Effective July 1, 2009

Effective July 1, 2009, from the final Wrap-Up: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

HB 2684 "Drug Courts" - creates the framework for instituting drug courts and a benchmark evaluation system. Is this really necessary? Are Magistrate and Circuit Courts that back-loaded and inept to handle drug cases themselves? Do we really need ANOTHER branch of bureaucracy, creating and ENTIRELY new segment of the judicial branch?

I called Legislative Services at the Capitol in Charleston on Wednesday to request the fiscal note. The friendly staff there had no record of a fiscal note, because one had never been requested. Did our Legislature make this vast commitment, even without knowing how much it costs?! I disagree with this bill. It's intentions to de-regulate government oversight are good, but the magnitude of government created cannot be good.

HB 2860 "Carbon Sequestration" - emphasizes the development and use of carbon sequestration to make cleaner coal, working with the Department of Environmental Protection and a panel of experts to support the project and improve it through the 2011 legislative session.

I agree with this bill, because it emphasizes the use and utility of clean-coal technology, while investing in the technology and people to improve its cost effectiveness and efficiency.

SB 373 "PROMISE Scholarship" - caps the PROMISE scholarship at $4,750 after 2010, to manage an expensive program, while still attempting to help West Virginia students to achieve higher education and serve the state of West Virginia. Many have competing view points about this scholarship fund, which is why I will not address the issue of the scholarship here, but discuss one provision law makers slipped into this revised bill.

"The bill also adds gender, race and ethnic diversity as a requirement for the board of governors at a higher education institution." The state of West Virginia is now requiring institutions that employ PROMISE dollars to fulfill bureaucratic demands to create diversity that may not be representative of the state. Is this a public need, since it is created with public dollars?

I agree that diversity improves the education experience for everyone, and I strongly advocate for MORE diversity of all races, gender, creeds, and nationalities - but not mandated by big government! It is the ol' "protected class" argument. Again, great intentions, but not with government decree. Since I have not studied the make-up of West Virginia schools to any great length, I am willing to revisit this argument with facts and studies that point to the contrary.

HB 2771 "WV Alcohol and Drug-Free Workplace Act" - a bill to require companies to submit to state drug-testing when contracting projects over $100,000. I support Governor Manchin's veto of this bill.

Manchin points to the confusing language of the bill and its too-far reaching implications, having consequences that reach farther than the intent of the act. What is special about the $100,000 threshold? Is this a sincere problem, a chronic need for the state to address?

S244 "Politician Salary/ Pension Double Dipping" - a bill to prevent unopposed legislators from retiring before the election and then resuming office after the election, collecting pension funds along with legislative pay. I support this bill and its mission to end government waste and corruption, while holding elected officials accountable. It does not say that legislators must forfeit all duties, but it does cap the amount of pay one can receive.

HB 2335 "G.I. Education Enhancement Program" - a bill to ensure G.I. education within West Virginia, in conjunction with a similar initiative taking place nationwide. Increased education benefits equal in-state tuition at the state's most expensive public college or university. The federal government matches any expenditure above the cost of in-state tuition for fees and expenses.

American citizens are indebted to the brave men and women who sacrifice for this country. This bill supports those men and women with an education, while supporting a similar initiative as the indoctrinated PROMISE scholarship to educate West Virginians. Further, if the state chooses to offer supplemental funds, the federal government will match the state's burden. The cost will not be large, and our soldiers deserve it.

S507 "WV Clean Coal Council" - this bill was vetoed by Governor Manchin, but only because it duplicates the enrolled committee substitute for HB2860, which establishes a working group on carbon capture and sequestration. Manchin also returned the bill because it engages the WV Clean Coal Technology Council, which became defunct in June 2005. Therefore, to eliminate government inefficiency, Manchin vetoed this bill, while ensuring its mission is carried out in the enrolled committee substitute for HB2860.

HB3197 "Litter Prevention Officers" - a bill to appoint special litter officers to patrol within municipalities, vested with powers to issue citations, summons, and sign complaints. Special officers to catch you throwing that candy bar wrapper!

Governor Manchin rightly vetoed this bill - but due to technical reasons, not because it is completely unneccessary. Municipalities would be able to train and disperse these litter prevention officers on a whim, and send them out on patrol looking for those habitual litterers! Don't get me wrong, I love the state of West Virginia and its immense beauty. However, is the cost-benefit really there, and is this a job that current officers are incapable or unwilling to do?