For years, at about this time every session, longtime Daily Mail political columnist Richard Grimes would write about how the session is almost halfway over, and nothing's happened yet.
This year, Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, carried on that tradition, with a floor speech decrying that the session is approaching the midway point, with no plans in place to deal with "the horrific conditions of our roads," to address the state's substance abuse crisis, or come up with funds to avoid $120 million of cuts to PEIA health insurance benefits.
He didn't directly mention a lack of action on job creation, but the closest thing the Legislature's given us so far is right-to-work, which House Judiciary Chairman John Shott, R-Mercer, conceded will not be a "silver bullet" or "cure-all" for the state's employment woes - consistent with the disputed Deskins study projecting incremental 0.4 percent employment growth - along with the prevailing wage repeal, which leadership conceded is revenue neutral for the state.
(Worth noting, considering that legislators were rebuffed on 10 requests for economic impact studies or fiscal notes on the bill, that the Division of Highways submitted a fiscal note for the 2015 version of the prevailing wage repeal bill, and it concluded the repeal would have, "little to no effect on the overall cost of a highway construction project."
Highways said about 80 percent of its projects get federal funding, which requires paying federal Davis Bacon wage rates, and said it would continue to pay similar rates on the remaining 20 percent in order to maintain the skilled labor force needed for those projects.)
Conversely, the Legislature is moving forward with measures that almost certainly could cost the state jobs and economic opportunities, particularly the religious freedom bill, which numerous businesses and chambers of commerce have testified will cause economic harm.
(Reportedly, that bill is being championed by House Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, with the implicit threat that members who oppose it could have their bills held up.)
Likewise, it's unlikely that many businesses would be attracted by the wild west atmosphere of unlicensed concealed carry of firearms, but that bill is moving forward in the House, although I understand there is some push-back in the Senate from members who want to tone it down.
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A reader notes that MetroNews hosts made such a to-do over the recent Koch brothers-funded report on wasteful state spending that an update on how much the state pays West Virginia Radio Corp. for public service ads and infomercials is in order.
Since July 2014, the total is $636,860, with the top buyers being DMV ($210,584), attorney general's office ($123,759), Fire Commission ($90,083), and Division of Highways ($80,314).
Since 2000, the state has paid WVRC more than $7.23 million.
Meanwhile, I told the authors of "Wild and Wasteful West Virginia" I thought I deserved a writing credit, since I've written probably about three-quarters of the issues cited in the report. (I did get credited with some footnotes.)
I also found it ironic the report says the state needs an inspector general's office to uncover waste and abuse, when a good deal of the report references the work of state legislative auditors.
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Speaking of waste, showboating by Democrats in the House of Delegates with an amendment to shift funding in a supplemental appropriations bill to fund Public Employees Insurance Agency premiums was a waste of a good bit of the House's time.
Of course, the Republicans did similar sorts of publicity stunts when they were in the minority, most notoriously with motions to discharge divisive bills from their committees.
The motions went nowhere, but allowed members to get some media attention voicing their opinions on those matters.
What was not mentioned during the PEIA funding squabble was that, since it was an appropriations bill, even if the Democrats had succeeded in passing the PEIA amendment, Gov. Tomblin could have easily line-item vetoed it out, putting the bill back to its original form.
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Meanwhile, the Senate has not gotten invoices from Tony the Tailor for the new blazers provided to Senate doorkeepers and sergeants-at-arms. Senate Clerk Clark Barnes said the prices were lower than estimates from Macy's, which quoted $340 to $410 per jacket. (Each employee received two blazers.)
The blazers are part of enhanced security at the Senate, Barnes said. Had the governor's office nixed installing security entrances to the Capitol, the Senate had an alternate plan to screen visitors entering the Senate galleries, using metal detector wands.
The blazers are part of a security protocol to have the staff uniformly dressed and visible, he said.
(Meanwhile, the new Capitol security hasn't been without flaws, most notably when Children's Day at the Legislature created long lines and half-hour waits to get into the building, raising concerns about kids who weren't properly bundled up the for 20-degree temps.)
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Finally, had a great excursion on the Cardinal's new business class car Sunday. It's probably about as close as you can get to having a seat in a private railcar for a minimal increase in fare.
Also had a celebrity sighting on the eastbound Cardinal, as Agriculture Commissioner Walt Helmick was en route to Washington for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture's winter policy conference, and to meet with the congressional delegation.
However, Walt was back in coach with the common folk, since the 18-seat business class car was sold out. (Eleven passengers boarded at White Sulphur Springs for Manassas, Va.)
Still, Helmick saved the state some bucks over what airfare or mileage reimbursement would have been (and got great views of the New River Gorge and Shenandoah Valley to boot).
Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.