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House of Delegates Concurs With Senate Amendments

House Floor Session

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March 9, 2019

House of Delegates Concurs With Senate Amendments

Senate Bill 635 relates to coal mining activities. This bill expands protections to economic development, environmental, underground coal mining, and crimes and their punishment. The bill seeks to extend protections for mining operations. The House concurred with the Senate amendments and now the bill has passed legislation.

House Bill 2583 establishes the Family Planning Access Act. This bill permits trained pharmacists to give self-administered hormonal contraceptives under a standing prescription drug order. The House concurred with all Senate amendments, was passed, and now the bill has finished legislation.

House Bill 2694 relates to the state’s ability to regulate hemp. The bill adds new code sections to the Industrial Hemp Act. The state must submit to the Secretary of Agriculture in order to have primary regulatory authority over the production of industrial hemp. The House concurred with all Senate amendments, was passed, and will now finish legislation.

House Bill 3044 requires the Commissioner of Highways to develop a formula for allocating road funds. The bill provides terms, rule making authority, and requires the commissioner to develop a way for public communication and recommendation. The House refused to concur with Senate amendments that were made and will be sent back for their review.

House Bill 3143 relates to requirements for making consumer loans in West Virginia. The bill adjusts limits on consumer loans in the state where certain finance charges are applied and clarifies that a person must have a license from the divison before engaging in business. The House refused to concur with Senate amendments.

The House of Delegates will reconvene at 6:30 p.m.

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Senate Refuses to Concur with Amendments to Senate Bill 522

Senate Floor Session

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March 9, 2019

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Senate Refuses to Concur with Amendments to Senate Bill 522

The Senate reconvened at 3 p.m. to receive one message from the House of Delegates.

House amended and passed Senate Bill 522, Creating Special Road Repair Fund in which the Senate refused to concur with the House Amendments to the proposed legislation, and requested that the House recede from their amendments.

The Senate suspended the Constitutional rule requiring a bill to be read on three separate days for two bill that were passed out of the Senate Committee on Finance earlier this afternoon.

Senate Bill 424 would appropriate $10 million of un-appropriated funds from Fiscal Year 2019 to the Governor’s Contingency Fund, and Senate Bill 435 would appropriate of $12.7 million from un-appropriated funds from Fiscal Year 2019 and re-appropriate them to the following:

$3 million for Jim’s Dream Community in Schools
$9.7 million for Jim’s Dream -Vocational Training

The Senate also passed 14 bills that were on third reading. Those bills include the following:

House Bill 2807: Creating an additional modification to the West Virginia adjusted gross income of shareholders of S corporations engaged in banking
House Bill 2968: Adding remote service unit to the definition of customer bank communications terminals
House Bill 2947: Relating generally to telemedicine prescription practice requirements and exceptions
House Bill 3131: Relating to providing salary adjustments to employees of the Department of Health and Human Resources
House Bill 2674: Creating a student loan repayment program for a mental health provider
House Bill 2770: Fairness in Cost-Sharing Calculation Act
House Bill 2933: Modifying the criminal penalties imposed on a parent, guardian or custodian for child abuse resulting in injury
House Bill 2540: Prohibiting the waste of game animals, game birds or game fish
House Bill 3139: Relating to funding of the Public Employees Health Insurance Program
House Bill 2665: Supplemental appropriation for PEIA Rainy Day Fee
House Bill 2479: Corporate Governance Annual Disclosure Act
House Bill 2856: Relating to the administration of the operating fund of the securities division of the Auditor’s office
House Bill 2845: Relating to apprenticeship programs
House Bill 2490: Preventing proposing or enforcing rules that prevent recreational water facilities from making necessary upgrades

The Senate is currently in recess until 5 p.m.

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Concurrent Resolution Relating to Legislative Rules Passed by Finance

Senate Committee

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March 9, 2019

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A concurrent resolution which would change the legislative rules of the legislature was passed by the Senate Saturday.

If passed, Senate Concurrent Resolution 1 would allow for rejected bills to be carried over to the following session to further consideration. In an explanation from counsel, members learned specific details which would allow for the bills to essentially be revived in the committee in which they were rejected or unrecognized.

Counsel further explained that in order for the bill to be reintroduced in the session, the committee chair in which the bill was last active would have to push for the bill to be reconsidered. Legislation would keep the same number from the previous session and would be eligible for reconsideration unless the lead bill sponsor withdrew the legislation through written notice of the clerk.

Members of the committee sparked debate over the legislation as each member stated their support of opposition to the proposed change. Chair, Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, addressed the committee to explain that the resolution was created in order to make the legislative process more “efficient.”

Blair then stated that if issues were to arise in the future he would be open to reforming the change, but ultimately intends for the resolution to strengthen review of bills.

Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, then addressed the Chair to ask if previous studies had been done to review why the rule for bills to not be carried over existed. The Senator’s question resulted in the Chair urging Stollings to motion for the resolution to be a study resolutions.

Stollings then mentioned for the resolution to become a study resolution prior to the bill being reported for the full Senate with the recommendation of passage.

Also passed by the Senate were Senate Bills 424 and 435.

Oil and Gas Bill Rejected by Senate

Senate Floor Session

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March 9, 2019

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Legislation relating to proceeds from certain oil and gas wells was rejected in a 30-4 vote, Saturday.

If passed, House Bill 2779 would have provided that proceeds from certain oil and gas wells be kept in a special fund if the individual who own’s the well had a unknown address. Following a brief explanation from Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, multiple Senators rose in opposition prior to the rejection vote.

The bill was the last piece of legislation reviewed by the body following a brief recess Saturday. Before House Bill 2779 was rejected, a number of other bills were passed by the Senate.

Of the passed bills were:

2474 Relating to a reserving methodology for health insurance and annuity contracts
2618 Including undue influence as a factor in the definition of financial exploitation of an elderly person or protected person
2673 Creating the Oil and Gas Abandoned Well Plugging Fund
2761 Modernizing the self-service storage lien law

House of Delegates Passes Supplemental Appropriations Bills on Third Reading

House Floor Session

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March 9, 2019

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House of Delegates Passes Supplemental Appropriations Bills on Third Reading

The House of Delegates continued their consideration on Saturday, March 9, on the final day of the legislative session to pass several supplemental appropriations bills on third reading.

Senate Bill 677 was passed unanimously by the House of Delegates. This bill would issue $23.5 million dollars of supplemental appropriation dollars to the WV Department of Health and Human Resources.

Senate Bill 678 is another supplemental appropriations bill that was passed unanimously by the House. This bill would transfer money from the State Excess Lottery Revenue Fund to the Office of Technology.

Senate Bill 679 was also passed as well. This supplemental appropriations bill would give $298,000 to the WV Division of Finance

Senate Bill 680 is a supplemental appropriations bill that would give $345, 247 to various state divisions within the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety (DMAPS). This bill was also passed by the House with little discussion

Senate Bill 681 would take supplemental appropriations from Lottery Net Profits and issue them to Educational Broadcasting Authority. This was another supplemental appropriations bill that passed the House unanimously.

House Finance Committee Chairman Eric Householder, R-Berkeley, said that the WV Legislature has issued $225.9 million to various state agencies this session via the passage of supplemental appropriations bills.

The House of Delegates also had consideration of Senate Joint Resolution 5, a resolution to clarify the Judiciary’s Role in Impeachment Proceedings. The resolution, which needed a two-thirds vote to be adopted by the House of Delegates, failed with little discussion.

The House of Delegates is in Recess until 3:30 p.m. today, Saturday, March 9. They will reconvene again to receive Senate messages.

House of Delegates Convenes on Final Day to Receive Senate Messages

House Floor Session

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March 9, 2019

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House of Delegates Convenes on Final Day to Receive Senate Messages

The House of Delegates convened at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 9 on the final day of the legislative session to receive messages from the Senate.

Senate Bill 4, a bill to establish the permanency of the Municipal Home Rule Program, completed legislative action on this day. The Senate issued a title amendment to Senate Bill 4, which the House unanimously adopted and concurred with.

The Senate amended the title of Senate Bill 28, a bill to remove the hotel occupancy tax limit collects for medical care and emergency services, and also amended several provisions in the bill regarding dollar amounts of tax collections. The changes did not alter the nature of the bill’s impact, so the House concurred with these changes. Senate Bill 28 completed legislative action on this day.

Senate Bill 402, House Bill 2768, and House Bill 2982 all underwent technical amendments by the Senate, which were adopted by the House of Delegates.

Conference committees were appointed on two Senate Bills in order to reach a compromise between the two chambers.

The House refused to recede their amendments to Senate Bill 596 and appointed Delegate Jason Harshbarger, R-Ritchie, Delegate Chris Phillips, R-Barbour, and Delegate William Hartman, D-Randolph to conference on Senate Bill 596, which seeks to adjust voluntary contribution amounts on certain DMV forms. The Senate will also appoint three members for this conference committee.

A conference committee consisting of Delegate Moore Capito, R-Kanawha, Delegate Geoff Foster, R-Putnam, and Delegate Chad Lovejoy, R-Cabell, was appointed to reach a compromise on Senate Bill 487. The House refused to recede on their amendments for Senate Bill 487, which relates to admissibility of health care staffing requirements in litigation.

The House of Delegates also refused to concur with amendments on Senate Bill 405 and House Bill 2503, and will send a message to the Senate asking them to recede from their changes.

The House of Delegates concurred with a Senate amendment to House Bill 2849, a bill to establish different classes of pharmacy technicians. The Senate change would ensure verification of the proper authorities indicated in the bill.

The House of Delegates voted to concur as amended House Bill 3144 with a gallery full of WV coal miners looking on. The bill would provide a tax break for state coal miners via the North Central Appalachian Coal Severance Tax Rebate Act, a rebate that would be created by the bill.

Amendments to Senate Bill 673, a bill to eliminate the requirement for a state-wide master plan for public higher education and state and institutional compacts, were receded on this day. The Senate requested the House of Delegates to recede their changes to the bill, and they agreed to recede in a 52-44 vote.

A lengthy debate persisted over the House’s actions on House Bill 2001, a bill to issue a tax break to exempt social security benefits from personal income tax. The bill, a landmark piece of legislation by the House, went under significant changes by the Senate that put a salary cap on seniors who would receive tax exemptions, and implement the tax break over three years instead of within one fiscal year.

Delegate Mick Bates, D-Raleigh, echoed several members’ concerns that the Senate amendment changed the House bill too drastically.

“This isn’t a compromise if we concur, it’s a cave,” Bates said.

Several members were concerned that the House’s failure to concur with the Senate’s changes to House Bill 2001 could result in the death of the bill.

“Refusing to concur would simply be a high risk game of chicken,” Delegate Paul Espinosa, R-Jefferson argued.

The House of Delegates agreed to concur with the Senate changes to House Bill 2001 in a 52-44 vote.

Three Senate Bills Complete Legislation

Senate Floor Session

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March 9, 2019

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The Senate reconvened at 1 p.m. to receive messages from the House of Delegates.

Three Senate Bills completed legislation, and will be reported to Governor Justice to be signed into law or vetoed. Those bills include:

Senate Bill 544: Increasing salaries for members of WV State Police over three-year period
- The bill would increase the scheduled annual salaries of members of the West Virginia State Police by $3,000 per year effective July 1, 2019.
Senate Bill 543: Relating generally to automobile warranties and inspections
Senate Bill 564: Expanding comprehensive coverage for pregnant women through Medicaid

The Senate also amended the House Amendments to four Senate bills. Those bills include the following:

Senate Bill 622: Relating generally to regulation and control of financing elections
Senate Bill 632: Improving student safety
Senate Bill 665: Allowing for expedited oil and gas well permitting
Senate Bill 561: Permitting Alcohol Beverage Control Administration request assistance of local law enforcement

All four bills will be sent to the House of Delegates, and request concurrence of said bills.

The Senate is currently in recess until 2:45 p.m.

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Family Planning Access Act Passed By Senate

Senate Floor Session

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March 9, 2019

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Family Planning Access Act Passed By Senate

Legislation which would allow pharmacists to dispense contraceptives without a prescription was passed by the Senate, Saturday morning.

Discussion over House Bill 2583 opened the Senate’s last third reading of the 84th regular session, resulting in unanimous passage of the proposed legislation. Prior to the bill’s passage, Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, rose to urge the adoption of the bill but also condemned an amendment which was added during Friday’s second reading of the bill. The amendment in question established an 18 year or older age requirement to the legislation.

Before the bill came before the body, Senators engaged in brief debate over House Bill 2049, relating to a prime contractor’s responsibility for wages and benefits.

Other bills passed by the Senate included:

2670 Relating to damages for medical monitoring
2694 Relating to the state’s ability to regulate hemp
2709 Relating to hunting licenses
2828 Relating to Qualified Opportunity Zones
3020 Relating to sole source contracts for goods and services with nonprofit corporations affiliated with the respective education institutions
3024 West Virginia Business Ready Sites Program
3044 Requiring the Commissioner of Highways to develop a formula for allocating road funds
3134 Relating to requirements for consumer loans in West Virginia

Throughout third reading the body also received a number of House messages which resulted in the adoption of three House Concurrent Resolutions. Of these were HCR14 recognizing US Army CPT Benjamin Ronk Memorial Bridge, HCR 6 recognizing US Army PFC Earl Russkie Cobb. SPC4 Carl Bradford Godson, and SSGT George T. Saunders Jr. Memorial Bridge and HCR 17 relating to Marine Coprs CPL Larry Scott Kennedy Memorial Bridge.

Senate Receives House Messages, two Bills Sent to Conference Committee

Senate Floor Session

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March 9, 2019

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Senate Receives House Messages, two Bills Sent to Conference Committee

The Senate convened at 11 a.m. for the 60th day of the Legislative Session, and immediately took up House messages in regards to five bills.

The House refused to recede from their amendments to Senate Bill 241, Permitting county court clerks scan certain documents in electronic form, and Senate Bill 317, Authorizing three or more adjacent counties form multicounty trail network authority, and request the two bills go to a conference committee.

President Carmichael (R – Jackson, 4) appointed Senators Sypolt (R – Preston, 14), Swope (R – Mercer, 6), and Facemire (D – Braxton, 12) to the conference committee over Senate Bill 241, and appointed Senators Maynard (R – Wayne, 6), Smith (R – Tucker, 14), and Beach (D – Monongalia, 13) to represent the Senate’s interests over Senate Bill 317.

The Senate also amended the House Amendment to Senate Bill 40, Establishing Military Service Members Court program. Senator Weld (R – Brooke, 1) moved to amend the bill in its entirety, and bring it back to the original language of the Senate version. The proposed legislation would establish a Military Service Member Court program within the Supreme Court of Appeals.

The Senate also amended the House Amendments to Senate Bill 352, Relating to Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation acquiring and disposing of services, and Senate Bill 398, Relating to compensation for senior judges.

All three bills will be reported back to the House of Delegates, and will request concurrence of said bills.

The Senate is currently in session.

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Budget, Foster Care Bills Passed by Senate

Senate Floor Session

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March 8, 2019

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Budget, Foster Care Bills Passed by Senate

Legislation relating to the state’s budget and foster care system were passed by the Senate during an extensive floor session, Friday.

In a message sent by the House, Senate Finance Chair, Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, rose to discuss a comprised version of House Bill 2020, which features recommendation from both houses. Of the most notable compromises in this budget was a 5 percent pay raise to the state’s teachers and service personnel, resulting in a $67 million appropriation to the fiscal year 2020 budget.

Blairalso announced plans for a special session which would review the state’s educational system’s impact on the state budget.

Overall, the total appropriations for the bill rests at $13,818,886,210. After highlighting the main compromises and totals, Blair addressed the body to state that he supported the revised budget which he believed “had something for everyone.” For more information pertaining to the compromised budget click here.

Prior to arrival of the message, the body revived and passed legislation relating to the state’s foster care system with a 33-1 one.

The vote to pass the proposed legislation marks House Bill 2010’s second passage by a body, ultimately relying on the House of Delegates’ review of Senate messages to decided whether or not the bill will complete legislation. If passed the bill will create a multilayer reform to the state’s foster care system, most notably through a privatization of the system through Managed Care Organizations.

Lengthy discussion over the bill opened Friday’s third reading where multiple Senators rose to urge passage of the proposed legislation.

Following passage the body, members undertook a lengthy calendar with resulted in the passage of 32 bills. A majority of these bills received unanimous decisions from Senators after minimal discussion among members.

Two bills relating to education were motioned to have amendments withdrawn from education Chair, Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson. According to the Chair, House Bills 2378 and 2662 no longer needed the amendments adopted in education following the House’s revisions. Both pieces of legislation had amendments withdrawn before the bills were passed.

House Bill 2831, which would find and declare certain claims against the state to be moral obligations, received two amendments while on third reading. Prior to the bill’s passage, the body motioned to amend changes from the finance committee and from Sen. Dave Sypolt, R-Preston.

Passage of the bill was followed by a lengthy review of bills on second reading, resulting in nearly every bill receiving an amendment. For more information relating to Friday’s legislation calendar click here.