Justice allows election vacancy bill he vetoed in 2017 to become law

A bill Gov. Jim Justice vetoed last year as a Democrat quietly became law without his signature on Saturday.

The West Virginia Legislature passed House Bill 3004, which says when certain politicians vacate office, they must be replaced by a member of their party at the time of their resignation — not necessarily their election.

A Republican again, as of August 2017, Justice did not sign the bill within five legislative days from when it was passed, thus enacting it into law by default.

State code, as it’s currently written, says vacancies in the state Legislature should be filled by members of the party “with which the person holding the office immediately preceding the vacancy was affiliated.”

The new legislation codifies a state Supreme Court ruling made when former-Sen. Daniel Hall — who was elected as a Democrat in 2012, switched to the Republican party in 2014, and resigned to lobby for the National Rifle Association in 2016. When Hall vacated office, it triggered a challenge as to whether then-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin should appoint a Democrat or a Republican.

Read more: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/justice-allows-election-vacancy-bill-he-vetoed-in-to-become/article_ebe0a380-1e2b-5411-bb7a-c052b8d895c3.html