Charleston Gazette-Mail
Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, has his share of faults, but the likely West Virginia Senate president can do one thing right out of the gate in the 2025 legislative session that would put him above his predecessor, Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley: He could follow proper legislative procedure under the West Virginia Constitution.
Sure, it’s a seemingly low bar to clear. However, after years of Blair suspending constitutional rules that bills be read three times on the Senate floor (and also often bypassing the committee process) to fast track legislation he knew wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny, following the legislative process as it is intended to operate almost seems novel.
Rules are only supposed to be suspended to pass emergency legislation when time is short. But, under Blair’s tenure, the process was often employed on day one of a legislative session, to cram through sketchy bills without scrutiny or discussion among lawmakers, not to mention the West Virginians the Legislature is supposed to serve. Blair used the Republican supermajority controlling the Legislature to deliberately forgo any notion of transparency on dozens of bills.
Blair won’t retain the gavel because he won’t be in office, once the 2025 session begins. The longtime senator couldn’t make it out of his own primary in May, losing to a candidate who is even further to the right and keen on culture war issues. Blair’s attempt to cater to far-right zealots did nothing but get him beaten by one.