By RYAN QUINN
Charleston Gazette-Mail
(Gazette-Mail photo by Kenny Kemp)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — On Wednesday, Gov. Jim Justice signed legislation (House Bill 4006) eliminating the state Department of Education and the Arts, erasing the cabinet secretary position that led it and sending its agencies elsewhere in state government, with much of the bill’s impact taking effect July 1.
On Thursday, the governor proposed holding a special legislative session, in May, to make a new department that may contain some of the dying department’s agencies and a new “curator” to lead it. He had announced his proposal for the Department of Arts and Culture and History in a 4:41 p.m. news release the day before, with no further details at that time.
Justice said that over the past few days, House of Delegates Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, and “my group” had “done a lot of working together to come to a consensus that everybody supports.” Carmichael said he’s fine with such further restructuring as long as it saves as much money as HB 4006 was estimated to save.
Read the entire article: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/education/justice-proposes-special-session-creating-department-of-the-arts/article_a0f15e36-11b8-556c-b138-4e9a1d41320e.html
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