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Furlough bill goes to conference committee

By ANDREA LANNOM

The Register-Herald

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill allowing for the furlough of state employees in a declared fiscal emergency is now heading to a conference committee.

The Senate made changes to House Bill 106, the furlough bill, but the House refused to concur with the amended version.

The Senate appointed Sens. Charles Trump, R-Morgan; Chandler Swope, R-Mercer; and Mike Romano, D-Harrison. The House appointed Delegates John Shott, R-Mercer; Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay; and Chad Lovejoy, D-Cabell.

Trump explained the strike and insert amendment that would replace the entire House bill. In that amendment, the governor could declare a fiscal emergency for situations including if no budget is adopted before July 1.

The governor could furlough employees under his direct supervision along with authority to furlough given to the Board of Public Works, the House Speaker and Senate President, and the state Supreme Court for their employees.

The amendment defined furlough as mandatory temporary unpaid leaves of absence. Trump said employees could maintain PEIA. He said furloughed days would still count for service credit for retirement.

Trump said employees could not use annual or sick leave for furlough days unless the employer pre-approved leave before the furlough.

The bill passed in a 29-2 vote with Sens. Robert Karnes, R-Upshur, and Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, the nay votes.

When the bill came before the house, House Majority Leader Daryl Cowles, R-Morgan, urged the Senate to recede from its changes, saying the furlough divisions in the bill were “confusing and cumbersome.”

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