The House of Delegates and its 100 members may have to be particularly flexible and quick this year.
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, speaking to reporters Wednesday, acknowledged the many uncertainties brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The regular 60-day session of the Legislature begins next week, Feb. 10.
Daily factors could include staff availability, schedules, committee agendas, locations of meetings and degree of public access.
“We will be making sort of a game day decision each day,” Hanshaw said.
He described an aggressive beginning to the session, with the aim of passing major legislation in relatively short order — not knowing when a possible outbreak might require a shutdown.
“We do anticipate working a fairly aggressive agenda early in the session because other states have seen their sessions shut down because of COVID,” said Hanshaw, R-Clay. “If we’re shut down we can still have a positive legislative session realizing there may be things left undone.”
Hanshaw and other leaders in the House’s Republican majority described legislation dealing with issues like broadband expansion, the extent of the governor’s emergency powers, education choice including more flexible charter schools provisions and some deregulation measures that could include issues like certificate of need provisions for healthcare providers.
Delegates spoke during a Legislative Lookahead preview sponsored by the West Virginia Press Association in partnership with AARP WV and WVU Today.
The streamed event included Hanshaw, Majority Leader Amy Summers and Delegate Paul Espinosa, who is the majority whip, all Republicans. Speakers also included the new Minority Leader Doug Skaff and Delegate Sean Hornbuckle, Democrats.
The House of Delegates, like the Senate, has a Republican supermajority this year, which could make passage of major legislation easier — if consensus exists within the caucuses.
An ongoing issue during the pandemic will be public access. The state Capitol has remained closed to the public except for those with official business.
Hanshaw said the public may observe legislative activity through livestreaming.
Floor sessions and some committee meetings will be in the House Chamber this year. Other committee meetings will be in an East Wing room that people often call the Government Organization committee room. “We want to minimize the amount of time committee members are in close proximity to each other,” Hanshaw said.
There is video streaming in the Chamber, but the Government Organization room is only equipped for audio streaming.
The pandemic has brought out the need for some areas of legislative consideration, said Majority Leader Amy Summers, R-Taylor.
She cited a possible need to strengthen telehealth options and local health departments.
“Have they been able to react effectively? Are they well managed? Some have been able to manage fine, others have had trouble; how do you coordinate that in a pandemic like this?” Summers asked.
And she described legislation that could place a limited timetable on the governor’s emergency powers. Gov. Jim Justice has been operating under an emergency decree for almost a year now.
“We want our governor to be flexible and able to react, but at what point do we want some buy in or legislative approval for that?” Summers asked.
Skaff, D-Kanawha, agreed the emergency powers need examination.
“When an emergency turns into an ongoing situation or a long drawn-out saga, we need to look at how those roles are defined,” Skaff said.
Disruption to classrooms has also made some parents want additional options, Summers said. The Legislature passed a provision allowing charter schools almost two years ago, but so far none have been approved. One likelihood is legislation that would provide additional paths for approval.
Espinosa , R-Berkeley, agreed with that goal, saying “I’m certainly optimistic we’ll offer legislation to remedy that during this legislative session.”
Democrats, at least early on, talked about working across the aisle. “We want to be working together,” said Hornbuckle, D-Cabell. He added that the pandemic has “really uncovered a lot of commonalities we have with one another.”
Hornbuckle described the need to focus on food insecurity for citizens, support for parents who are struggling and providing a better framework for small businesses, including restaurants, to compete.
Skaff underscored the common desire to improve internet connectivity in the state. “Broadband access is now our No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 priority,” he said.
He laid out a vision of strengthening communities and a continued focus on “keeping our best and brightest in the state of West Virginia.”
But he also recognized the role of the minority party to sometimes place checks on the majority.
“You will see us hold everyone accountable for pieces of legislation that we think aren’t in the best interest of all West Virginians,” Skaff said.