The House of Delegates shot down a bill amendment on Tuesday intended to preserve a current element of state fire safety code.
Across the Capitol, the Senate spent an hour debating a resolution to ask Congress to call a convention to consider a term limits amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Fire code bill
HB 4275 was on second reading, the amendment stage, and deals with legislative rules for the state Fire Commission and proposes to update the state’s adoption of the National Electric Code from the 2014 edition to the 2017 edition – with one exception.
The exception is a requirement in both editions that new construction include Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters for most areas in new home construction. AFCIs are circuit breakers, more expensive than conventional breakers and used in place of them, that shut off the power when they detect an arc in the wiring.
The rule includes an amendment put forth by the state Fire Commission and authored by the National Home Builders Association to limit AFCIs in new construction of one- and two-family homes to bedrooms.
Delegates Barbara Evans Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, and Steve Westfall, R-Jackson, offered the amendment to the bill to strike the amendment to the rule, which had been approved by the interim Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee.
Fleischauer said AFCIs have been in use for 20 years, and have been in state fire code since 2014. “This has saved lives in the United States.”
She referred to Monday’s public hearing, where nine of 10 speakers supported keeping AFCI code as is for safety reasons. Those who want to limit placement of AFCI’s she said, typically site the devices higher costs.
“Do you thank that savings is going to be passed on to the consumers,” she asked. “We are considered a leader in safety in West Virginia. This would be unprecedented; this would take us backwards. Let’s be sure to prevent electrical fires before they start.”
Delegate Phil Diserio, D-Brooke, cited his 40 years of experience as an electrician. He said that statements that electricians support their use because they can make more money is “bitter craziness. This is for the safety of our citizens.”
Delegate Geoff Foster, R-Putnam, co-chair the Rule Making Review Committee and defended the limitation. Manufacturers push AFCI’s to increase their profits, he said, while there’s no documented proof AFCIs prevent fires. “I don’t think we should raise the cost to our constituents based on just a theory.”
Delegate John Hardy, R-Berkeley, is a general contractor with 25 years’ experience. He supports limiting placement of AFCIs. “To me it’s just another gidget-gadget the manufacturers have come up with.” They don’t make AFCIs for older breaker boxes installed in older homes, he said, so a $5,000 remodel job that needs to come up to code would need an entirely new service box, doubling the cost.
The amendment failed along party lines – Westfall and another Republican voted with the Democrats – and the bill is up for third reading and passage on Thursday. All local delegates voted with their party.
Term limits amendment
Article V of the U.S. Constitution allows two-thirds of the states (34 now) to apply to Congress to call a convention to propose amendments. Any amendments that come out of that convention must be approved by either three-fourths of the state legislatures (38 now) or by conventions in three-fourths of the states.
SCR 4 asks Congress to call a convention to consider a congressional term limits amendment. The national lobbying organization U.S. Term Limits says 13 states have approved this application as part of a multi-subject application, while three others have approved single-subject applications like SCR 4. SCR 4 is drawn from U.S. Term Limits’ model application.
Judiciary chair Charles Trump, a co-sponsor, answered some questions from Sen. Mike Romano, D-Harrison, who killed this resolution last year with a filibuster on the last day of the session and is the subject of sharp criticism on U.S. Term Limits’ West Virginia pages.
Romano asked Trump if Trump agreed with his oft-repeated point that Article V sets out no rules or limits and opens the whole U.S. Constitution to amendment and redrafting.
“I don’t think the risk is significant,” Trump said. While there’s been no prior Article 5 convention to set precedent, the language of the application is expressly confined to term limits. And even if the convention turns into a free for all, 38 states have to ratify whatever comes out of it.
Romano said, “I often think that the facts are meaningless down here.” Whether the application is for term limits, or a balanced budget (a resolution approved by the Legislature in 2016), the real debate is abou thte open-ended nature of a convention and what the harm the delegates could do.
“I’m afraid of it,” he said. “Once it’s convened, it’s too late. We cannot restrain it.”
Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, talked about ambitions convention advocates have revealed in previous years – such as abolishing the federal income tax and reapportioning U.S. Senate representation. “The small states, smaller than Puerto Ricco, that we’re one of, can plan on not having two senators.”
Amendment opponents frequently say the voters are the best form of term limits. Sen. Doug Facemire, D-Braxton, is one of them. “We’re saying, ‘We don’t trust the people to vote for who they want to represent them. We need to have a term limit.’ … When you say you’re for democracy but you take away the power of the vote, are you really for democracy?”
Worrying about what mischief the delegates could achieve, he said, “This could quite possibly be the most important vote that we ever cast as legislators in this state.”
Resolution co-sponsor Mike Azinger, R-Wood, said 13 states could put a check on a runaway convention.
“I think Article V is a great thing. It’s a check on tyranny” and a tool from the Founders. “They know how easily tyrants rise.” The Founders didn’t put rules in place because they believed in limited government, not bureaucratic micromanaging. “Article V is a beautiful thing; it brings tears to my eyes.”
Lead sponsor Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, argued, “The bottom line here is, Congress is out of control.” They make requirements for the people from which they exempt selves, such as Social Security and Obamacare. “They’ve forgotten about who they serve.”
U.S. Term Limits may be a dark money group, but it’s supported by ordinary citizens, he said, citizens who want their voices heard. “I’m fed up. If anybody here is not fed up by what’s going on, then shame on you. This is a last resort to fix a problem that Congress will not.”
And the movement will never reach the convention stage, he said. When the state count gets close, Congress will exercise the first option of Article V and pass an amendment itself for the states to ratify. “There’s checks and balances in this to stop this. This isn’t going to be a runaway freight train. … All this is, is a statement to our Congress that we want to see some changes.”
SCR 4 passed 20-10 and goes to the House. The vote was mostly along party lines with three Democrats voting yes and one Republican voting no. Three Republicans and a Democrat were absent. All local senators voted with their party except Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, who was absent.
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