2011 Legislative Session: Week 3
The buzz at the Capitol this week continued to center around the election for Governor and the many questions still unanswered by the WV Supreme Court of Appeals ruling that an election must be held. Amid the continuing chaos, there could be an impasse over how political parties will elect their nominees for the governor’s race later this year. The Governor has put forth legislation to call for a special primary election. The Senate supports scheduling a primary election to choose the gubernatorial candidates from each party. However, the House of Delegates appears to lean toward party conventions to select nominees because it requires no legislative change and would save the state the costs of holding a primary election, which typically runs around $3 million. The House leadership has indicated concern over changing election laws anytime someone in a powerful position decides to run for an office.
Despite the political drama, a few bills have started to move through the procedural pipeline. HB 2648, a bill that would increase the teacher’s portion of faculty senate allotment to $100, advanced out of the House Education Committee and was passed by the full House. HB 2556, which will reset the expiration date of provisions that allow the employment of retired teachers as substitutes beyond the post-retirement employment limit for critical need content areas, has passed the House and awaits action in the Senate.
While the elected officials continue to debate the process for electing the next governor, AFT-WV continues to work toward our goal of expanding the one-time bonus proposed by acting Governor Tomblin into a meaningful and sustained salary increase for teachers, service personnel and higher education employees.
Our union is also garnering support in both the House and Senate Education committees around the issue of teacher planning periods and bills are being drafted in both committees. If you face the continuous loss of planning time, call us at 1-800-222-9838 so we may share your story with members of the legislature. We also encourage teachers to take our online survey on the planning period issue on the home page of this website.
After much lobbying by AFT-WV, SB 255 will come before the Senate Finance Committee next week. This bill allows the $55 million of federal stimulus money, known as the Education Jobs Fund, to be released to the county school boards for use for tutoring, summer school programs, etc. The funds can also be used to retain personnel to lower class size for our schools. This money will provide supplemental education services to thousands of children across our state as well as supplemental income to our members via the additional positions it creates in each county. The funds will be disbursed to local boards of education as soon as the bill passes both houses and is signed into law by the Governor.
AFT-WV continues to focus on advancing our legislative priorities (view our Legislative Agenda on this website) and will keep you informed of all that affects your profession and public education in West Virginia.