MORGANTOWN – Legislators will get a pay raise in 2025, but not as large as we reported in Sunday’s print edition.
Senate action on SB 740 described on the Senate floor early Saturday evening was unclear but the House of Delegate press office contacted us to explain the bill’s progress.
Here is our original rundown with the correct outcome added.
Wrangling over a legislative pay raise began Friday night when the House amended SB 740, the legislative pay raise bill, and passed it 54-43.
The original Senate version set the raise to equal the state’s per capita income as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau on June 30 of the prior year, rounded down to the nearest $1,000. The current per capita income figure is $28,761.
The House amended the bill to reduce the amount to 75% of the per capita income. That would be $21,570.75. Rounding down, the legislative pay figure would be $21,000, which would take effect in 2025, after the 2024 election. Current base legislative pay is $20,000.
The bill came back to the Senate on Saturday and they struck a more-or-less middle ground, adjusting the pay to 50% of median household income, closer to the recommendation of the Citizens Legislative Compensation Commission.
Median is not the same as per capita. The Census Bureau’s median income figure for the state is $50,884, which would set legislative pay at $25,442. The Senate passed that version 25-8 and returned it to the House.
The log listing bill actions doesn’t mention a House response to the Senate amendments but apparently the House refused to accept them behind the scenes. At about 7:16 p.m., Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo brought the bill back to the floor and proposed to recede from the Senate amendments, leaving the House amendments intact.
The Senate voted 25-7 to pass the bill in that form and SB 740 is on its way to the governor.
So the 2025 pay raise will be based on 75% of state per capita income. As mentioned above, that means legislative pay will be $21,000 based on current Census Bureau numbers.
Other bill actions
HB 3084 updates various provisions of charter school code. It makes charter schools eligible for School Safety Fund money. It allows a higher education institution to apply organize a charter school and enter into a charter school contract.
If a charter school wishes to offer a dual-credit program, its higher education partners may not impose requirements that are not required of non-charters. Charter school students may participate in public school extracurricular activities at other public schools if their school doesn’t offer them.
Charter schools may determine their own staff qualification and certification requirements. The per-pupil basic foundation allowance will go from 90% to 99%, and include state, federal and local share funds. The home county board will keep the remaining 1% for administrative expenses.
The Senate concurred with Friday House amendments and it heads to the governor.
SB 220 is the Industrial Hemp Development Act and covers the processing, distribution and sale of kratom and hemp-derived cannabinoids including delta-8 and delta-10. The bill places the regulation of the products under the Department of Agriculture and limits the sale to those age 21 and up. Sales are subject to a 11% excise tax.
The Alcohol Beverage Control Commission is authorized to assist Agriculture in enforcement. Unapproved products are considered contraband subject to seizure and destruction. There are criminal penalties to unlawful possession, distribution and sales, and for sales to underage customers.
The House amended to bill to exempt products that contain no THC, derived mostly from the plant stems, such as clothing and flip-flops. The Senate concurred with the House amendments and it heads to the governor.
HB 2008 prohibits local governments from becoming sanctuary cities. It forbids non-cooperation with federal immigration laws, among other provisions. It bounced back and forth until the Senate finally accepted the last round of amendments, and it goes to the governor.
SB 422 came from the governor and would require each school to publish its up-to-date, county-adopted curriculum on the school’s publicly accessible website, or on the county’s if the school doesn’t have one. New or revised curriculum would have to be posted within 30 days of adoption. The Senate concurred with the House amendments and it heads to the governor.
SB 121 is the Student Journalist Press Freedom Act, to guarantee First Amendment protections for high school and college journalists, with specified exceptions for such things as obscene, vulgar, pornographic or sensual or illicit sexual content. The Senate concurred with House amendments and it heads to the governor.
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