WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
SENATE JOURNAL
EIGHTIETH LEGISLATURE
THIRD EXTRAORDINARY SESSION, 2011
SECOND DAY
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Charleston, W. Va., Monday, November 14, 2011
The Senate met at 6 p.m. and was called to order by the Clerk
of the Senate, the Honorable Darrell E. Holmes.
The Honorable H. Truman Chafin, a senator from the sixth
district, was called to the Chair to preside, being the senior
senator in point of continuous service.
Prayer was offered by the Honorable Mike Hall, a senator from
the fourth district.
Pending the reading of the Journal of Sunday, November 13,
2011,
On motion of Senator Unger, the Journal was approved and the
further reading thereof dispensed with.
The Senate proceeded to the second order of business and the
introduction of guests.
At the request of Senator Unger, and by unanimous consent, the
provisions of rule number fifty-four of the Rules of the Senate,
relating to persons entitled to the privileges of the floor, were
suspended in order to grant the family of member-elect Arthur E. Kirkendoll as guests during today's session.
On motion of Senator Unger, the Senate recessed for the
purpose of making introductions.
Upon expiration of the recess, the Senate reconvened.
The following communications were reported by the Clerk:
THE SENATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
CHARLESTON
November 13, 2011
The Honorable Darrell E. Holmes
Clerk of the Senate
State Capitol
Charleston, West Virginia
Dear Mr. Clerk:
I hereby resign my position as President of the Senate of West
Virginia, effective immediately.
Respectfully,
Earl Ray Tomblin.
THE SENATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
CHARLESTON
November 13, 2011
The Honorable Darrell E. Holmes
Clerk of the Senate
State Capitol
Charleston, West Virginia
Dear Mr. Clerk:
I hereby resign as Senator from the Seventh Senatorial
District, effective immediately.
Respectfully,
Earl Ray Tomblin.
Executive Communications
The following communication from His Excellency, the Governor,
was reported by the Clerk:
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
CHARLESTON
November 14, 2011
The Honorable Natalie Tennant
Secretary of State
State Capitol
Charleston, West Virginia
Dear Secretary Tennant:
Pursuant to the provisions of W. Va. Code §3-10-5, I have this
day appointed Arthur E. Kirkendoll, Post Office Box 1227,
Chapmanville, West Virginia 25508 as a Senator representing the
Seventh Senatorial District, to fill the vacancy created by the
resignation of The Honorable Earl Ray Tomblin from this day through the remainder of the unexpired term of said office.
Sincerely,
Earl Ray Tomblin,
Governor.
The Chair then announced that Mr. Kirkendoll was present in
the chamber and ready to take the oath of office.
Whereupon, the Chair appointed Senators Stollings, Unger and
Boley a committee to escort the new senator to the Clerk's desk,
where he qualified by taking and subscribing to the several oaths
of office prescribed by the Constitution, which oaths were
administered by the Honorable Eric H. O'Briant, Judge of the
Seventh Judicial Circuit of West Virginia.
On motion of Senator Unger, the Office of President of the
Senate was declared vacant.
The Senate then proceeded to its election of a President,
At the request of Senator Unger, unanimous consent being
granted, Senator Wells, who is currently on active duty with the U.
S. Navy Reserve in Afghanistan, was permitted to vote by voice in
accordance with Article 6, Section 44 of the West Virginia
Constitution, through electronic means, for the election of the
Senate President as required by Article 6, Section 24 of the West
Virginia Constitution to fill the vacancy in the office caused by
the resignation of the senior senator from the seventh district.
For that office, Senator Plymale nominated the Honorable Jeffrey V. Kessler, of the County of Marshall; seconded by Senator
Stollings.
Senator Boley then nominated the Honorable Mike Hall, of the
County of Putnam; seconded by Senator Nohe.
There being no further nominations, the Senate proceeded to
the vote for the election of a President.
On the call of the roll, those voting for Senator Kessler
were: Beach, Browning, Chafin, Edgell, D. Facemire, Fanning,
Foster, Green, Helmick, Jenkins, Kessler, Kirkendoll, Klempa,
Laird, McCabe, Miller, Minard, Palumbo, Plymale, Prezioso, Snyder,
Stollings, Tucker, Unger, Wells, Williams, Wills and Yost--28.
Those voting for Senator Hall were: Barnes, Boley, Hall, Nohe
and Sypolt--5.
Absent: K. Facemyer--1.
The Chair announced the vote and declared that Senator
Kessler, having received a majority of the votes of all the members
elected to the Senate had been elected President of the Senate.
Whereupon, the Chair appointed Senators Unger, Plymale and
Hall a committee to escort the President-elect to the Chair.
A standing ovation was then accorded the President-elect, as
he proceeded to the rostrum accompanied by the foregoing select
committee.
Whereupon, Senator Kessler qualified as President, by taking
the several oaths of office prescribed by law and administered by the Honorable Margaret L. Workman, Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
Senator Kessler (Mr. President) assumed the Chair and
addressed the Senate as follows:
Ladies and gentlemen and honored guests, I just want to take
a few moments to thank you first for bestowing upon me one of my
life's greatest privileges--to serve at your will and pleasure as
the President of this body.
We have had the benefit and I've had the benefit of serving
for the last 14 years under the capable and able tutelage of our
governor, Earl Ray Tomblin. Hopefully, I've learned a thing or two
from him. My door, like his, will always be open. I'll try to
continue to be fair in all of my dealings with everybody, every
single one--the 33 members of this body.
You know, we've gone through a lot of changes in the last 18
months or so since June 28 of 2010 when we lost our beloved Senator
Byrd. We've changed in the Senate, the U. S. Senate, with his
passing, with Governor Manchin becoming the U. S. Senator and with
Earl Ray Tomblin, our President, moving down to act as Governor and
myself being selected by you to act as President of this body.
The time of acting is over. We're going to get rid of that
dirty six-letter word "acting". Yesterday, we did it for our
Governor and today we did it for the presiding officer of this
body.
I'm honored to have and enjoy your confidence and trust. And
I vow to you that I will continue to work daily, day and night,
every day, working with our Governor and working with our
colleagues across the well over in the House to try to make this
state the very best it can be.
Again, I'm honored to have your vote and your confidence and
trust. It hasn't always been easy, but I promise you I will do
everything in my power to earn it and to keep it and to never let
you doubt that I will do whatever I can every single day to make
this body the best and to make this state the best as well.
So with that, to the gentle lady and other members of the
Senate, it's time to go to work.
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At the request of Senator Unger, and by unanimous consent, the
foregoing acceptance remarks by Senator Kessler (Mr. President)
were ordered extended in the Journal.
Thereafter, Senator Kessler (Mr. President) affirmed all
appointments, including interim appointments, previously made by
the Acting President of the Senate during this Eightieth
Legislature, subject to future changes by the newly elected
President.
At the request of Senator Plymale, unanimous consent being
granted, Senator Plymale addressed the Senate regarding the
anniversary of the 1970 Marshall University plane crash.
Thereafter, at the request of Senator Prezioso, and by
unanimous consent, the remarks by Senator Plymale were ordered
printed in the Appendix to the Journal.
Pending announcement of a meeting of a standing committee of
the Senate,
On motion of Senator Unger, the Senate adjourned until
tomorrow, Tuesday, November 15, 2011, at 11 a.m.
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