CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia's legislative leaders saw signs Wednesday of a power grab as well as unintended consequences in Gov. Joe Manchin's upcoming special session proposal for filling the seat held by the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd.
The lawmakers also cast doubts on Manchin's hope that the special session will finish in one day, and were mixed on his decision to wait until at least 5 p.m. Friday to name a temporary appointee to the seat.
Manchin is calling the Legislature into session today<co thurs> to revise the state's process for resolving Senate vacancies. His measure would require an election when at least 30 months remain on the seat's six-year term, to be held within a year of the vacancy arising.
Byrd, 92, died June 28 with just over that time left in his term. A senator for more than half a century, Byrd is history's longest-serving member of Congress. He was a Democrat, as is Manchin.
The legislation would allow for both primary and general balloting, with waiting periods of at least 60 days before each. But it would also skip a party's primary if just one candidate files to run, and instead declare that candidate the nominee. That's troublesome to Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeff Kessler, whose committee is expected to review the bill.
"If we make a decision to have a special [primary] election, we have a special election," said Kessler, D-Marshall. "We don't have a special election lite. That opens it up to mischief."
Senate Minority Leader Mike Hall, R-Putnam, called that provision "creative but odd."
"I think that opens up a whole set of possibilities for creative minds to think of ways to manipulate the process," Hall said.
Both Kessler and his House counterpart also raised concerns about the measure's overarching theme of granting significant power to the state's governor, and through that office to the secretary of state, over declaring and scheduling special elections. That's the legislative branch's domain, argue Kessler and House Judiciary Chairman Tim Miley.
"We're trying to work with the governor's staff to get a bill that accomplishes the governor's goals while maintaining the proper separation of powers," said Miley, D-Harrison, of his committee's staff.
House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, shares their view.
"That does give me some heartburn," said Armstead, who like Miley and Kessler is a lawyer.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia's legislative leaders saw signs Wednesday of a power grab as well as unintended consequences in Gov. Joe Manchin's upcoming special session proposal for filling the seat held by the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd.
The lawmakers also cast doubts on Manchin's hope that the special session will finish in one day, and were mixed on his decision to wait until at least 5 p.m. Friday to name a temporary appointee to the seat.
Manchin is calling the Legislature into session today<co thurs> to revise the state's process for resolving Senate vacancies. His measure would require an election when at least 30 months remain on the seat's six-year term, to be held within a year of the vacancy arising.
Byrd, 92, died June 28 with just over that time left in his term. A senator for more than half a century, Byrd is history's longest-serving member of Congress. He was a Democrat, as is Manchin.
The legislation would allow for both primary and general balloting, with waiting periods of at least 60 days before each. But it would also skip a party's primary if just one candidate files to run, and instead declare that candidate the nominee. That's troublesome to Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeff Kessler, whose committee is expected to review the bill.
"If we make a decision to have a special [primary] election, we have a special election," said Kessler, D-Marshall. "We don't have a special election lite. That opens it up to mischief."
Senate Minority Leader Mike Hall, R-Putnam, called that provision "creative but odd."
"I think that opens up a whole set of possibilities for creative minds to think of ways to manipulate the process," Hall said.
Both Kessler and his House counterpart also raised concerns about the measure's overarching theme of granting significant power to the state's governor, and through that office to the secretary of state, over declaring and scheduling special elections. That's the legislative branch's domain, argue Kessler and House Judiciary Chairman Tim Miley.
"We're trying to work with the governor's staff to get a bill that accomplishes the governor's goals while maintaining the proper separation of powers," said Miley, D-Harrison, of his committee's staff.
House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, shares their view.
"That does give me some heartburn," said Armstead, who like Miley and Kessler is a lawyer.
Armstead also questions whether the governor needs the legislation to put Byrd's seat on the Nov. 2 ballot, as is his plan. Armstead cited last week's legal opinion from state Attorney General Darrell McGraw.
McGraw concluded that the governor could declare a special election for the seat, and could set it before 2012 when Byrd would have been up for re-election. As West Virginia's chief elections officer, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant had earlier ruled that Manchin's appointee to the seat would not have to face voters until 2012.
Manchin has said he's pursuing the special session measure, drawn from McGraw's analysis, to avoid any court challenge to a special election.
"You could have a legal challenge to this whether we meet or not," Armstead said. "The governor has already been authorized to call an election. What we do or don't do won't stop that."
That stance has Armstead advocating that lawmakers take time to review the proposal. Citing the need to start the special election calendar, Manchin hopes for quick action instead. But at least four-fifths of each chamber must agree to suspend rules that require a bill to sit for three separate days before a vote on passage.
While a minority in both the state Senate and House of Delegates, the GOP has enough seats to block such a move in either.
"I don't think we'll get it done in a day. I don't know if it will be done in two days," Armstead said.
Hall also hopes for due deliberations.
"It appears that we have sloppy election laws because they were rushed through a number of years ago," Hall said. "Now we're hastily trying to get a solution. Is this the best one? Is this the right one?"
Hall also questions whether lawmakers may feel pressure to adopt Manchin's proposal, given that he's said it's highly likely he'll run in the resulting special election.
"I think we need to sit down and say, 'How would we do this, no matter who's running,'" Hall said. "We need to walk down this road mentally and look at all the angles ... We remain legislators, not ratifiers."
