptions of, outside political spending on Supreme Court races.[3][2]
The West Virginia House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved Senate legislation that would provide free lunches to all students in West Virginia public schools, funded through federal tax dollars and donations.[5] Legislators also passed seven bills related to guns this session, including a bill restricting authorities from regulating the movement of guns during emergencies, a bill allowing school mascots to use guns, and a bill allowing individuals to discharge firearms within 500 feet of their homes in rural areas.[1]
Two bills related to expenditures were included in the final gambit. First, the legislature passed a bill, proposed by West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (D) requiring online companies selling goods to apply West Virginia sales taxes to their state if they, or their subsidiaries, have a nexus (or physical location) in the state. Notably, the online retail giant Amazon recently created a customer service center in West Virginia.[2] Second, West Virginia will now partially subsidize the MARC train, which provides transit service from eastern West Virginia to Washington, D.C.[5]
One late piece of legislation that was not sent to Governor Tomblin's desk was a bill outlawing jury discrimination based on sexual orientation. Opponents considered the bill unnecessary.[6]
See also
- Ballot News: West Virginia senate votes to give all students free lunches
- Ballot News: West Virginia education reform bill reaches state legislature
- West Virginia State Legislature
- West Virginia House of Delegates
- West Virginia State Senate
- Governor of West Virginia
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Charleston Daily Mail, "Seven gun bills passed during session," April 15, 2013
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The Associated Press, "W.Va. Legislature busy on final day," April 13, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The West Virginia Record, "Legislature passes public financing bill for SC elections," April 15, 2013
- ↑ The Register-Herald, "Education tops session," April 14, 2013
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Herald-Mail, "W.Va. Legislature session ends with MARC train bill passing," April 13, 2013
- ↑ The Associated Press, "W.Va. House scraps amendment barring jury discrimination based on sexual orientation," April 12, 2013
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