Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, takes questions from Senate Minority Leader Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, during on a debate on moving the education omnibus bill to the Committee of the Whole. (Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography)

CHARLESTON — Senate Republicans used a relatively unknown parliamentary procedure Monday to avoid having their education reform package from possibly being defeated before making it to the Senate floor.

In what is shaping up to become the defining piece of legislation for this year’s session, the state Senate used a parliamentary move only seen twice in the state’s history to save Senate Bill 451, the education omnibus bill, from possible defeat in a later Senate Finance Committee meeting.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, made a motion to refer SB 451 — the new number given to the omnibus, which was first introduced Thursday — to the Senate’s “Committee of the Whole.”

The Senate Education Committee passed SB 451 Friday along party lines, just a day after committee members received the legislation. It was then referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

“The thought process is the bill has many, many parts,” Takubo said. “It is important the entire (Senate) look at this since it’s going to affect each and every one of our districts. The thought process was it would be best to bring it down and let the committee run this as a whole body since it’s such a large bill.”

Referring the bill to a Committee of the Whole — meaning the whole Senate — is allowed in Rule 33 of the Rules of the Senate. Once a bill is moved to the committee, the Senate president appoints a presiding member. Normal Senate rules apply, and when the committee passes a bill, it still has to be read on three separate days before being passed or rejected.

On Monday, it was revealed that Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee did not believe they had the votes to pass the bill.

At least one committee member — Sen. Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur — had made clear his intentions to vote against the bill. Another committee member — Sen. Donna Boley, R-Pleasants – was absent due to illness and is not expected to return until Wednesday.

Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, speaking to reporters after the Monday floor session, said he was unaware of any opposition to the bill from Senate Republicans and denied that moving the bill was a tactic to keep it from dying in committee. Carmichael said he chose to move the bill for added transparency.

“Every member of that Finance Committee will be a member of this Committee of the Whole,” Carmichael said. “It’s really, frankly, a great way to approach this fundamental overhaul of what we all agree is an education system that needs reformed.”

Senate Minority Leader Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, was caught off-guard by the motion to move the bill before the entire Senate. According to Takubo, the motion to create a Committee of the Whole has only passed twice: in 1917 and 1961.

“I’ve been here 30 years, but I’ve never experienced a motion of this sort before,” Prezioso said. “It seems to me our committee system is working … what is leadership afraid of?”

Carmichael issued a written statement Monday further explaining leadership’s position:

“Providing a world-class education for West Virginia students and children is among the most important functions of state government. Virtually every national entity that ranks student performance has reported poor statistics for our state. There is no question that our educational system needs critical reform, and it needs reform right now,” he said.

“An issue of this magnitude should not have input from only members of the Education and Finance Committees. It should have the input of all members of the Senate as we work toward our shared goal of improving student achievement across the board, at all grade levels, in all areas of the state. We believed the Committee of the Whole served as the most open, transparent way to conduct the thorough vetting of this piece of important legislation.

“Appropriately, there is tremendous public interest on all sides of this issue, both Republican and Democratic senators, the West Virginia Department of Education, teachers, administrators, school service personnel, and most importantly, families of children in our public schools. We believed this was an issue that should be fully heard and considered in committee by every member of the Senate and done in the Senate Chamber where there would be more room to accommodate the members of the public.

“This bill will change West Virginia’s future. It will change the education of our children for generations to come. That’s why we took this rare step, and why we believe the full Senate is the best place for the body and the public to consider this bill as it makes its way through the legislative process.”

Carmichael said the Committee of the Whole would not take up the bill until fiscal notes — explaining how much the bill’s components could cost — have been submitted.