CHARLESTON -- From caps on PROMISE scholarships to a tax on high-voltage power lines, it was a busy day for the state Legislature Wednesday as lawmakers took up a host of bills as one of the most critical deadlines for the 2009 session came and went.

By coincidence, April Fool’s Day was the final day for bills to pass out of their chamber of origin to the other chamber. Any bill that didn’t make deadline is dead, whether it was put up for a vote or not.

Lawmakers moved quickly through their agendas despite the large number of bills left to take up. Some high-profile legislation survived to see a life in the other chamber, although that is no guarantee any bill will survive to become law.

Among the bills was a proposed $4,750 cap on PROMISE scholarships. Scholarships currently pay for full tuition and fees at most West Virginia universities and colleges, but PROMISE has been an expensive program that state officials say the state can’t keep funding without major changes.

“The problem is I wish I was not standing here and talking about this,” Senate Education Committee Chairman Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, said.

Gov Joe Manchin originally proposed capping PROMISE at $4,500, but lawmakers decided to raise that to $4,750 and give state officials leeway to raise the amount higher in years when money available.

Sen. Michael Oliverio, D-Monongalia, said that makes it the Legislature’s burden to ensure the state lives up to the promises it made when lawmakers first created the program.

“It puts us in control as to whether we will fully fund these programs,” he said.

Senate Bill 373 also directs $2 million in additional revenue to PROMISE. The Senate unanimously voted to pass the legislation.

The Senate also voted to adopt a state energy portfolio that requires the state to get 25 percent of its electricity from renewable or alternative sources, which could include wind and solar power or coal-fired power plants that sequester their carbon dioxide emissions. Senate Bill 297 passed by a 30-4 vote.

Energy was on the minds of lawmakers in the state House of Delegates. The House passed House Bill 2860, which would establish the framework for the regulation of the sequestration and storage of carbon dioxide. But the chamber killed another proposal to tax high-voltage power lines, which Manchin had sought.

The House also killed legislation that would have permitted state officials to give teachers and state workers bonuses if the state had a budget surplus at the end of the year, which now looks less likely given the state’s shrinking revenue streams.