[ politics ]
Legislative
Perspective
Q&A with House
Speaker Roger Hanshaw
JENNIFER JETT PREZKOP
WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
CONTINUED
ON THE WEB
Roger Hanshaw was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2014 to represent Calhoun County and parts of Clay
and Gilmer counties. He was first elected speaker of the House in August 2018 when the sitting speaker resigned, and he was
then re-elected in December 2018. Hanshaw, a lawyer and one of 250 credentialed parliamentarians in the U.S., grew up in
rural Clay County, and today he possesses a diverse legal background and a wealth of knowledge on parliamentary procedure
that gives him a unique perspective as the House leader. In this Q&A, Hanshaw discusses his new role, the legislative process
and what West Virginians can do to be better informed about and more involved in the Legislature’s activities.
WVE: Tell me about the challenges you face in your
new role as House speaker.
RH: We have a 60-day session in our state. I’ve heard people
say—and it’s absolutely true—that 60 days is an eternity if you
are trying to keep something from happening, but it goes by
incredibly fast if you are trying to get something to happen.
One of the biggest challenges is how to prioritize that time.
During every legislative session, we have more than 1,000
bills introduced, and on a very high-volume year there will be
around 300 passed by both houses. An overwhelming majority
of the bills introduced in the Legislature are never acted upon
because we run out of time.
WVE: What steps do you take when preparing for
the regular session?
RH: The very first thing we do is look at what did not pass
during the last session. The next thing we do is consider the
things we learned during the last session that we didn’t expect
or weren’t prepared for. I have asked all of our committee
chairs to identify what they learned during the 2019 session
that merits consideration in 2020 because it actually takes a
long time to get ready. People think the Legislature just comes
in during those 60 days and that’s when we do our work, but
somebody has to write the bills that will be introduced.
Editor’s Note: At the time of publication, the Legislature had not yet reconvened for the special session.
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE