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Senate Adopts Four Amendments to Student Success Act, Moves Bill to Third Reading

Senate Floor Session

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June 2, 2019

Senate Adopts Four Amendments to Student Success Act, Moves Bill to Third Reading

The Senate adopted four amendments to the Student Success Act and advanced the bill to third reading during a Sunday afternoon floor session.

Senator Charlie Trump (R-Morgan, 15) successfully amended the bill. His change deals with the withholding of pay and preventing extracurricular activities during a public school strike. The amendment also prevents superintendents from being able to close school during a work stoppage. The change codifies that strikes of this nature are illegal.

Senator Ryan Weld (R-Brooke, 1) amended the bill to remove an institution of higher education from being a potential authorizer of charter schools, among other changes.

Senator Eric Tarr (R-Putnam, 4) amended the bill to allow county boards to establish an exceptional needs fund from surpluses for students who are likely to perform better outside of the public school setting.

Senator Patricia Rucker (R-Jefferson, 16) made a technical amendment to the bill.

An amendment by Senator Bill Hamilton, (R-Upshur, 11) to allow county voters to approve charter schools by referendum, was rejected.

The bill will be up for a vote on third reading in the Senate tomorrow.

Senate Bill 1040, Education Savings Account Act, was approved by the Rules Committee, read a first time, and will be on second reading tomorrow.

The Senate has adjourned until tomorrow, June 3, at 9 a.m.

Senate Introduces Student Success Act

Senate Floor Session

Christopher Marshall

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June 1, 2019

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The Senate reconvened the 1st Extraordinary session Saturday morning, introducing Senate Bill 1039, Establishing the Student Success Act, as well as several other bills.

The bill includes a variety of proposed changes to the public education system, including pay increases, charter schools under the purview of county and state boards of education, increased support personnel for schools, open enrollment, incentives to fill in-demand positions and financial support for smaller county school systems, among other things.

The bill removes concepts that were controversial during the 2019 regular session, including education savings accounts, “paycheck protection” and a nonseverability clause.

Other changes made to the bill late Friday night included:

• Removing authority of county boards to increase their regular levy rate.

• Correcting language in the teacher-pupil ratio section to be consistent with the intent to not
change class sizes.

• Removing all of the strike/work stoppage language except for prohibiting extracurricular
activities on days school is closed due to a work stoppage or strike.

• Adding language to the Innovation in Education article providing that no waivers from state
board rules can be granted without the approval of the State Board.

• Allowing any accredited WV public institution of higher education to apply to convert or create a
charter school, but prohibits an institution of higher education from applying to itself or another
institution of higher education.

• Making several changes to provisions relating to the searchable budget database and website
such as adding language providing that the State Superintendent shall not be required to violate
FERPA; and providing that employee addresses are not to be made public or otherwise
displayed on the budget data website.

• Removing language providing that net enrollment does not include any adult charged tuition or
special fees beyond that required of the regular secondary vocational student.

A motion to suspend the constitutional rules requiring a bill be read on three separate days for SB1039 failed on a 18-15 vote. A 4/5 vote was needed to suspend the rules. Senate Bill 1039 will be on second reading on Sunday, June 2.

Senate Bill 1040, Education Savings Account Act, was also intoduced. A motion to take the bill up for immediate consideration failed. The bill will be on first reading tomorrow, June 2.

Senate Bill 1041 , WV Business Ready Sites Program, and Senate Bill 1042 , Special Community Development School Pilot Program, were introduced and referred to committee.

Finally, the Senate amended and passed House Bill 118, which relates to the use of post-criminal conduct in professional and occupational initial licensure decision making. The bill had passed earlier in the special session. Corrections were made today to avoid unintended consequences and get the legislation more in line with its intent. The bill now goes to the House of Delegates for consideration.

The Senate has adourned until tomorrow, June 2, at 2:00pm.

Special Session Call Amended

House Floor Session

Christopher Marshall

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May 31, 2019

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Gov. Jim Justice amended his proclamation for the First Extraordinary Session of 2019, adding a bill relating to the West Virginia Business Ready Sites Program.

The governor issued the amended proclamation Friday.

The Senate is set to resume the special session Saturday at 10 a.m. The House is set to reconvene at 8:30 a.m. Monday, June 17.

Senate to Reconvene Saturday, House to Reconvene June 17

Senate Floor Session

Christopher Marshall

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May 30, 2019

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Senate to Reconvene Saturday, House to Reconvene June 17

The Senate will resume the First Extraordinary Session of 2019 at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 1.

House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, sent a letter Thursday to all delegates informing them that the House will resume the special session at 8:30 a.m. Monday, June 17.

The House split into four select education committees, with these committees consisting of 25 members. Nine bills were assigned to these select committees.

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Gov. Jim Justice has signed 17 bills as of Thursday, including bills dedicating money to improve state roads and a bill allowing for “vertical integration,” which is intended to help the state’s medical cannabis program.

These are the bills:

House Bill 111– Relating to refunds of excise taxes collected from dealers of petroleum products
House Bill 112– Relating generally to the personal income tax
House Bill 115– Relating generally to court actions in abuse and neglect proceedings
House Bill 116– Relating generally to persons 18 years of age and older in the custody of the Bureau of Juvenile Services
House Bill 117– Relating to reduced rates for low-income residential customers of privately owned sewer and combined water and sewer utilities
House Bill 119– Supplementing, amending, decreasing, and increasing items from the State Road Fund to the Department of Transportation
House Bill 133– Relating to the admissibility of health care staffing requirements in medical professional liability litigation
Senate Bill 1001– Upper Kanawha Valley Resiliency and Revitalization Program
Senate Bill 1004– Antihazing law
Senate Bill 1006– Authorizing the West Virginia Board of Physical Therapy to conduct criminal background checks on initial license applicants
Senate Bill 1009– Establishing health professionals’ student loan programs
Senate Bill 1012– Creating voluntary certification of recovery residences
Senate Bill 1013– Permitting certain trained professionals to provide counseling in medication-assisted treatment program
Senate Bill 1016– Supplemental appropriation to the Department of Transportation, Division of Highways
Senate Bill 1019– Supplementing, amending, decreasing, and increasing existing appropriations from State Road Fund to DOH for fiscal year ending June 30, 2020
Senate Bill 1026– Expiring funds from Treasurer’s Unclaimed Property Fund and supplementing appropriations to Governor’s Office
Senate Bill 1037– Relating generally to medical cannabis

Governor Signs Four Bills From Special Session

Around the Capitol

Andrea Lannom

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May 29, 2019

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Governor Signs Four Bills From Special Session

Gov. Jim Justice has signed four bills that were passed during the special session.

Last week, the Legislature resumed its special session, passing 18 bills, before adjourning until further call of the House Speaker and Senate President. The Senate plans to reconvene Saturday.

On Tuesday, the governor signed four bills into law, including three bills directing money to improve state roads:

House Bill 119– Supplementing, amending, decreasing, and increasing items from the State Road Fund to the Department of Transportation
House Bill 133– Relating to the admissibility of health care staffing requirements in medical professional liability litigation
Senate Bill 1016– Supplemental appropriation to the Department of Transportation, Division of Highways
Senate Bill 1019– Supplementing, amending, decreasing, and increasing existing appropriations from State Road Fund to DOH for fiscal year ending June 30, 2020

Legislature Passes 18 bills, House Creates Four Select Education Committees

House Floor Session

Andrea Lannom

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May 21, 2019

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Legislature Passes 18 bills, House Creates Four Select Education Committees

The West Virginia Legislature passed 18 bills Monday, including bills dedicating money to secondary road maintenance and legislation to help the state’s medical cannabis program.

The Legislature resumed its special session to fix bills that were vetoed by Gov. Jim Justice. The governor had 33 bills on his amended call. Both chambers adjourned until further call of the House Speaker and Senate president.

Three bills that completed legislation – House Bill 119, Senate Bill 1016, and Senate Bill 1019 — would direct an additional $88.5 million to improve state roads, with a significant amount going toward secondary road maintenance.

The Legislature also passed Senate Bill 1037, which would allow for vertical integration in the state’s medical cannabis program. The bill allows people or businesses to hold grower, processor and dispensary permits instead of limiting them to just one. The bill additionally said patient certificates may not be issued until July 1.

A list of completed legislation can be found here.

The House created four separate education committees comprised of 25 members each. Nine bills, including the proposed teacher and service personnel pay raise bill, were assigned to these select committees. These bills were:

House Bill 134-increasing the annual salaries of public school teachers and school service personnel, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education D
House Bill 135– increasing the amount that a faculty senate of a public school may allocate to a classroom, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education A
House Bill 136– authorizing a study of student loan payments tax credits and a loan forgiveness program for teachers, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education B
House Bill 138-restoring local public school flexibility, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education D
House Bill 139-authorizing a competitive grant program to implement vocational-technical education programs, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education A
House Bill 140-providing a bonus for teachers willing to teach in certain critical needs areas, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education A
House Bill 141-relating to school calendar and testing, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education D
House Bill 142– relating to modifications to the school aid formula, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education A
House Bill 143– increasing the basic foundation allowance to the county for professional student support personnel, which was referred to Select Committee on Education A

A motion to take up for immediate consideration Senate Bill 1029, which would provide a pay raise for teachers and school service personnel, failed and the bill was sent to the Senate Education Committee. Six other education bills were referred to the Senate Education Committee:

Senate Bill 1030– increasing basic foundation allowance for county professional student support personnel
Senate Bill 1031– authorizing competitive grant program for vocational-technical education programs in middle schools
Senate Bill 1032– restoring local public school flexibility
Senate Bill 1033– modifying school aid formula
Senate Bill 1034– relating to studies of certain issues affecting public education
Senate Bill 1035– relating generally to high-quality education

A motion to suspend the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three separate days failed for House Bill 113, which would establish tax incentives for new businesses in opportunity zones. This bill was read a first time.

Bills advanced to second reading in the House were:

Senate Bill 1015– supplemental appropriation to Secretary of State, General Administrative Fees Account
Senate Bill 1017– supplemental appropriation to Department of Arts, Culture, and History, Educational Broadcasting Authority
Senate Bill 1020– supplementing and amending Chapter 31, Acts of the Legislature, 2019, known as Budget Bill
Senate Bill 1021-decreasing existing appropriation and adding appropriation to Department of Veterans’ Assistance
Senate Bill 1023– supplementing, amending, increasing, and adding items of appropriations to Attorney General, Consolidated Federal Fund
Senate Bill 1024– supplemental appropriation to Department of Agriculture Capital Improvements Fund
Senate Bill 1025– supplemental appropriation to DHHR, Division of Human Services for fiscal year ending June 30, 2019
Senate Bill 1027– adding new items and increasing existing items to various accounts
Senate Bill 1038– supplemental appropriation to the DHHR Division of Health’s Central Office

Delegate Chuck Little sworn into office

Swearing-In Ceremony

Andrea Lannom

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May 20, 2019

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Wood County Delegate Chuck Little was sworn into office Monday.

Little, a republican representing the ninth district, replaces Delegate Ray Hollen, who resigned earlier this month.

In his career, Little served 14 years with the West Virginia State Police, served as a special investigator on the U.S. House of Representatives Government Reform and Oversight Committee, a special agent for the U.S. Treasury Department, an investigative consultant with Bowles Rice McDavid Graff and Love PLLC, and currently works as a chief investigative consultant for Bailey and Glasser LLP.

West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Tim Armstead administered the oath of office in Monday morning’s ceremony and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, assisted.

Flooding Committee Updated on School Construction, Stream Gauges

Interim Report

Andrea Lannom

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May 20, 2019

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Flooding Committee Updated on School Construction, Stream Gauges

The Joint Committee on Flooding heard updates on school construction in Nicholas and Kanawha counties and also heard updates on stream gauge installation.

Ben Ashley, director of architectural services at the School Building Authority told lawmakers that Kanawha County is tracking well, mentioning especially, Clendenin. He said Kanawha and Nicholas counties are nearing completion of FEMA’s mandated environmental assessments. Ashley said he is cautiously optimistic about the timeline.

Kanawha County completed the procurement, design and construction of portables. The environmental historical consultations of the historic review of Clendenin Elementary also has been completed, he said. The site justification process for both schools in Kanawha County also have been completed.

Clendenin Elementary is the farthest along in the process with the completion of FEMA’s internal legal review—which is part of a 50-day review window. This internal legal review is about to begin for Herbert Hoover High School.

Nicholas County received CEFP approval and school closure approval from the state Board of Education, he said. Ashley said the SBA is waiting on the status of submissions for Summersville, Glade Creek and the Cherry River sites. He said once that is approved, the 50-day review period starts.

Sue Chapman, director of finance for the School Building Authority, said $5,990,701 has been spent so far. In Kanawha County, $428,354 has been spent so far for demolition. In Nicholas County, $536,000 has been spent for demolition. The total amount spent in Kanawha County was 4,827,201 and $1,163,500 for Nicholas County.

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Jeremy White, with the U.S. Geological Survey Virginia-West Virginia Water Science Center, updated lawmakers on stream gauge installation.

White told the committee that if gauges were in place in White Sulphur Springs during the 2016 floods, people could have subscribed to receive texts or emails when these gauges reached a defined threshold. The Department of Highways then could have started closing roads earlier. Adding a gauge at Howard Creek in White Sulphur Springs was part of the 2019 network expansion.

Gauges also provide historical data of flooding to help understand potential future flooding events.

White said there is a need for funding so the gauges can be maintained. Current funding for installation and equipment upgrades ends September 30. He said there are sensors for about 90 percent of the sites and there is minor reconnaissance left to do. The goal is to have all gauges installed by that deadline. However, if there is no funding after that deadline, he said all 39 newly-installed stream gauges will not be supported or maintained and data will not be transmitted.

He told lawmakers $800,000 is needed to continue operating and maintaining the network – about $430,000 going toward the existing network and $370,000 for the new network.

The USGS receives about 60 percent of federal dollars and 40 percent of its funding from the state. He told lawmakers that a short-term supplemental request is needed to shore up the project for the coming year but in the future, they need more stable funding.

About $765,000 was provided through the state budget surplus funding in October 2018 to the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, which signed a joint funding agreement with the USGS. About $425,000 was contributed directly to the existing stream network.

About $390,000 went to upgrades and installing 39 sites with 31 sites part of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s IFLOW network. The USGS matched about $340,000 with additional one-time funds for infrastructure improvements and equipment purchases.

Flooding Committee Hears Updates on Richwood, RISE

Interim Report

Andrea Lannom

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April 30, 2019

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Flooding Committee Hears Updates on Richwood, RISE

The Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding met Tuesday, hearing from the State Auditor’s office and Maj. Gen. James Hoyer.

In the two-hour meeting, lawmakers heard updates on RISE and an audit examining Richwood’s finances.

Steve Connolly, general counsel for the State Auditor’s office, presented findings from the audit. The report started out as an investigation into allegations of purchasing card misuse but it later turned into an 18-month examination of Richwood’s finances.

According to the audit, which was released last month, FEMA allocated $3.1 million to help in recovery efforts from the 2016 floods. However, the audit said, “the city’s recovery has been inhibited by personal greed, incompetence and a complete disregard of fiscal management.”

“Sadly, the City of Richwood now teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, and the primary beneficiaries of the monies appear to be only a few public officials and their family and friends,” the audit stated.

Connolly told the committee a large sum of FEMA funds did not go to its intended purpose. He said the town received $2,574,657 in funds through the public assistance grants program, $36,000 through hazard mitigation, and $512,544 in community disaster loans.

Of the $2.5 million for the public assistance grants, Connolly told the committee about $518,000 was transferred to the general operating funds, at which point it became untraceable. He told the committee more than $900,000 from FEMA funds for specific projects resulted in questionable expenditures or documentation.

The audit outlined several issues, including money requested to repair the city’s main water intake. The city received about $500,000 from FEMA to repair the intake. However, the city made a $400 temporary fix with PVC piping and re-directed FEMA money to pay city officials’ salaries and city debts, according to the audit. The audit stated the water intake has not been repaired and on one occasion, the entire city’s water system was shut down.

Other issues outlined in the audit included:

Richwood has potential financial liabilities of nearly $3 million and the city does not appear to have financial means to pay off its liabilities
City Council gave discretion to a recovery team to pay themselves, family, and friends more than $468,000
The city failed to keep accounting of FEMA funds and diverted money from its intended purpose
Former Mayor Bob Baber gave his assigned purchasing card to unauthorized users for at least 19 purchases
Former Police Chief Lloyd Cogar misused his purchasing card, including spending more than $2,000 in tire purchases and services from his personal tire store

Connolly said former city officials were arrested following this audit. According to media reports, Cogar, Baber, former clerk Abigail McClung, and current Richwood Mayor Christine Drennen were arrested earlier this month.

The state Auditor’s office issued seven recommendations following the audit. Recommendations included for the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety to evaluate how FEMA money is received and to institute better oversight of counties and municipalities that receive FEMA money.

Other recommendations included to establish a guidebook and mandate annual training for counties and municipalities on managing public money after an emergency.

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Hoyer gave lawmakers a brief update on RISE. He told the committee that as of Tuesday, there are 498 cases, representing an increase of 33 cases from last year.

He said the reason for this increase is because the case management team goes back through and identifies additional individuals eligible.

So far, 50 homes have been completed and 83 are under contract management. He estimated by the end of June, 300 cases would be under the various stages under contract management.

Hoyer also answered questions about West Virginia’s return to HUD’s “slow spender” list for the state’s pace regarding its spending of the total grant award. Hoyer explained slow spender is determined by a three-month average of overall spending compared to the overall grant award.

Hoyer told the committee there were two main factors that contributed to West Virginia being placed back on that list—lengthy environmental processes and significant weather conditions during the winter months.

Hoyer said he is working with West Virginia University’s Law Institute and Marshall University’s environmental center to help expedite and address environmental issues.