Because the West Virginia Legislature is a part-time body, we only have a short time in session to take care of the state's business. In 60 days, we must pass all routine legislation, consider major policy issues, and develop a budget. That's why the meetings which take place outside of our regular session, monthly gatherings known as "interim" meetings, are so important.
During those meetings, which take place most of the time at the state Capitol, lawmakers prepare new legislation through study, public discourse and regular debate.
While the work during the 60-day session is intense and concentrated, the three-day interim meetings allow lawmakers to tackle some of the more complicated issues, and spend adequate time developing legislation. For instance, an interim committee on which I serve has worked for more than a year on the medical malpractice insurance issue, while another committee has focused on workforce development.
In between the monthly meetings, legislative staff and attorneys draft numerous versions of potential legislation, fine-tuning and expanding upon points at legislators' requests. Representatives from state agencies are asked to submit reports during the monthly meetings and provide relevant data.
Every year, standard interim committees, such as judiciary, education, finance, government organization, health and human resources, and rule-making and review, are appointed.
Based largely upon study resolutions requests that the Legislature adopts during the 60-day session, the House Speaker the Senate President assign numerous study topics to each interim committee. Then, the House-Senate co-chairs of each interim committee usually establish subcommittees to work on individual subjects.
One unique feature of the interim committee structure is that the committees are made up of both delegates and senators. So while during the 60-day session legislation must pass first through one house of the Legislature, then the other, during interim meetings senators and delegates join and work together. An interim committee's stamp of approval on a bill doesn't guarantee passage during the regular session, but a bill produced through the interim process has a significant head start.
For example, I chair the Rule-Making and Review Committee, which does its primary work during the interim sessions. By spending interim session scrutinizing and debating rules proposed by state agencies, the committee enters the annual regular session ready to present the rules to the full Legislature for approval.
The legislative leadership may also appoint an individual committee to monitor one particular issue of statewide importance.
Issues that have been regularly monitored include medical malpractice insurance, foster care, nursing home care, the housing of juvenile offenders outside West Virginia, and the development of the state's regional jail system.
As I mentioned earlier, I serve on the Insurance Availability and Medical Malpractice Insurance Committee. In addition to monitoring the progress of the new physicians' mutual and the cost of medical malpractice insurance, the committee also plans to study the availability and affordability of automobile, commercial, property and casualty insurance.
Other topics that will be studied by various interim committees are: whether or not the Governor's Cabinet on Children and Families should be merged with the Department of Health and Human Resources; handicap accessibility at the state Capitol and safe evacuation for handicapped persons; hospital overtime policies; regulation of all-terrain vehicles; campaign finance reform; homeland security; potential establishment of residential communities for seniors; and the cost and effectiveness of Medicaid's preferred drug list.
Needless to say, the remainder of the year will be a busy one for the Legislature. While I'll gain direct knowledge of many of these issues through my work on interim committees such as Judiciary and Insurance Availability, I'll also try to monitor other studies and report back on their progress.
I welcome and appreciate your input on these issues, or any other legislative matter. Please call me at (304)340-3106 or write to Delegate Virginia Mahan, 215-E, Capitol Complex, Charleston, WV 25305.