Right now, people are planning and preparing their Thanksgiving
meals, and perhaps starting to think about Christmas lists and holiday
parties. For legislators, that means the next 60-day session, our busy
season, is right around the corner.
We have just completed another group of monthly interim meetings, and
many of the joint House-Senate committees have begun passing out the
final products of eight months of work – legislation to be introduced
during the 2004 session, which begins in January. Others, in the course
of investigating assigned topics, have answered key questions and
pinpointed issues the Legislature will have to address.
The following are some highlights of the committees’ work.
* The Joint Committee on Judiciary has taken another swing at the
all-terrain vehicle safety issue, this time producing two pieces of
legislation in hopes of finally getting some important safety
regulations on the books. One bill focuses on child safety
requirements, while the other contains very basic rules for ATV use.
The child safety bill would require all riders under the age of 18 to
wear a helmet, complete a safety course approved by the state Division
of Motor Vehicles, and ride only a machine that is the appropriate size
for the child, as designated by the manufacturer. Children under the
age of 18 would not be permitted to ride ATVs on public roads.
The second bill would limit the use of ATVs on public roads. Any person
operating an ATV for agricultural or nonrecreational commercial use
would be able to drive them on any public road or highway, with the
exception of an interstate, for a distance of 25 miles. Other ATV
operation would be allowed on paved or public roads and highways for a
distance of up to one mile in order to travel from one trail to
another. ATVs on public roads would be prohibited from traveling faster
than 25 miles per hour. Riding double would be prohibited unless the
vehicle is specifically designed for that purpose.
* The Select Committee on Water Issues is close to endorsing
legislation which would trigger a study of the state’s available water
supply. Noting that West Virginia is one of only two eastern states
that does not have a water use law on the books, a resolution adopted
by the Legislature during the 2003 session called for an assessment of
the issue in hopes of producing a plan to preserve the valuable
resource.
The bill being considered would require any person or business whose
daily water withdrawal from West Virginia rivers, streams or lakes
exceeds 25,000 gallons per day to fill out a water use survey. The
gathered information would then be examined by a specially appointed
panel of stakeholders, including representatives of the farming
industry and large and small businesses, with the intent of reporting
back to the Legislature by the year 2005 any water sources which may
need state protection.
Although there has been some concern expressed by certain businesses
representatives, committee members have said the legislation should
clearly state that it is not the Legislature’s intent to restrict water
use of landowners. Currently, any person wanting to specify water
rights on his or her own property has to take the matter to court.
Hopefully, clarification of water rights in state code would prevent
that.
* Members of the Commission on Workforce Investment for Economic
Development have begun to question the quality of the West Virginia
Wheels-to-Work program, which was created to lease cars to welfare
recipients in order for them to have transportation to work or school.
During the past three years, the state program, run by four agencies,
has spent $24 million to obtain cars and lease them. The state paid for
the insurance and repairs, while the recipients paid for the cars in 24
monthly installments. Some program participants have alleged that the
system provided them with unsafe cars, while there have been additional
allegations that some used-car dealers have purposely distributed
lemons. But the Department of Health and Human Resources has
noted that the program has helped more than 3,000 residents, each of
whom achieved employment during training.
Commission members have called for an audit of the program.
* There are numerous other important issues which were addressed this
month – including the state Workers Compensation debt; the process of
creating a physicians mutual insurance company; city and county pension
plan funding; higher education budgeting; and the potential merger of
the state Medicaid program with other insurance-related state agencies
– which I hope to discuss in future columns.
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.