STATEHOUSE BEAT: ; Thoughts on the session's last night

Some observations from the final night of the 2010 regularsession:

Don't underestimate the impact that the untimely drunken-drivingarrest early Friday morning of state Board of Optometry presidentGreg Moore had on the outcome of legislation to expand the scope ofpractice for optometrists (SB 230).

Yes, optometrists ended up getting a bill Saturday, but with thetwo big plums they had sought missing - authorization to performlaser surgery procedures, and the legal right to call themselvesphysicians, which state law does not address. (And Gov. Joe Manchinmay very well have to veto what they did get because of potentialtechnical flaws in the bill.)

For weeks during the debate on the issue, Moore had been the faceof optometry in the Legislature, often sharing committee podiumswith Morgantown ophthalmologist Dr. Stephen Powell, and assuringlegislators that optometrists are as well-trained and responsible astheir medical doctor counterparts.

So Moore's absence from the Capitol on Friday and Saturday wasconspicuous - and probably helped embolden House of Delegatesconferees on the bill to declare outright that the issues of keepinglaser surgery and the title "optometric physician" out of the billwere non-negotiable.

Senate Government Organization Chairman Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, thechampion of the bill for optometrists, is not one to back down froma fight, but it was clear from the first conference committeemeeting Saturday that circumstances had him on the ropes.

Officially, the ophthalmologists and their lobbyists, ThomStevens and Nancy Tonkin, among others, did not make an issue ofMoore's arrest.

However, it was not difficult to find copies floating around theCapitol of the criminal complaint against Moore, or documentsshowing that the West Virginia Laser Eye Center in South Charleston,whose corporate records list Moore as organizer and manager, owesKanawha County $18,101 in delinquent taxes.

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Speaking of vetoes, Manchin will be put in a quandary over a billpassed Saturday to have a sales tax holiday on firearms in October(HB 4251).

Offering a tax-free weekend on gun sales potentially could getWest Virginia booted out of the Streamlined Sales Tax agreement - anagreement between about 20 states, and retailers within thosestates, to collect and remit sales taxes on purchases (mainly viathe Internet) that otherwise would go uncollected.

For West Virginia, that arrangement currently brings in about $3million a year, which could be forfeited if the state violates theagreement by allowing a gun tax holiday, expected to save gun buyersonly about $25,000 in sales taxes.

Legislators who voted for the bill not only picked up browniepoints from the National Rifle Association, which was pushing thebill, but also knowingly put Manchin in a position of losingpopularity points with some voters if he is obligated to veto thebill.

The fact that NRA lobbyist Jordan Austin was using veiled threatsthat votes on the bill would be an NRA campaign issue didn't sitwell with Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, who voted against it overconcerns it could cost the state a sizeable revenue stream.

"This is not the NRA I chose to join as a youth," Barnescomplained. "This is not the NRA of Charlton Heston."

(Equally shameful was the Senate's backroom decision to killlegislation toughening state ethics laws [HB 4016] - a bill that hadunanimously passed the House - but that will have to wait for futurecomment.)

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For the second year in a row, the Legislature completed its workbefore midnight, and there was talk that legislators could haveadjourned as early as 9 or 10 p.m., but feared media criticism forknocking off early - which I don't buy for a moment, since theattraction of staying to midnight is so that both houses can gavelback in shortly after, collecting a full day's pay and per-diems forSunday, the first day of the extended session.

Meanwhile, both houses recessed at about 9 p.m. Saturday,allowing members to watch the first half of West VirginiaUniversity's Big East Championship game.

The necessity of voting on conference committee reports forcedthe House and Senate back into session during the second half of thegame, but delegates had the luxury of streaming the ESPN broadcaston their laptop computers - and many took advantage of that option.

Senators didn't have computers, but many did take advantage of anextended 15-minute floor exchange between Bowman and Sen. EvanJenkins, D-Cabell, over the optometry bill to sneak into theSenate's "Junior Rules" lounge to watch the end of the game.

(The House also played "Country Roads" over the chamber's P.A.system after the big win...)

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Finally, if you see Delegate Danny Wells, D-Kanawha, be sure towish him a happy 70th birthday ... Also having a birthday today(although just his 58th) is Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, D-Logan.

Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.