CHARLESTON — House Clerk Steve Harrison announced Sunday morning, just after midnight after the House of Delegates adjourned sine die, that 354 bills passed this year. He didn’t know if that was an all-time record, but it was the most he could recall in a long time.
The other part of the equation, though, is that a lot of bills die. This year, 2,389 were introduced. In 2019, 1,823 bills were introduced and 294 passed. In 2018, the numbers were 1,778 and 260. Back in 2010, the numbers were 2,079 and 218.
Most of those bills never see a committee agenda. Some get through a committee or two and then die. Other pass one house but die in the other wing. This year, 258 Senate bills went to the House and 168 crossed the finish line. The House passed 243 bills and 186 completed their course.
Some prominent bills die along the way. We’ve already reported the deaths of the intermediate court bill, a Senate leadership priority, and the greyhound racing bill and. Another Senate leadership bill – to end the personal property tax on manufacturing inventory, equipment and machinery – cleared the Senate but its companion resolution failed to gain the need Senate supermajority so it was allowed to die in the House.
Here are a few other measures of note that didn’t make the cut.
SCR 4 asks Congress to call a convention to consider a congressional term limits amendment. Opponents argued that such a convention could throw the entire U.S. Constitution open to dangerous revision.
The Senate adopted it in a 20-10 party-line vote on clear back on Jan. 22. The House let it sit and stew. House Judiciary final took it up and passed it with an amendment intended to preserve the Bill of Rights.
The Resolution appeared on the House floor agenda on Friday, and again at the top of the agenda on Saturday. But House leadership assured its death by moving it to the foot of bills up for consideration. When the gavel came down at midnight, SCR 4 hadn’t seen a vote.
HB 4159 got amended to death. It was characterized as an economic development bill to promote the hard cider industry. It created an Agriculture Development Fund and devotes tax revenue from the sale of hard cider to the fund to promote the industry.
The House passed it on Feb. 26. Senate Judiciary took it up and passed it the next day, but then it stewed. Leadership put off action on it until 1:39 p.m. Saturday, when it was amended on third reading. The new material dealt with unlicensed wineries and out-of-state wineries.
The House took it back up at 10:05, did more amending, re-passed it and sent it back to the Senate, where it died without further action.
HB 2775 required high school students to complete a course in personal finance in order to qualify for graduation. It passed the House Feb. 18. Senate Education watered it down by making it elective and passed it March 3. It got as far as second reading when Senate Rules pulled it and killed it.
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