Across the state, many organizations, stakeholders and communities are taking the time to look back over the past two months and evaluate the 2016 Legislative Session. We’re sure your inbox is full of “legislative wrap-up” emails. Our inboxes certainly are.
But we’re not going to give you a legislative wrap-up this week. We’re not terribly interested in summarizing what did and didn’t happen. We know you’ve seen that already. And if you’re curious to check on something specific, give us a holler and we’ll look it up for you.
Instead of focusing on that, we’ve been thinking this week about how the process of legislating works in West Virginia – and what we could do to make that process work better.
Sure, we’re pretty nerdy over here and we have been accused before of being too process-focused, in our work in communities and with policy.
But there’s a reason why we think it’s worth thinking through the process in this moment of reflection and evaluation of our annual lawmaking.
Considering what parts of the process work, and what need fixing, takes our contemplation of West Virginia’s lawmaking apparatus a step further than just saying whether this session was good or bad.
Because, while there are strong opinions on both sides, we’re not quite ready to say that this session was a no-good, very-bad, horrible session-to-end-all-sessions.
Photo by WV Legislative Photography
Yeah, it wasn’t great. Yeah, we didn’t agree with some of the bills that got passed. Yeah, we’re annoyed that many of the bills that we felt like had real potential and momentum this year got shot down (RIP broadband).
And yes, emphatically yes, we were insulted and horrified that so much emphasis was put on trying to pass a bill to permit discrimination.
But we were impressed that a diverse coalition of groups and individuals organized to fight that. We were moved by the unlikely advocates that spoke up against it. We saw some hope in that.
The truth is that our Legislature is made up of a group of people who differ in their beliefs (from each other as well as from us), and who often have priorities that make us scratch our heads in confusion. But we’re not convinced that the answer is only in electing new people.
The failure of our state to thrive isn’t just about who is in power politically. It’s about what systems we maintain that enable our state to grow and thrive. And what systems we continue to maintain that cause our state to wither and sputter.
And one of those systems – a fundamental system that affects each of us individually – is lawmaking.
We think that the process of lawmaking in West Virginia is – if not broken – then at least hobbled.
We know that there are ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our legislative process. Building that better process is going to move our state forward and will improve our state legislating, no matter which party is in power after November’s elections. So that’s the motivation that we’re taking out of the 2016 legislative session.
What areas do we think could be improved in terms of the lawmaking process? Access for public engagement is obviously a big one for us. But what else?
And what are other states doing that we could take as models and start to implement here? Let’s start by looking at states that are the same size as West Virginia and have similar budgets and go from there. Let’s dig our hands into some research and find some solutions.
It’s time to do this. Because we know that just because a system has worked a certain way for a century or more doesn’t mean that it is the best way. Especially if that system keeps producing lackluster results.
We’re excited to move forward in exploration this year. And we’re interested to hear what ideas you’d like to see implemented to help West Virginia build a state-of-the-art lawmaking system.
Let’s dream big. And let’s get going.
1. It should require more than 50 percent vote to override the governor’s veto of bills
2. Receipants of public assistance must be enabled to return whatever they are able to the system for their and the the good of all.
3. Health care support needs a reward for tobacco, alcohol, and drug free and individual’s participating in their own care.
4. bills,other than emergency bills, should be introduced 2 months ahead of the actual legislative session, so there is time to study them ahead of time. Bills deemed significant by the governor and legislative leadership should then have precedence for committee and legislative action
5. Steps should be taken to eliminate the last days flurey of action which leads to unprepared and unstudied action and I suspect to increased political/lobbyist pressure.
6. Legislature should give more credence to recommendations of the PERD review of “scope of Practice issues”
It will be necessary to eliminate all forms of political campaign contributions except modest contributions from individuals. A limit of $100 or $200 per person, per candidate, would go a long way to restore the concept of “one person, one vote” principle that is the bedrock of a democracy. If necessary, such funds could be matched proportionately by public dollars. Until we stop the influence of concentrated wealth on elections, we will see badly distorted public policies favoring wealth and associated power.
Legislative boot camp for neophytes. Include history of process such as how & why we have interims, committee references, effects of special interests etc. And all the legislature could benefit from win / win negotiating skills class with a focus on what’s good for WV. Their history lessons should focus on specific references to times when parties & branches came together in the past to solve problems. And mostly, they need to be constantly reminded that they are here to represent their constituents and their first loyalty needs to lie with WV, not the party that elected them.
Why isn’t there a pre-season planning phase? It seems like it would be a good idea to have a period before the session begins where all bills are submitted and a priority ranking is set to review and discuss them once the session begins. The amount of content that is discussed and introduced during the session is cumbersome. Many would even say this is now a tactic used to stall other bills from making it thru the process.
I realize this opens a door for questions like “how would they be ranked” or “what about addendums.” But I’m just curious to know more about what currently happens the other 10 months to prepare and make the most of the 60 day session and what could be done to increase efficiency in session preperations.
Wonderful article, Stephanie!!! I”m so proud of you and what all you do!! And, I’m very proud to call you my daughter-in-law (as I’ve told you before…..but, I just can’t seem to stop saying it!!!). Love you, Susan
To Mike Harman: a balance between corporate, organizational, and individual contributions is needed.
Lobbyist are educational as well as pushing their agenda. Legislators could be encouraged to hear both sides, and by their nature, they have vested interests as well.
After all, legislators can’t legislate unless they first get elected! They come from us. If we are better than them, we should run for office.
I wholly disagree that the legislative process is “broken” or “hobbled”. I feel as if the tone reads closer to “I don’t like the way several bills shaped up so I think we need to amend the process to suit my preference”, which is the very definition of a “special interest”.
The legislative process is designed to be slow, combative and difficult. West Virginia has a long history of stupid time waster bills – see also the “Barbie” bill and the “Roadkill” bill – but that is just a byproduct of being West Virginian. Sometimes people do it for attention. Sometimes it is well-intentioned, but grossly misunderstood in the scope and tone of the PR aspect of politics. But it is incredibly important that we, as West Virginians, come to understand WHY these bills materialize, and work toward a resolution of those differences.
A major negative that I saw this session, and an ugly monster that has finally arrived in West Virginia, is the arrival of OFA style identity politics. This is a horrid ideology and spreads nothing but division everywhere it takes root. It is this bizarre winner-take-all spin on lawmaking that has led to the rise of Trumpism and Sandernistias. What happens when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object? I don’t know, and I don’t care to find out.
Inversely, a major positive to come out of this session is the increasing trend towards expansion of home rule and deference to counties. I think that nothing but good can come from this, and that decentralizing and reorganizing West Virginian government is a necessity for making our dear state competitive in the modern market. If people in a rural county don’t want to live to a cultural standard of Morgantown or Charleston, that is their right and choice, and those citizens should be allowed to make their own decision.
I am in agreement that West Virginia’s government must be ready for a series of sweeping changes over the next decade. But I also believe that will only happen with a group of legislators dedicated to sustainable fiscal reforms, a uniform framework for consolidated metro governments and an executive in office that is willing to run the business affairs of West Virginia in a way that promotes nimble and effective government.
Moving into the future, we must take an “all options are on the table” approach to the reorganization of West Virginia government, including but not limited to term limits and allowing counties and possibly entire MSAs to band together for pay for the level of services they want. There are several things that have historically been sacred cows and we must be ready to make the necessary short terms cuts to keep us solvent. In tandem, it is the duty of the State of West Virginia to allow those affected time and resources to transition.
State level politics in West Virginia is kind of like baseball, in that you can’t win them all, and it is important to hold your head high at the end of the season. If your bill didn’t pass, hey, better luck next year. If you can’t abide by that, don’t hate the player, etc.