Curtis Tate Published

House To Hold Public Hearing On Bill To Change Mine Safety

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State lawmakers on Friday debated a bill to change mine safety inspections and enforcement that some said would weaken mine safety.

The House of Delegates debated HB 4840, which came out of the Government Organization Committee on Thursday.

That was too fast for some Democrats. They wanted more testimony on the bill, and offered a measure to send it to the Judiciary Committee.

Its sponsor, Raleigh County Republican Brandon Steele, defended the bill on the floor Friday.

“Now, are we reinventing the wheel here?” he asked. “Absolutely not.”

Monongalia County Democrat Barbara Fleischsauer expressed concern about the impact of certain words being struck from the current law.

“I don’t know how you can call them inspections if you take out the word inspection,” she said. “We took out the word enforcement”

The chamber ultimately voted down the minority’s effort to send the bill to Judiciary.

A public hearing will take place on the bill in the House chamber on Monday from 6 to 7 p.m.