Come, mister tally man

Here's my quick tally of the best and worst of the WV legislature. Note: I'm speaking only about issues I worked on.

Really good:

Increasing minimum wage by $1.50 over two years.

Passing the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act.

Good:

Several bills that should help reduce prison overcrowding and make it less likely that WV will ship inmates (and money) out of state to private, for profit prisons.

Mostly good:

Passing the Future Fund, except the House threw in some unfortunate amendments. If they hadn't, I would have put it in the really good column. It will take more work to make it really reach its potential.

The water bill. I talked with several people who were very active in the fight that occurred in the wake of the chemical leak and most were fairly pleased with the bill. That is to say, they seemed to think it was as good as could have been gotten from that legislature at the time.

Unresolved:

The state budget and especially restoring cuts to family violence and early childhood programs.

Really bad:

Killing Move to Improve. Shame on the House Education Committee.

Killing the bill to make non-tamper proof pseudephedrine a prescription drug. The meth lobby has more clout than the kids lobby in the House.

I was not directly involved in two high-drama issues, which involved abortion bans and guns. I will say that Senator Erik Wells, husband of Secretary of State and US senate candidate Natalie Tennant, nailed it when he courageously observed that

"We want to focus on gays, abortion and guns, and I have to wonder when that's going to change. We will never get past 50th if we worry more about the next election than the next generation."

Gazette columnist Phil Kabler had this take on the session in today's paper.

OK, I'm tired and cranky, but...

...I think the definition of disgrace is to kill a bill like Move to Improve, which would promote healthy physical activity for WV's schoolchildren, while at the same time passing "the cupcake bill," which promotes obesity. Nice job, WV House Education committee. Not.

Annals of weirdness

With just over a week to go at the WV legislature, things are getting weirder and weirder. Yesterday, Republicans on the House Health Committee acted in concert to try to kill an innocuous bill, Move to Improve, which would have promoted physical activity in public schools. Apparently, exercise is socialistic. Who knew?

The sad part is that they came within one vote of doing it, largely because some Democrats on the committee felt they had more important places to be

I was particularly disappointed that one of my Republican delegates, Carol Miller, voted against Move to Improve as well, after she emailed me saying "who could object to children getting exercise?" I guess now we know the answer to that rhetorical question.

It will be interesting to see if some of these votes change if and when the measure hits the floor.

Who knows?

With a little bit less than two weeks to go at the WV legislature, things could break either way. This could be a good year for kids and working families...or not. At this point, several things are still in play but could be lost in the fog and confusion of the last chaotic days.

The minimum wage passed the house and needs to be reconciled with the senate version. Fast food types, McDonald's' in particular, are trying to gut the bill. I hope the senate holds the line. Worst case would be changing definitions so that the increase would be meaningless.

The Future Fund passed the senate unanimously. It faces an uncertain future in the house due to rivalry and budget concerns, even though the FF wouldn't kick in for a couple of years, when the state's budget woes will have leveled off.

Speaking of the budget, it's not clear at this point whether proposed cuts to domestic violence and early childhood programs will be reversed.

The physical activity bill, Move to Improve, is headed to the house and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is awaiting action in the senate.

Two old bills that I've supported in the past but just about gave up on showed unexpected life. One is a reform to unemployment insurance which allows companies to reduce hours instead of jobs and lets workers draw benefits for the lost wages. Another is a voluntary retirement account bill which would allow workers who don't have pensions to build assets towards retirement. Both of these miraculously rose from the grave and made it through the house.

One thing's for sure. The next 13 days are gonna be crazy.

A small step in the direction of sanity

One encouraging trend in West Virginia these days--and there actually are a few, believe it or not--is a move away from the mindless tendency to lock people up whether there's a compelling reason to do so or not. Last year, the legislature passed Gov. Tomblin's prison overcrowding bill, which took some modest steps in that direction.

Thanks to a Republican-introduced amendment, the bill actually was strengthened by mandating drug courts in all counties by 2016. The decision to expand Medicaid will also mean that tens of thousands of people will have access now to treatment for substance abuse. Substance abuse, one way or another, is a factor in most prison sentences in the state.

The WV Senate last week passed another small but significant bill that could address the overcrowding issue. It would allow for pre-trial release for low-risk offenders. This would reduce crowding in regional jails, which are already filled to overflowing with inmates who should be held in the state's prison system, which offers more of the programs needed for parole.

Last year, a similar bill passed the Senate but was killed in the House after a public hearing dominated by the bail bond "industry." Fortunately, the WV House is under new management this year and I hope they concur with the Senate in this common sense step.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO WE? Here's Robert Reich on a certain American problem.

MOVE TO IMPROVE. Here's yours truly in support of proposed WV legislation that would mandate physical activity for the state's schoolchildren.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Lost week

This blog has been sadly neglected lately. I've been running in circles and a lot of my chi has been devoted to following events at the WV legislature. It's been a busy week.

Since Monday, the minimum wage bill has cleared two House committees and one in the Senate. The Future Fund cleared its first hurdle in the Senate. And the Pregnant Workers Fairness bill passed the House. One important bill, however, Move to Improve, which would promote physical activity in schools to combat obesity and type II diabetes, has stalled for reasons that have more to do with ego than policy.

We also had a huge Our Children Our Future child poverty day at the legislature, with over 800 kids and adults rampaging about. They knew we were there. Today, I attended a child poverty forum in Clarksburg and put in a plug for the Future Fund.

The session reached its halfway mark Thursday. That's the good news. The bad news is that the last 30 are way more hectic.

Bad to the bone

Arpad, the Great Pyrenees security chief at Goat Rope Farm, loves deer season and everything after. Here he is with another example of what he views as the generosity of the universe.

The question, as I see it, is is he just trying to get a leg up in the world or has he put his foot in his mouth?

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE WV LEGISLATURE, interesting things are happening. A bill that would create a Future Fund or mineral trust fund, something El Cabrero has worked on for a few years, looks good in the state senate. It has 30 sponsors and there are only 33 senators. A minimum wage bill has moved from a house committee and seems to have strong support (even some who hate it are afraid to vote against it). And a bill that would promote physical activity in schools looks pretty good at the moment. The bill, called Move to Improve, is a companion piece to last year's Feed to Achieve Act.

Lots of other stuff too, but it'll keep.