Revived House GOP heralds new agenda for the session

CHARLESTON - Five seats away from a majority in the House of Delegates, Republicans this session will push for a new appeals court and pursue constitutional amendments targeting property taxes and defining marriage as between one man and one woman, their leaders said Tuesday.

The state Department of Education is also in the caucus' crosshairs this session, which begins Wednesday, and the GOP agenda includes requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. The latter item drew immediate criticism from West Virginia's election chief, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant.

November saw the GOP enlarge its share of the House from 35 to 46 of 100 seats. The results improve Republican chances at forcing measures toward votes on passage, as GOP delegates have tried during past sessions with several of the proposals discussed Tuesday. The election results also strengthened their hand in committees, with just one or two seats separating them from the majority Democrats in several cases. Democrats maintain a more solid majority in the state Senate.

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Photo courtesy of West Virginia Press Association

West Virginia House of Delegates Minority Leader Tim Armstead, center, and the Republican members of the House held a press conference Tuesday in the lower rotunda of the state Capitol to discuss the House Republican Caucus? initiatives and leadership team for the 2013 legislative session, scheduled to start this week.

Nearly all of the Republican delegates attended a press conference in the well of the Capitol Rotunda heralding their upcoming agenda. The lawmakers spoke in general terms about the agenda's goals: improving public education and creating jobs by combating regulation and outdated state policies. They decried the state's unemployment rate, with 59,700 West Virginians unsuccessfully seeking work in December, according to figures adjusted to reflect seasonal hiring trends.

"We have an historic opportunity to move our state forward to address the serious economic challenges our citizens face," said House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha.

The House GOP plans to ask voters to amend the West Virginia Constitution's tight control of taxes on non-real estate property - cars and boats as well as business equipment and inventory - to allow lawmakers to cut and eventually repeal them. As counties and their schools rely on property taxes, Republican propose to offset some of the resulting revenue loss by tapping any increase in natural resource severance tax revenue from the state's massive Marcellus shale natural gas reserve.

GOP delegates also vowed to shift public school spending and resources from the state Department of Education to the 55 county school systems. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, is expected to follow through this session on an audit that found public education stymied by bureaucracy and rigid rules.

House Minority Whip Daryl Cowles said fellow Republicans will act boldly if Tomblin does not.

The House Republican agenda includes a new mid-level court to resolve complaints that the state Supreme Court does not fully hear. The high court recently rewrote its appeals rules in response to such criticism. Armstead, a lawyer, said they do not go far enough.

Armstead said House Republicans will advocate a marriage amendment and seek to stop the Medicaid funding of abortion, as they have in prior sessions. He added that economic measures are their top priority.

The voter ID proposal would mandate a form of photo identification while helping those who don't have one. West Virginians now must provide proof of their physical address when they register to vote at a state or county office. They must then sign a poll book, which contains a copy of their signature, before they cast their ballot.

Voters who register by mail must show identification the first time they show up to vote. Tennant, a Democrat, blasted the proposal as an attempt to suppress voter turnout. Democrats continue to outnumber Republicans among voters by close to 2-to-1.

"The Republican Party in West Virginia wants to pass oppressive laws that make it harder for an eligible citizen to exercise their right to vote," Tennant said in a statement. "They are proposing solutions to fix a problem that doesn't exist. What we should be focusing on is helping election officials maintain voter registration rolls and new technology like electronic poll books that help keep track of those who have already voted."

Source: http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/590892.html

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