The good, the bad and the indifferent

But as we’ve noted in the past, the number of bills passed isn’t as important as the quality of the bills that eventually become law.

There were some typical efforts to pass bills that attempted to placate elements of lawmakers’ political parties. Since Republicans have a supermajority, most of those efforts surrounded topics that are more national in nature and have seen little to no impact on local communities thus far.

Among them: Bills that would have criminalized acts by librarians or school officials should a child check out a book his parents find pornographic, as well as efforts to limit care to transgender youth and allow school personnel to carry guns.

As Gov. Jim Justice noted this week, a good amount of legislative time was wasted on bills that didn’t address real issues in West Virginia. He was clearly disappointed with lawmakers’ efforts to tighten his budget proposal, which some residents would say was already tight enough.

While he signed the budget bill into law on Thursday afternoon, he vowed to have lawmakers back for a special session “sooner than later” to address concerns with funding for agencies working with foster care and mentally and physically challenged residents.

Lawmakers did accomplish the governor’s goal of cutting tax on Social Security payments for all West Virginians, as well as 5% pay raises for state workers, including education personnel and State Police.

We can’t emphasize enough the importance of using every effort to lessen the burden on West Virginians, who continue to deal with inflationary costs on key quality-of-life and sustainability-of-life expenses.

Gov. Justice’s budget provided additional tax cuts for West Virginians. But lawmakers, many of whom champion the conservative mantle, chose to delay those, sending a message that they think government still needs more of our money.

While disappointing, we would hope lawmakers give further attention to Justice’s proposed tax breaks for West Virginians during the special session.

As for the governor, one of the biggest bills he must either sign, allow to pass or veto deals with weakening the state’s mandatory vaccines for our youth.

The bill the governor must consider would exempt students who don’t attend public schools from vaccination requirements.

The bill passed the Senate, 18-12, after Senate Health and Human Resources Chair Mike Maroney, who is a doctor, called the bill “an embarrassment.”

“I took an oath to do no harm. There’s zero chance I can vote for this bill,” Maroney said.

“It’s a bad bill for West Virginia. It’s a step backward. There’s no question, no question, there will be negative effects,” he said. “It’s an embarrassment for me to be a part of it. It should be an embarrassment to everybody.”

Leaders of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the West Virginia Chapter of the AAP (WVAAP) wrote a letter to the governor calling for him to veto the bill:

“HB 5105 permits not just individual students but entire private and parochial schools to opt out of West Virginia’s long-standing school-entry immunization requirements. In doing so, students, teachers and the communities in which they are located will be more vulnerable to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease.

“Across the country, rates of childhood immunizations have declined annually for the past two years. The declining immunization rates represent real and significant threats to the ability of communities to protect themselves against preventable diseases. The recent measles outbreaks further underscore the importance of ensuring that children receive the necessary immunizations they need to stay healthy and protected against the spread of infections.”

In a state like West Virginia, which already has plenty of health challenges, working to protect our youth and give them the best chances to avoid debilitating and/or deadly diseases should remain the standard.

It’s not a matter of freedom, but public health. In this case, we hope Gov. Justice follows the science.