Host Eric Douglas leads a reporter roundtable with Lacie Pierson, a political reporter with the Charleston Gazette-Mail, and Steven Allen Adams, the government reporter and columnist for Ogden Newspapers. They discuss the session so far, covering everything from jails to schools to broadband and the budget.

On this week’s episode of The Legislature Today, it’s been a week full of activity, split floor sessions and Crossover Day – when all bills must make it out of their house of origin if they are to continue through the legislative process. This rule affects all bills except for the budget bill and supplementary appropriations bills.

On this week’s episode of The Legislature Today, we explore taxes and energy, and we learn more about two bills related to children and child welfare.

Senate Bill 468 passed. It will prevent women from ending a pregnancy if they believe the fetus would develop a disability.

House Bill 4344 was intended to better support and protect more than 7,000 of West Virginia’s most vulnerable children. Late on the final day of the legislative season, a greatly amended version of the bill passed by the Senate went to the House. But, time ran out before Delegates could concur or reject the bill. The bill died

It looked like the most controversial bill of the 2022 West Virginia Legislative session had just squeaked by in time, just before midnight and adjournment sine die on Saturday. But within the next hour it was confirmed by the Senate Communications Director that Senate Bill 498 had not passed the upper chamber in time.

State lawmakers wrapped up energy related legislation in the final hours of the session, including a bill to create a Mining Mutual Insurance Company.

Our award-winning news and production teams will bring you the latest action from the West Virginia Legislature as lawmakers wrap up the 60th day of the 2022 session.

An audit last year found the state’s special reclamation fund is insufficient to cover the cost of cleaning up the state’s mine sites. State lawmakers are proposing a Mining Mutual Insurance Company that would issue bonds to cover those liabilities.

Lawmakers in 30 states have anti-discrimination laws on this issue of organ transplants. West Virginia could follow suit.

Using the proposed tax credit, filmmakers could recoup up to 27 percent of spending on movies and television shows in West Virginia that cost at least $50,000 to make. The state would have no limit on the amount of film tax incentives it can give out in a year.

Senate Bill 468 would bar health providers from performing any abortion if the patient expresses concern that the fetus could develop a physical or intellectual disability. This bill is expected to be up for passage in the House on Saturday, the last day of session.

We’ve heard for years about help to revitalize struggling coalfield communities. One bill’s passage may be a grant writer’s godsend.