The 2008 regular legislative session concluded at midnight on March 9, 2008. There were over 2,000 bills introduced this
session, with 245 of them completing legislative action. This level of productivity is similar to that of last session. The
Legislature will be in extended session this week to confer about the budget, and will have a brief special session to hammer
out issues with teacher’s pensions.
There has been a great deal of legislation that has passed this session that
I am particularly pleased about. One such piece of legislation is Senate Bill 13 modified the “West Virginia Dental
Practice Act.” One modification would allow dental hygienists to treat patients without the direct supervision of a
dentist. The bill will also create a special dental license for retired dentists who want to volunteer their services at a
free clinic.
Our school service personnel have received a $70 a month raise across the board and our teachers have received
a $1,600 a year raise. This is a hard-fought victory for our teachers, and I am happy that the Legislature was able to move
the issue through the legislative process and deliver to our educators.
I was an architect of Senate Bill 595, which I
have discussed in previous columns, and I am pleased to report that it completed legislative action. This bill established
goals and objectives for the year 2020 that will go a long way in guiding the future of education in West Virginia. I also
feel privileged to be the Senate designee to study the Promise Scholarship over the next year.
A great deal of strides
have been made this session in the area of health care. House Bill 4124 will add CPR and life-savings training to health education
curriculum in secondary schools. There have also been improvements in preventative measures, such as the creation of the maternal
mortality review board and paying for more newborn screenings.
Legislation has been passed that will allow pharmacists
to administer flu and pneumonia vaccines. This legislation was a vital component in making these vaccines more accessible.
Though
there was a great deal of beneficial legislation that completed legislative action this session, many bills which I believe
would have benefitted the state even further did not pass. One such piece of legislation is the one which would have created
an Office of Oral Health, under the Department of Health and Human Resources, with a full-time dentist director. Unfortunately,
the House did not agree that the director should be a dentist and the legislation died.
The legislation proposed this session
regarding ATV safety would have been a good bill had it passed out of the House. I am disappointed the legislation did not
pass, but I hope that the Legislature will continue examining the issue.
Senate Bill 735, which would have given an additional
5 percent of severance taxes back to the mineral-rich counties which pays those taxes, did not pass. I am hopeful that this
issue will be revisited in a special session as this legislation would benefit many counties from which we draw our natural
resources.
We will, however, get an additional tax that comes back to counties that produce coal bed methane. We have learned
from the past that we need to dedicate this tax to the counties where the coal bed methane comes from.
Therefore, 75 percent
will go back to the local economy.
Coal and overall energy policy will remain an important issue over the next several
years, particularly to southern West Virginia. Appropriate post-mine land use will be a key to the development of future coalfields.
We must continue out attempts to make coal mining and its use as environmentally friendly as possible.
As a former volunteer
firefighter in Danville, I am disappointed that we were unable to pass legislation that would regulate fireworks and capture
a tax that would give 20 year veteran volunteer firefighters some type of retirement.
With so many bills having been introduced,
the triumphs and disappointments could go on and on. It was a very productive session and I will continue to work for my constituents
during the extended and special sessions.
I am honored to have once again served my constituents of the 7th District. If
I can be of assistance, please feel free to call my office at 357-7939 or write Senator Ron Stollings at the State Capitol,
Building 1, Room 229 West, Charleston, WV 25305 or email at
RDStoll@mail.wvnet.edu.
