| The West Virginia Legislature, after weeks of deliberation, entered crucial legislation near the midnight hour Saturday, in this
case to see some of it go down to defeat.
It was the familiar down to the wire confusion which gives legislators little time to review the final bill with
amendments.
Ten minutes before midnight -- Senator Vic Sprouse stood up and talked, a filibuster, stalling the workers comp bill until the
final gavel came down. The House had passed the bill about 9 p.m., but it didn't hit the Senate floor until fifteen minutes
before midnight.
The Worker's Comp bill was described by supporters as "a first step" in fixing the system, which is expected to go bankrupt.
The fund is $2.5 billion in debt.
Sprouse in his floor speech called the House approved bill "a disgrace." He said he could not look at himself in the mirror the
next morning. He contended the bill had little to do with fixing the problem.
Speaking after the governor's news conference, he told reporters "I don't apologize for the way it ended. We were getting
ready to pass a skeleton, a ghost of a bill that we would have been embarrassed and the people would have been
embarrassed if we passed it."
Sprouse says now it's up to the Governor to call for a special session. Gov. Wise expressed anger about killing the bill, and
said he was unsure a special session would be called.
Wise says Sprouse's filibuster prevented final passage of legislation on Workers' Comp, ATVs, and a seat belt/.08 blood
alcohol bill. The legislature has tried to pass an ATV safety bill for eight years. The blood alcohol bill is required to continue to receive federal funds and has been heavily opposed by the alcohol lobby.
Wise said it was a partisan end to a legislative session. He said the Worker's Comp system may have to be
placed in receivership.
Sprouse says the people of West Virginia are tired of last day "midnight legislation" used by politicians, and don't want such
important issues dealt with during the last 10 minutes of the session.
Former Delegate Arley Johnson, a Democrat, was heavily chastised by the Legislative leadership a few sessions ago for
complaining about the midnight hour system, disallowing time for review and discussion.
Sprouse said the Workers' Comp bill was 21 pages and the Senate's bill was 225 pages."You can tell who was more
serious," he said.
Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin calling the end of the legislative session "frustrating." All the bills had been on the agenda
for weeks, with the ATV bill declared dead last week.
The legislature did pass a 55 cent tax on cigarettes and nearly doubled the legal weight of coal trucks. | 
