Blog – Page 100

Senate Passes Foster Care Bill

Senate Floor Session

Madison Perdue

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March 6, 2020

The Senate convened at 10:00 a.m. on Friday and amended and passed House bill 4092. This bill seeks to update and improve the current foster care system. The Senate Finance Committee discussed and amended the bill on Thursday, reducing the budget to $4.9 million and requiring the DHHR to use a tiered system for foster care reimbursement. This system would grant a higher rate to foster families caring for older children and/or children with more acute needs. The bill also creates a foster child bill of rights as well as a foster parent bill of rights.

Senator Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, explained a proposed amendment to restore the bill’s budget to $16.9 million. An updated revenue estimate of $20 million allowed for enough financial flexibility to cover this funding. This increases payment to the foster families to $26 per day to the lowest tier, with the highest tier receiving more funding than the version passed by the House. This amendment also increases the payment to child placement agencies, with the floor tier receiving $65. Additional funds will be dedicated to family reunification support, resources for providers and to increase resources for the foster and kinship family certification processes.

Senator Stephen Baldwin, D-Greenbrier, proposed an amendment to provide foster families with greater certainty of when they will be reimbursed. The amendment designates a specific week each month for the distribution of reimbursement rather than funding being varied from week to week.

Senator Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, proposed an amendment adding to the foster child’s bill of rights described in the bill. Palumbo moved to add the right to be free from unsolicited restraint and isolation, described in the version of the bill passed by the House. The amendment ties this right to another right in the bill related to abuse and exploitation.

The amendments to the amendment were adopted and the bill was unanimously passed in the Senate.

The Senate concurred with House amendments and completed legislation for 11 bills on Friday.

Senate bill 136 prohibits misleading lawsuit and advertising practices, such as an advertisement presenting itself as a public service announcement or a public health alert. The House amendment adds the term “medications” to the bill.

Senate bill 144 creates a misdemeanor penalty for making a false statement to a police officer investigating a misdemeanor crime.

Senate bill 289 creates the Green Alert Plan, which creates a program to recover missing at-risk veterans.

Senate bill 490 relates to criminal offenses to agricultural facilities.

Senate bill 578 recalculates the tax on generating, producing or selling solar energy-produced electricity.

Senate bill 614 changes the method of allocating money from Safe School Funds.

Senate bill 662 removes restriction that no more than 2 fiduciary commissioners operate in the same county.

Senate bill 668 enacts the Uniform Trust Decanting Act.

Senate bill 678 waives fines and fees for completing the Getting Over Addicted Lifestyles Successfully (GOALS) Program.

Senate bill 750 creates extended learning opportunities via elective credits granted through certain programs and activities outside the traditional classroom setting.

Senate bill 812 is a supplemental appropriation that transfers funds from the state Lottery Net Profits to Bureau of Senior Services.

House bill 4438 relates to the licensing of advance deposit wagering.

The Senate adopted Resolution 69, recognizing WV Kids Cancer Crusaders. Resolution 70 was also adopted, designating March 6, 2020 as McDowell County Day at the Legislature. Two brief recesses were held to present these resolutions.

The Senate is adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.

The Senate Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will meet at 8:30 a.m. in room 451M.

House Passes Medicaid Dental Bill

House Floor Session

Juliet Thomas

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March 5, 2020

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In Thursday’s floor session, the House passed a bill that would expand Medicaid to include dental coverage for adult recipients.

Senate Bill 648 expands the Medicaid program to include $1000 worth of dental care to adult recipients of Medicaid. The bill states that medical research demonstrates that dental health has a significant impact on overall health.

Lack of dental care is a risk factor for chronic illness and poor health. This bill seeks to address a problem that many West Virginians, including residents who live in rural areas or have a disability, are frequently unable to find or see a dentist or pay for dental care. The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Resources to implement this program.

During the floor session, members spoke in favor of this bill, saying dental coverage could provide people with confidence to pursue a different job or career. Additionally, members argued that by providing dental coverage now, this will save money in the long run. Supporters also mentioned that emergency rooms can see large numbers of patients with dental emergencies because people can’t get regular dental check-ups.

Thirty-seven other Senate Bills were passed.

The House suspended the constitutional rules during the session to dispense with the rule that bills are to be read on three separate days for four bills.

The House concurred with Senate amendments for 14 House Bills and three Senate Bills. The House receded from its amendments for Senate Bill 727 because the Senate refused to concur.

Thirty-seven bills were advanced to third reading. Senate Bill 752 and 856 were advanced to second reading.

House Concurrent Resolution 33 was adopted.

The House is adjourned until 9 a.m. Friday.

Senate Passes 18 House Bills

Senate Floor Session

Madison Perdue

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March 5, 2020

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The Senate convened at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday and passed 18 House bills.

House bill 4524 seeks to remove outdated prohibition laws from the state. The bill allows for the sale of alcohol for offsite drinking across the entire state. There are currently 13 “dry” areas in West Virginia, which cannot sell alcohol. The bill allows political subdivisions to remain dry and provides that areas of the state may opt out of selling alcohol rather than opting to sell alcohol, because allowing the sale of alcohol will be the default.

House bill 4094 was passed, which adds to the duties of the Foster Care Ombudsman and the investigation responsibilities of the Foster Care Ombudsman Program. The bill creates access to foster care children and records to assist in investigations of complaints of the Foster Care Ombudsman’s duties. The bill establishes limitation of the Ombudsman’s liability and makes investigations confidential.

House bill 4001 creates the W4est Virginia Impact Fund and the Mountaineer Impact Office. The Fund would invest in projects around the state to promote economic development, job creation and infrastructure development in the state.

The Senate met again at 6:30 p.m. and concurred with House amendments to complete legislation for Senate bill 583, which seeks to establish a program to further development of renewable energy sources to improve economic resources in the state. The purpose of the program is to lessen the state’s dependent on limited energy resources and encourage innovation and job creation.

The Senate has called for a Conference Committee to discuss amendments to House bills 4049 and 4887.

The Senate adopted 3 Senate Resolutions on Thursday. Brief recesses were held for the presentation of these resolutions.

Senate Resolution 66 designates March as Red Cross Month. Workers and volunteers of the Red Cross visited the chamber for the presentation of the resolution.

Senate Resolution 67 designated March 5, 2020 as Treatment Court Day at the Legislature.
Senate Resolution 68 recognizes the Buckhannon-Upshur 4-H Air Rifle Team. The team visited the Senate chamber to be recognized.

The Senate is adjourned until 9:30 a.m. on Friday.

Senate Finance Discusses Foster Care Bill

Senate Committee

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March 5, 2020

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Senate Finance Discusses Foster Care Bill

The Senate Finance Committee met at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday to discuss House bill 4092, which seeks to update foster care laws and provisions. The bill creates a bill of rights for foster children as well as a bill of rights for foster parents and kinship caretakers. The bill also requires the department to create a tiered reimbursement system.

The Senate Judiciary Committee amended the bill on March 3, changing the budget for the bill from $17 million to $4 million. The Senate Finance Committee created their own amendment, changing this budget to $4.9 million.

Jeremiah Staples, a representative of the Department of Health and Human Resources answered questions from the committee. He explained that the current version of the bill called for a tiered reimbursement system that grants a higher rate to foster families caring for older children and/or those with specific needs. The purpose of the system is to help prevent older children from being placed in institutionalized care in place of a family setting. Staples said that other surrounding states use this approach.

A social worker from the Children’s Society of WV answered questions from the committee.

Senator William Ihlenfeld, D-Ohio, asked the social worker if higher payment rates to families and agencies would attract more families into the foster care system. The social worker explained that multiple factors could improve the current foster care system, and better funding would be a component.

Senator Palumbo, D-Kanawha, proposed an amendment to the portion of the bill describing the foster child’s bill of rights. The version of the bill passed by the House included a total of 26 rights. In the amended version advanced by the Senate Judiciary Committee, 7 of these were removed. Palumbo proposed that the following be restored:

14. The child should be free from unwarranted physical restraint and isolation

17. The child should have social contacts with people outside the foster home, including teachers, mentors and friends.

22. The child should be free from unreasonable searches of personal belongings.

Some members of the committee favored the amendment, saying that these additions were necessary in preserving the rights and reasonable freedoms of the child. Others were opposed, saying that these rights were either covered by other rights listed, or infringed on the rights of the foster parent.

Palumbo’s amendment failed 8-9.

Senator Ihlenfeld proposed an amendment to raise the minimum daily rate granted to an agency to $75 per child, and raise the minimum monthly allowance given to foster families to $900 per month, per child, as described in the version of the bill that passed the House. “We are dealing with a foster crisis in West Virginia,” he said. “This amendment would help provide relief for these families.”

Senator Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, spoke against the amendment, saying that the rates granted through the tier system places the state at a higher rate system than surrounding states. He instead advocated for more flexibility for the agencies and the DHHR. “I would like to see those who deal with these issues on a daily basis see an increase in flexibility, and not have to remove funds from upper tiers.”

Ihlenfeld’s amendment failed 7-10.

The committee advanced the amended version of the bill to the full Senate with recommendation for passage.

House Passes Senate Budget Bill

House Floor Session

Juliet Thomas

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March 4, 2020

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The House passed Senate Bill 150 during Wednesday’s floor session, which details the state’s budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

Senate Bill 150, also called the Budget Bill, was passed after several attempted amendments during the floor session.

The total general revenue budget for this year is $4.579 billion.

Although 16 amendments were proposed, two were adopted. The two adopted amendments came from the House Finance Chair, Delegate Eric Householder, R-Berkeley. The primary amendment, a strike and insert, detailed the House’s proposed budget. The second amendment changed a few line items on the primary amendment to provide funding in a total of $3.3 million for a second location of the Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy.

The Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy trains and mentors at-risk youths from the ages of 16-18 in a 22 week program. This program offers participants help to obtain a high school degree. This program has been very successful. Approximately 90% of participants obtain their degrees upon completion. The first location of the academy is located in Kingwood, located in Preston County. The new second location is set to be located in Montgomery, which is located in the Upper Kanawha Valley. There will now be funding for a northern and southern location for this program.

The House’s budget also provided $16.8 million for foster care, under House Bill 4092, which would increase the per diem rate for foster families. This bill is still under consideration in the Senate. During the floor session, this funding was described as the House’s top priority for the legislative session.

The governor’s original budget allocated $108 million to fully eliminate the waitlist for the I/DD Waiver. The House and Senate did not change this amount.

The House budget also provides an additional $17 million for Medicaid restoration.

The House suspended the constitutional rules during the session to dispense with the rule that bills are to be read on three separate days for eight bills.

The House refused to concur with the Senate amendment for House Bill 4039. The House concurred with the Senate amendments for 10 other House Bills.

Thirty-five bills were advanced to third reading. Thirty-seven bills were advanced to second reading.

Action for three bills, Senate Bills 275, 547 and 747, was postponed for one day.

The House is adjourned until 9 a.m. Thursday.

Senate Passes House Bill for Missing Child Recovery

Senate Floor Session

Madison Perdue

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March 4, 2020

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Senate Passes House Bill for Missing Child Recovery

The Senate convened at 10:00 a.m., passing 3 Senate bills and 22 House bills.

One bill, House bill 4415, seeks to improve the protection and recovery of missing and endangered children in West Virginia. The bill establishes a missing foster child locator unit program within the Department of Health and Human Resources. The unit would receive reports of missing foster children, assist law enforcement in locating these children and interviewing and completing trafficking screening for these children once they are recovered. The bill also establishes the Missing Child Information Act, which establishes requirements and duties for law-enforcement agencies to better the process of recovering missing children.

House bill 4551 defines criteria for continuing to receive an adoption subsidy if the adopted child is placed out of the home. The bill establishes an enhanced definition of the support requirement and provides means of reducing subsidy for families with children in long-term residential placements.

House bill 4519 creates a summer youth intern pilot program in the Department of Commerce for high school students. The bill creates a framework for schools and communities to engage their local stakeholders in programs teaching college and career skills and life skills for the changing modern workforce.

Three Senate supplemental appropriation bills were passed on Wednesday.

SB 854 expires $105,000 from the Purchasing Card Administration Fund to the Department of Arts, Culture and History.

SB 855 transfers $750,000 from the Purchasing Card Admission Fund to the West Virginia Commuter Rail Access Fund.

SB 856 transfers $222,563 from Synthetic Fuel-Producing County Fund to the Department of Commerce’s Marketing and Communications Operating Fund.

The Senate concurred with House amendments on four bills, completing their legislation.

Senate bill 125 prohibits victims of sexual assault from being subjected to certain physical examinations.

Senate bill 163 provides that marketplace facilitators are to collect the hotel occupancy tax. The bill states that a hotel operator may not represent to the public in any way that it will absorb any part of the tax or that the tax is not to be an element in the price to the customer.

Senate bill 545 authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to transfer special revenue funds from the Insurance Commission Fund to the Old Fund. The Old Fund was created to pay workers’ compensation claims with a date of injury on or before June 30, 2005.

Senate bill 651 simply clarifies the definition of “mortgage loan originator”.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 6 was also adopted, naming the Walter E. Swiger, Jr. memorial Bridge.

The Senate adopted Resolution 63, which designates March 4, 2020 as Recovery Community Day at the Capitol. Resolution 64 was also adopted, recognizing the efforts of the Kanawha State Forest Foundation. Two brief recesses were held for the presentation of these resolutions.

Resolution 65 was adopted as well, which designates the West Virginia State Folk Festival as the official site of the WV State Pepperoni Roll Championship.

House Concurrent Resolution 33 was adopted by the Senate, naming the USAF Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Donald Belknap Memorial Bridge.

The Senate is in recess until 7:00 p.m.

The Senate Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will meet at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow in room 451M.

The Senate Committee on Government Organization will meet at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow in room 208W.

Senate Education Advances Bill for Student Financial Aid

Senate Committee

Madison Perdue

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March 3, 2020

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Senate Education Advances Bill for Student Financial Aid

The Senate Education Committee met at 3 p.m., advancing seven House bills.

House bill 4737 seeks to clarify student eligibility for state-sponsored financial aid and requires the vice chancellor for administration to report on it. This bill would primarily apply to students who are raised by a grandparent or other family member rather than their parents and do not have access to the forms required to complete a FASFA to receive financial aid. The bill would waive the requirement for the completion of the FASFA in order to receive financial aid from the state under specific conditions.

Matt Turner, the vice chancellor of administration for the Higher Education Policy Commission, answered questions from the committee. He explained the bill allows for consultation with secondary schools in order to arrange the waiver.

“Currently, institutions can waive certain requirements for FASFA, but we can’t waive FASFA and provide state-level without this,” he said.
The bill was advanced to the full Senate.

House bill 4069 creates the West Virginia Student Religious Liberties Act. This bill seeks to protect a student’s right to express their religion without discrimination. The bill seeks to protect the right to express religious affiliation through posters, artwork and the creation of prayer groups. The bill would require all outlets for religious expression and the creation of clubs or groups follow the same guidelines as secular school groups.

Senator Mike Romano, D-Harrison, asked counsel if the bill unintentionally makes students able to cite religion as a means to override rules and regulations of schools. Counsel answered that the language of the bill prevents this and requires school regulations be followed.

House bill 4497 creates the Alex Miller Law. The bill is named after Roane County High School senior Alex Miller, a football player who passed away after collapsing at a football game. The bill requires defibrillators and a qualified defibrillator operator to be present at all secondary school athletic events.

House bills 2775, 4165, 4804 and 4535 were also advanced to the full Senate with recommendation for passage.

Update:

The Senate convened an evening floor session to receive committee reports and read bills a first time.

The Senate has adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m.

House Finance Advances Intermediate Court of Appeals

House Committee

Juliet Thomas

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March 3, 2020

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House Finance Advances Intermediate Court of Appeals

The House Finance Committee considered Senate Bill 275, a bill that would establish an Intermediate Court of Appeals, in committee on Monday.

Senate Bill 275 creates an Intermediate Court of Appeals, which is a court meant to add an extra step for appeals between the county circuit courts and the Supreme Court of Appeals. The Intermediate Court of Appeals would handle a variety of civil cases and would not handle any criminal cases. This would eliminate the Office of Judges and would place their duties under Board of Review hearing examiners.

The Intermediate Court would have two districts, one in the northern part of the state and one in the southern. A tentative map was drawn up to show the jurisdiction of each district. This map was drawn based on population, but it also attempts to keep circuit courts intact to make the appeals process easier. Each district would have three elected judges.
One of the five fiscal notes presented to the committee estimated the initial cost of the court to be $7.6 million, and $6.4 million annually after the first year. The actual cost of the court was unclear to the committee because of the range presented in the fiscal notes. An updated fiscal note was requested before Senate Bill 275 reaches third reading in the House.

Those supporting this bill argue that this court is needed to take the burden off the state Supreme Court. Although the number of appeals has declined in recent years, Senator Charles Trump IV, R-Morgan, told the committee he believed this is not an accurate representation of the full business done in the Supreme Court.

“By measure of decisions rendered, our Supreme Court is much busier now than it was in 2009,” Trump told delegates in an earlier House Judiciary Committee meeting.

Vice chairman of the House Finance Committee, Delegate Vernon Criss, R- Wood, supported this bill on the basis that it would strengthen the state’s judicial system.
“We should spend money to have proper organization of our court systems,” he said. “We need to give serious consideration to an Intermediate Court of Appeals. This is a good way to accomplish justice.”

Those opposing this bill said they believed the court is an unnecessary expense that would be better used for other parts of the state budget.

The House budget for 2020 was advanced out of committee last week. Delegate Jason Barrett, D- Berkeley, said, “I did not see $8 million allocated in our budget for a court of appeals. What I did see in the budget was $16.9 million for foster care, $19 million to eliminate the I/DD Waiver, and $16 million to fund Medicaid.”

Additionally, some delegates argued that creating this layer to the court system would actually delay cases instead of speeding them up, due to the nature of civil cases.

Delegate Isaac Sponaugle, D- Pendleton, opposed this bill for that reason.

“We have this shiny object that is trying to bring investments into the state, but it’s going to cost a lot of money and it’s going to delay our justice system,” he said. “It’s not going to provide better justice for our citizens.”

An amendment offered by the House Judiciary Committee, and later adopted by the Finance Committee, provided a permanent location for the northern and southern courts in Clarksburg and Beckley, respectively.

Delegate Jim Butler, R-Mason, offered several amendments in Finance to change the location of the southern court. He proposed to locate the court in Spencer, Hurricane and Point Pleasant. All these amendments were rejected.

The Senate has proposed and passed similar legislation the past three years, but it has never been reported to the full House.

House Finance advanced the bill to the full House. Senate Bill 275 was read a first time Tuesday and is now on second reading.

Senate Passes House Bill for Childhood Trauma Screening and Care

Senate Floor Session

Madison Perdue

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March 3, 2020

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Senate Passes House Bill for Childhood Trauma Screening and Care

The Senate convened at 11:00 a.m. today and passed 24 House bills.

House bill 4773 establishes statewide standards for a work group to investigate screening protocol for adverse childhood trauma. The bill states that the Bureau of Public Health is to provide staff for this work group. The purpose of this bill is to address a growing body of research linking childhood trauma to lifelong health consequences.

The bill states that the prevention of childhood trauma and mitigating the impact of such trauma are to be implemented into the state’s opioid response plan. Using a comprehensive systems approach, the protocols would provide for different care services such as referral to counseling programs, education about toxic stress, and identification and treatment of adverse childhood experiences and linked health conditions.

Senator Ron Stollings, D-Boone, explained the bill to the Senate and urged passage. “This bill has a far-reaching impact for the future of our children,” he said. The bill was passed with bipartisan support.

House bill 4790 extends the Career and Technical Education curriculum into middle school grades using comprehensive career exploration for success in occupations and entrepreneurship in the changing workforce. The bill requires middle school electives in Career Technical Education to be offered starting with the 2022-2023 school year.

House bill 4478 creates a lifetime ban for commercial drivers involved in human trafficking. The bill states that any driver using a commercial motor vehicle in a commission of a felony involving an act of human trafficking is prohibited from having a Commercial Driver’s License for life.

The Senate concurred with House amendments and completed legislation for Senate bill 201, which clarifies terminology and conditions for criminal stalking and harassment charges.

The Senate amended House amendments to Senate bill 849, which generally addresses military service as a factor in certain insurance rates. The bill prohibits an insurance company from increasing premiums when reinstating an insurance contract. The Senate requested the House to concur before legislation can be completed.

The Senate adopted Resolution 61, which recognizes Leadership Jefferson for their contributions and service to Jefferson County, West Virginia. The Senate also adopted Resolution 62, recognizing October as National Dwarfism Awareness month. Two brief recesses were held for the presentation of these resolutions.

The Senate is in recess until 6:30 p.m.

House Passes Renewable Energy Bill

House Floor Session

Juliet Thomas

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March 3, 2020

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The House convened at 9 a.m. for an early floor session and passed Senate Bill 583, which creates a program for renewable energy resources.

Senate Bill 583 permits electric companies to expand their capacity by providing energy from solar power. This bill aims to attract business into the state with the diversification of energy production.

There are several large businesses in the country that require a percentage of their energy to be produced by solar, including Amazon, Google and Netflix. These corporations have stated that they will not bring their business into West Virginia without the possibility of solar power production.

This solar power program will increase customer’s power bills by 18 cents per month, but this number has the potential to decrease if more customers sign up for solar energy. The largest consumer of energy in the state is the industrial sector.

Senate Bill 583 passed the Senate unanimously but was met with some resistance in the House. Those opposed to this bill were concerned about how solar power will affect the future of the coal industry in the state. However, others in support of the bill stated how this program will benefit the state by attracting large businesses. Additionally, those in support of this bill stated the potential of this program to actually increase usage of all forms of energy in the state, with the attraction of new energy customers. It is estimated that solar power is viable for 25% of energy production, and the remaining 75% is covered by coal and natural gas sources.

Delegate Rodney Miller, D- Boone, spoke in favor of the bill and mentioned how solar energy could benefit his county in southern West Virginia, which has been hit particularly hard by the decline of the coal industry.

“If this is something that we can do to move West Virginia forward, then we need to do this,” he said.

Despite the controversy, Senate Bill 583 was passed in the House.

Fourteen other Senate Bills were passed.

Ten bills were advanced to third reading. The budget bill, Senate Bill 150, was advanced to third reading with amendments pending and the general right to amend. Twenty-seven bills were advanced to second reading.

The House is in recess until 7 p.m.

After the recess, the House received committee reports and message from the Senate.

The House is adjourned until 10 a.m. Wednesday.