Gov. Jim Justice announced Friday that the long-awaited special session of the Legislature to amend the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget will begin Sunday at 5 p.m. in Charleston, a day before scheduled monthly interim sessions.
The Special meeting call includes 15 legal texts. All but three of these proposals will redirect funds to program and budget lines that were either cut or eliminated in the “tight budget.” passed by the legislature March.
Citing the probability of $465 million.”ReclaimRegarding the state’s exploit of COVID-19 relief funds for education initiatives, lawmakers decided during the regular session to pass a “skinny budget” with the intent of amending it during a special session to escalate funding. In one (n attempt To stop the clawbacks, they also committed millions of dollars to education initiatives.
Last monthThe U.S. Department of Education approved a waiver of the state’s exploit of these COVID-19 funds, at least in part due to the state’s proposed escalate in education funding in fiscal year 2025. This means that this is the case no more risk a reclaim.
Other items in the governor’s non-budgetary proclamation include bills to improve oversight and change Medicaid reimbursement procedures for inpatient substance exploit disorder treatment facilities in the state; Changing the process for nominating presidential electors in political parties and changing the system for depositing money into the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
The language of the bills being introduced in the special session is not yet available.
The proposed residential treatment facility bill reads similarly to the one previously proposed in the 2024 regular session Senate Bill 805. This bill passed the Senate easily unanimously But the vote stalled in the House of Representatives, where lawmakers failed to pass it on the final night before Sine Die adjourned.
SB 805, as written at the time of his death, would have required residential treatment facilities in the state – which are separate from residential recovery facilities – to be accredited and licensed by national professional associations in order to receive state Medicaid reimbursement for services.
Most of the budget allocations included in the special session call are intended to return or escalate funding for certain programs — including Medicaid, services for people with disabilities and a novel agriculture lab at West Virginia State University, among others requested by Justice before the start of the regular session in January.
Reductions in services for people with developmental disabilities (IDD) have been taken into account edged criticism of families who rely on government programs for home care and therapeutic services.
Republicans, led by Senate Finance Chairman Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, defended the cuts, saying they were a result of unclear spending by the Department of Human Services. The newly founded department not used Millions of dollars have been earmarked for the IDD population and some of those funds have been spent on things like home-based COVID-19 testing.
Reproductive freedom, access to child care not likely in special session schedules
Notably missing from the special session notice are initiatives to improve or escalate access to child care for West Virginians. Initiatives to this end received bipartisan support in the legislature. Although several child care bills were introduced during the regular session, none reached the governor’s desk.
“It is disappointing that the governor and legislative leadership are once again ignoring the child care crisis in the state,” Del said. Mike Pushkin, chairman of the state Democratic Party. “Every day we hear about child care closures across the state, leaving many parents with fewer and fewer child care options so they can get back to work. It’s at a crisis level and the governor and legislature are just ignoring it.”
Pushkin, D-Kanawha, said he was also disappointed — particularly about the lack of child care initiatives included in the call — that the governor’s proclamation did not include a resolution allowing residents to vote at the November General Assembly voting on abortion access and reproductive freedom.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Williams earlier this month urged the justices, who are strongly anti-abortion, to include the abortion ballot measure in the special session. A decision “That would have done the same thing,” Del asked. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, during the regular session. It was never brought up for discussion.
“I fully supported it [Huntington] mayor [Steve] Williams’ call to add a resolution to amend the Constitution this fall to put reproductive freedom on the ballot, and I’m not alone,” Pushkin said. “Thousands and thousands of West Virginians have signed this petition. The governor and legislature are ignoring them.”
Special sessions run largely like regular legislative sessions, but often on an accelerated schedule. Both chambers must approve the proposed bills, which are then sent to the governor for his signature.
During the special session, legislators can only address and take action on the policies and proposals contained in the governor’s proclamation. The Governor may issue a novel proclamation at any time to extend the session or add other legislative proposals.
Depending on how long the special session lasts, sessions and legislation may overlap with monthly interim sessions scheduled to take place Monday through Tuesday. Interim sessions occur regularly throughout the year when the Legislature is not in session. Action is rarely taken during sessions, but the information exchanged is often used to introduce legislation that is passed in regular or special sessions.
A schedule of the interim meetings and their agendas can be found at Legislator website.
