BACK PEW: Legislature returns today

By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV

On Wednesday, the West Virginia Legislature gets back to work. Don’t blame yourself if you didn’t realize it was time for the annual legislative session, because they haven’t talked much about it. 

Back in my day, I spent the months leading up to the legislative session writing about upcoming issues, listening to constituents at town halls, speaking to the media, and visiting with groups like the schools, farmers, and businesses to see what issues they were facing. These days, our legislators don’t even return phone calls, let alone tell the people what’s going on.

In fact, Senator Eric Tarr disclosed last week that the WV Senate Republicans haven’t met to agree on an agenda this year. That’s right; it’s time for the session to begin, and Republican senators don’t have a plan, according to Tarr. 

I suspect the truth of the matter is a little murkier. Ever since Craig Blair’s exit, a once-united caucus has split in multiple pieces and slowly eroded its own ability to govern. That is for sure. (Senator Tom Takubo has recruited a number of candidates to try and piece together a moderate majority, if they can prevail against hardliners in races this fall.) But President Randy Smith does have committee chairs and staff in place who presumably have plans and bills ready to run.

The issue will be whether enough Republican senators can agree on those. And whether he can hold a majority of votes in his own caucus. Just yesterday, his own Chair of the Senate Health Committee stepped down from that position, signaling that the allegations of division leveled by Sen. Tarr are very real. 

My, how things have changed. Senate Republicans used to take a caucus vote, and if a majority of the caucus voted to pass a bill…the whole group joined in lockstep. Those days are over, it seems. A number of my former colleagues bemoan the current state of the Senate, calling it “unrecognizable” from just a few years ago. 

The House, on the other hand, has got a plan together. Speaker Roger Hanshaw’s crew of 91 Republican delegates have agreed to focus on the economy this year, after spending most of last year fighting about social issues. So while I appreciate that the House at least has a plan, you’ll forgive me if I’m skeptical as to its potential success. 

This is an election year, after all, which means the drama will be ramped up more than usual. Not D vs R so much as R vs R and incumbents vs newcomers. 

Even if Republican delegates put their fights over economic development strategies and social issues aside, Republican senators get on board, and Gov. Morrisey gets on board as well (which is a whole other can of worms), the policy proposals themselves are…mid, as the kids say. 

Highlights of the policy proposals include: teaching workers skills for the jobs of tomorrow, exempting construction costs from the state sales tax, tax credits for new jobs, site readiness, and more. Do any of these sound familiar? Most have been proposed on their own for years, but gained little traction. Will bundling them together suddenly turn the economy around? Or give politicians something to run their next race on? 

Speaking of political races, independent voters will no longer be allowed to vote in Republican primaries. As of this year, you have to be registered as a Republican to vote in the Republican primary. 

Speaker Hanshaw called the decision an “extraordinary mistake” at a Charleston forum on Tuesday, while Senate President Smith said he “didn’t care.” Yet another indication of a deep divide between our elected leaders in the same political party. 

Stay tuned to RealWV and other state outlets including The Charleston Gazette, MetroNews, WV Watch, Ogden Newspapers, Mountain State Spotlight, and Black by God for the latest news from the capitol each day. I thank each one for their commitment to ensuring the public is informed. This year, I imagine they will be busier than usual.

That’s the view from the Back Pew.  May God bless you and our legislators this year. 

Stephen Baldwin is a Presbyterian minister and the former Senate Minority Leader from Greenbrier County. He is the publisher of The Real WV.