DISCHARGING THE COMMITTEE

Under House rules the motion to "discharge the committee" is not as simple as it sounds and in fact it often implies a contempt and blatant disregard of the committee process by the sponsor. The motion to "discharge the committee" is rarely placed before the House for consideration and when it does occur it is often seen as a last ditch effort to move legislation to floor that would otherwise fail to see the light of day, mush less the Governor’s signature. This procedural motion is not a vote on the particular bill of interest, but rather a method to dispense with the rules of the committee and send the bill of interest to floor for an immediate vote.

Historically, the motion has been unsuccessfully used by both sides of the isle, for obvious reasons. Beginning with the fact that legislators who attempt to use the procedure are often seen as caving to special interest groups. Secondly, with more than three thousand bills introduced each legislative session at what point does the legislature take a stand preventing further consideration of this mass of bills under this procedural motion? Allowing this procedure to move bills to floor is nothing more than a case of sour grapes and would eventually erode the legislative process that we all hold so dear to our hearts. Imagine if you will, lobbyists and constituents state wide lining the hallways in an attempt to pressure legislators to move the above motion, thus generating countless hours of debate over the procedure and not the merits of the bill. This year alone the motion has been brought before the House twice with a combined total of three hours of debate, again not debating the merits of the legislation, but rather the merits or rather lack of merit, regarding the procedural motion itself.

The committee process is in place for variety of reasons, primarily for the protection of our West Virginia residents, allowing it to run it’s due course is a true display of respect and justification for battles fought long ago.