By Lacie Pierson, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — What’s become a common courtesy in the West Virginia House of Delegates was a source of brief legislative hindrance Tuesday afternoon.
By the end of the legislative day, it appeared party leaders had come to an agreement over an objection to add comments of Democratic delegates to the appendix of the House Journal, which is the official record of the legislative business in the chamber.
The House rejected a motion by House Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, to add comments made by Democratic delegates as they debated House Bill 2012, establishing charter schools in the state.
Delegate Dianna Graves, R-Kanawha, objected to Fluharty’s initial request for the comments to be added to the journal, a common practice in the House that Graves said later Tuesday had become all too common. The staff in the House of Delegates Clerk’s Office have to transcribe all of the comments and check them for clarity, either during their free time during the session, or in the weeks after the session ends…
