CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- With the tough economic times of late, many West Virginians are having to bite the bullet and apply for government assistance, including food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Some are discovering that they are permanently barred from receiving benefits because of a past felony conviction for possession, use or distribution of drugs. Department of Health and Human Resources employees are telling them that the Legislature imposed the ban - which comes as a surprise to legislators who don't recall ever voting on any such law.

After Delegate Steve Kominar, D-Mingo, relayed a constituent complaint, House Health and Human Resources Chairman Don Perdue, D-Wayne, set out to figure out what the heck was going on.

"It just seems to me that's being pretty severe," Perdue said of the lifetime ban on benefits.

He said he could envision a single mother being permanently denied much-needed assistance because of a youthful indiscretion years before.

Perdue had House research analyst (and wife of Charleston's mayor) Sara Jones do some digging - which concluded that in 1996 the Legislature adopted a legislative rule that imposed the ban.

It's no surprise, then, that Perdue and other lawmakers had no recollection of voting on the measure. The legislative rule-making process is long, laborious, monotonous - and gives tremendous power to agency heads to craft rules the way they wish.

By the time the rules bills reach the House and Senate floor, they're in multiple-page "bundles" incorporating hundreds of different rule changes for dozens of state agencies.

In the case of the food stamp ban, the rule referenced making state policy conform with federal law 7 USC 2015(B)(1) - as if legislators had time in the end-of-the-session crush to research federal code.

(Which is why some legislators, including Delegate Ron Walters, R-Kanawha, always vote against every rules bill - since it's impossible to know all the policy implications contained within each rules bundle.)

Jones' research found that West Virginia was one of 16 states that adopted the lifetime ban for food stamps or TANF benefits.

Another 22 states modified the rule - some states impose the ban only on persons convicted of drug trafficking, others provide an exemption for individuals who undergo drug rehabilitation, and others limit the ban to specific periods of time.

Twelve states and Washington, D.C., passed legislation opting out of the ban entirely.

Perdue said he would look at introducing legislation next session to modify West Virginia's ban.

Some are discovering that they are permanently barred from receiving benefits because of a past felony conviction for possession, use or distribution of drugs. Department of Health and Human Resources employees are telling them that the Legislature imposed the ban - which comes as a surprise to legislators who don't recall ever voting on any such law.

After Delegate Steve Kominar, D-Mingo, relayed a constituent complaint, House Health and Human Resources Chairman Don Perdue, D-Wayne, set out to figure out what the heck was going on.

"It just seems to me that's being pretty severe," Perdue said of the lifetime ban on benefits.

He said he could envision a single mother being permanently denied much-needed assistance because of a youthful indiscretion years before.

Perdue had House research analyst (and wife of Charleston's mayor) Sara Jones do some digging - which concluded that in 1996 the Legislature adopted a legislative rule that imposed the ban.

It's no surprise, then, that Perdue and other lawmakers had no recollection of voting on the measure. The legislative rule-making process is long, laborious, monotonous - and gives tremendous power to agency heads to craft rules the way they wish.

By the time the rules bills reach the House and Senate floor, they're in multiple-page "bundles" incorporating hundreds of different rule changes for dozens of state agencies.

In the case of the food stamp ban, the rule referenced making state policy conform with federal law 7 USC 2015(B)(1) - as if legislators had time in the end-of-the-session crush to research federal code.

(Which is why some legislators, including Delegate Ron Walters, R-Kanawha, always vote against every rules bill - since it's impossible to know all the policy implications contained within each rules bundle.)

Jones' research found that West Virginia was one of 16 states that adopted the lifetime ban for food stamps or TANF benefits.

Another 22 states modified the rule - some states impose the ban only on persons convicted of drug trafficking, others provide an exemption for individuals who undergo drug rehabilitation, and others limit the ban to specific periods of time.

Twelve states and Washington, D.C., passed legislation opting out of the ban entirely.

Perdue said he would look at introducing legislation next session to modify West Virginia's ban.

"There needs to be a way to build in some exceptions," he said. "As the old saying goes, if you make something inflexible, it's guaranteed to break."

Political consultant Mike Plante, who has worked as an administrative assistant to House Speaker Rick Thompson, D-Wayne, for the past five years, left that position shortly after the 2009 session ended, but will work on Thompson's 2010 and 2012 campaigns.

(In 2008, Plante's dual role led to some false accusations that he was doing campaign work for Thompson from his legislative office.)

Plante's affiliation with Thompson is of note because Plante has been a consultant for every Democratic candidate elected governor since Gaston Caperton's 1992 re-election campaign.

(For purposes of full disclosure, he also worked for the only Democratic gubernatorial candidate to lose in a general election during that period, Charlotte Pritt, in 1996.)

However, my gut feeling is that today's broad field of would-be gubernatorial hopefuls will shake out by 2012. My prediction is that Thompson ultimately will run for attorney general in 2012, with Senate Finance Chairman Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas, opting to run for agriculture commissioner, and with Treasurer John Perdue ultimately deciding to run for re-election, after again finding it impossible to raise enough funds to make a run for governor.

(By the way, the Legislature paid Plante $37,125 in 2007 and $42,858 in 2008 for his services.)

Another week has gone by with no real answers from the Department of Education to the two simple questions I posed: How much does the department budget each year for professional development for teachers and school administrators, and how much of that amount gets spent on conferences, seminars and leadership institutes at luxury hotels and resorts around the state?

Spokeswoman Liza Cordeiro did confirm that the department does host some professional development conferences at its Cedar Lakes Conference Center, which it spends an additional $4 million a year to operate.

Finally, Sen. Mike Oliverio, D-Monongalia, may be in the running for the suck-up of the year award for his "Thank You, Senator Byrd" Web page, but it certainly has generated publicity for the state senator.

Oliverio also had a big fundraiser in Morgantown Thursday, but speculation is that his focus is not necessarily on re-election to the Senate in 2010, but on running for statewide office in 2012, most likely for state treasurer if Perdue would run for governor.

Meanwhile, sharp-eyed observers noted that, in one of the first thank you messages posted on the site, Oliverio campaign consultant Curtis Wilkerson misspelled his hometown as "Buchannon."

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.