MORGANTOWN – The state Legislature will come to Morgantown in May interim meetings set for May 22-24.
The schedule isn’t posted yet – the Legislative website has up the schedule for April interims at the Capitol, which start Sunday. But Sen. Bob Beach, D-Monongalia, said of Facebook that the meetings will mostly occur at one of three sites: WVU’s law school and alumni center, or at the Marriott at Waterfront Place (in the Morgantown Event Center).
The legislature hasn’t gone on the road for quite a few years. In June 2013 they went to Wheeling and to Bridgeport in August 2014.
The Dominion Post asked the leadership offices of the House and Senate what sparked the return. House spokeswoman Ann Ali said that many delegates participated in last year’s redistricting public hearing and said how much they enjoyed getting out of Charleston to see other parts of the state and hear other perspectives.
While there was a movement some years ago to trim the interim process to save money, she said, Speaker Roger Hanshaw has said that he felt that the legislative process suffered after COVID and caused the entire interim process to collapse. So they now want to make sure interims are robust and productive.
“I feel like it’s safe to say the entire Legislature has recognized how important it is to gather in the off-season for discussions and studies that can help lead to a stronger legislative process,” she said.
Back in 2013 and 2104, interim and regular session meetings were not live-streamed, but now they are (audio and video in the Senate and on the House floor, audio only in House meeting rooms) and people express anger and discontent on social media when a technical glitch cuts off the audio for a time.
The Dominion Post asked how they’ll handle that for the mobile interims. Senate spokeswoman Jacque Bland said they are working with WVU on that issue to make sure meetings are broadcast as seamlessly as possible.
The Legislature will also go on the road for the November interims, set for Nov. 13-15 at Capacon State Park and Berkeley Springs.
Next week’s interims will include a one-day special session to pass some bills the governor vetoed for technical issues and some others that didn’t get taken up for final votes before the bell rang on the last day.
Interims are also scheduled at the Capito for June 12-14, July 24-26, Sept. 11-13 and Dec. 5-6.
Tweet David Beard @dbeardtdp Email dbeard@dominionpost.com
