CHARLESTON — The clock is ticking down to midnight Saturday, March 7, as the West Virginia Legislature tries to finish up its work with several outstanding bills awaiting final action.

While Gov. Jim Justice issued a proclamation extending the session by one day to continue negotiations on Senate Bill 150 — the budget bill — if needed, other bills have until midnight Saturday to make it over the finish line.

The push to get bills out the door and to the Governor’s desk has resulted an hours of floor sessions and late-night committee meetings. The House of Delegates had 32 Senate bills on third reading on its Thursday agenda and another 42 bills on second reading, several of which had amendments. The state Senate had 26 House bills on third reading and 23 bills on second reading.

The stress of the grind of lawmaking, often compared to sausage-making, was on display Thursday. The handling of a motion to end debate on House Bill 4155 dealing with the regulation of plumbers during a Thursday morning meeting of the Senate Government Organization Committee resulted in all Democratic members of the committee walking out.

“Can we not offer amendments to the amendment? That’s what you want to do,” asked Senate Minority Whip Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, before the vote.

“That’s what I want,” responded state Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam.

On the House side, Democratic members leveled scorn as House Republicans for supporting Senate Bill 793, which provides for an election by coal-fired power plant operators to re-compute the taxable generating capacity of their power plants placed in service prior to Jan. 1, 1995. The bill passed the House in a 80-17 vote.

Under current law, the taxable generating capacity of coal-fired units is based on the unit’s net generation between 1991 and 1994. According to the Department of Revenue, the bill could cost as much as $16.6 million in lost tax revenue should all eight of the state’s coal-fired power plants elect to participate.

House Finance Committee Minority Chairman Mick Bates, D-Raleigh, complained about the tax cut after the House the day before shot down 14 amendment to Senate Bill 150, the budget bill, that would have taken as much as $16 million from the Department of Health and Human Resources Division of Human Services line item set aside for Medicaid stabilization.

The failed amendments included additional funding for domestic violence prevention, the Public Service Commission’s Consumer Protection section, bulletproof vests, secondary road repair, at-risk youth programs, food programs, senior nutrition, and more.

“If we had run (SB 793) two days ago, I would have been a yes,” Bates said. “Today, we’re not taking care of the most needy. We’re taking care of the most greedy.”

As the session winds down, all eyes are on two bills: Senate Bill 275, creating a new intermediate court, and House Bill 4092, creating enumerated rights for foster parents and foster children while also allowing for increased reimbursement to foster and kinship families for caring for children.

SB 275 creates two three-judge districts to hear appeals of circuit court criminal and civil cases, guardianships and conservatorships, family court cases and decisions made by administrative law judges, the Health Care Authority and Workers’ Compensation Board of Review starting Jan. 1, 2023. The bill was amended Thursday and is up for passage later today.

The Senate moved HB 4092 to third reading with a right to amend and will be voted on later today. The bill originally had 27 right, but after going through the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Finance Committee this week, the number of rights was reduced to 21.

The Senate Judiciary and Finance version of HB 4092 removed $16.8 million in increased reimbursement rates for foster and kinship families, creating instead a tiered foster care system starting July 1, 2021, giving the Department of Health and Human Resources the authority to set and increase reimbursement rates for the placement of children with special needs or older children who are typically harder to place.

The bill also creates a pilot program for using unmatched state dollars to augment Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits to uncertified kinship parents in an amount not to exceed $150 per month per family. During fiscal year 2021, DHHR would be directed to spend $4 million for the pilot.

Amendments pending to HB 4092 included requiring DHHR pay foster families on the same day each month, adding back in a right to foster children to be free from unwarranted physical restraint or isolation, and an amendment to remove the tiered system language and put back in the higher reimbursement rates included in the House version of the bill.

Completing the legislative process Thursday was House Bill 4001, creating the West Virginia Impact Fund. The bill creates a state-sponsored sovereign wealth fund that allows foreign investments to economic development projects in West Virginia. The bill also creates an office and board to seek out investors for projects with no use of state tax dollars. The bill passed the Senate 30-3 with the House concurring with the Senate’s title amendment.

House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, was the lead sponsor of the bill. He thanked the Senate for passing the bill, which now heads to the Governor’s desk for approval.