For The Inter-Mountain
Photos Courtesy of West Virginia Legislative Photography
Senate President Craig Blair and Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin.
CHARLESTON Republican and Democratic leaders of the West Virginia Senate have big plans for a legislative session starting next week.
Members of the press and interest groups heard from state senators Tuesday during the first day of the West Virginia Press Association’s annual Legislative Lookahead. Normally an event held in-person in Charleston, the event was held virtually.
Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, was joined by several committee chairs and vice chairs Tuesday to talk about the plans of the larger Republican majority. During the November election, the majority grew to 23 seats, giving Republicans a supermajority.
STEVEN ALLEN ADAMS For The Intelligencer
CHARLESTON Republican and Democratic leaders of the West Virginia Senate have big plans for a legislative session starting next week.
Members of the press and interest groups heard from state senators Tuesday during the first day of the West Virginia Press Association’s annual Legislative Lookahead. Normally an event held in-person in Charleston, the event was held virtually.
Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, was joined by several committee chairs and vice chairs Tuesday to talk about the plans of the larger Republican majority. During the November election, the majority grew to 23 seats, giving Republicans a supermajority.
The House of Delegates gathered for a one-day organizational session on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021.
Almost a year after adjourning last March, lawmakers returned to the state capitol early in January to prepare for the upcoming legislative session.
But this time, they wore face masks. Some had to work away from the floor, in spectator galleries, apart from the colleagues with whom they normally would sit side-by-side.
West Virginia legislators say they’re prepared to convene in less than a month. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, leaders say they’re aiming to complete a 60-day in-person session. Meanwhile, other U.S. statehouses in Mississippi and Missouri already have reported COVID-19 outbreaks and cases this year.
CHARLESTON â Officially elected Wednesday as the 53rd president of the West Virginia Senate, Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, set two priorities for the legislative session: broadband expansion and reduction/elimination of the state income tax.
âWeâve been changing how we do business in West Virginia the last six years,â Blair said in his acceptance speech, referring to when Republicans took control of the Senate and House of Delegates. âThe tide has changed, and itâs coming in for West Virginia.â
Blair said his goal is to increase West Virginiaâs population by 400,000 over the next 10 years. In the past five years, the population has dropped by about 34,000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
For The Intelligencer
Photos Provided
At left, incoming Delegate Derrick Evans, R-Wayne, is sworn in Dec. 1. At right, Evans is shown on a video he took with his phone, preparing to enter the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday.
CHARLESTON An incoming member of the West Virginia House of Delegates has come under scrutiny for his involvement in a mob that broke into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to stop the certification of former Vice President Joe Biden as President-elect.
Derrick Evans, who won election as a Republican in November to the 19th District representing Wayne County, was part of a mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington as Congress met to certify Electoral College votes by the states.