State
lawmakers could end their brief special session Tuesday afternoon at the state
capitol. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin introduced six bills Monday, which lawmakers
addressed quickly.
Most
of the measures are cleanup from the 60-day regular session and a March 14
special session including funding for the state Courtesy Patrol program.
Tomblin
administration Deputy Chief of Staff Jason Pizatella told lawmakers a bill to
cap funding at $4.7 million for the Courtesy Patrol is aimed at creating
flexibility from Lottery proceeds that go through the Tourism Promotion Fund.
“Now
we don’t have any flexibility,” Pizatella said. “It’s 4-point-7 million no
matter what it costs.”
The
bill would take anything left of the $4.7 million amount to target tourism
advertising including promoting of the state’s parks and forests.
Pizatella
assured lawmakers there’s no attempt by the governor to get rid of the Courtesy
Patrol.
“The
governor is a supporter of the program and he wants to maintain it,” Pizatella
said.
Another
bill would make the state’s new minimum wage law apply to the minimum wage
only. The bill lawmakers passed earlier this year had some unintended
consequences when it came to federal rules for overtime. Failing to change the
language could cost cities a lot of overtime money for workers, like
firefighters, who work 24-hours shifts.
State
Senate President Jeff Kessler said Monday he didn’t anticipate many problems
with getting the governor’s agenda approved.
“It’s
a relatively modest agenda. There’s no real major controversial issues on
there. Mostly tweaks of legislation without getting into the merits of it,”
Kessler said.
The House has a floor session
scheduled for 11:30 Tuesday morning with the Senate set to come in at noon.
