The Senate Committee on the Judiciary met for a brief meeting following the evening floor session to discuss House Bill 2540.
The proposed legislation would prohibit the waste of game animals, game birds or game fish. The Committee adopted a strike and insert amendment to the bill which would add additional language to greater clarify the provisions within the bill.
The Committee approved the bill, and will be reported to the Senate to be voted upon.
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Two study resolutions, intended to review the state’s education system, came before the Senate education in brief meeting, Thursday afternoon.
Both resolutions, which are being sponsored by members of the committee, were reported to the full Senate with the recommendation of passage.
Sen. Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, sponsor of one resolution, spoke in favor of the proposed legislation, explaining it’s objective of studying the state’s current education system.
According to the Senator, the resolution would seek to challenge the state’s decreasing enrollment by studying the current system in place and examine the possibility of reducing the state into 17 school districts.
“[Our state] keeps struggling with many factors of our education system,” Roberts said. “Hopefully this could aid in setting us on the right track.”
The second resolution proposed by the committee is intended to study the requirement provision of adequate mental health/counseling services to students across the state.
An amendment which would erase age limitations on the Family Planning Access Act was adopted with a 5-4 vote, Thursday.
Debate over House Bill 2583 began in the Senate Health and Human Resources committee following a request from Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, to amend a strike and insert amendment which was proposed by counsel earlier in the meeting.
Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, then raised concerns over the proposed amendment, directing caution to the possibility of a child obtaining and using a contraceptive without the consent or knowledge of their parent of guardian. Rucker then explained that after the bill arrived in the Senate, she consulted the sponsors of the bill who said they wouldn’t like to see the age requirement removed.
Following conversation with her fellow Senator from Boone, Rucker then stated that she wouldn’t be able to support the legislation following the adoption of Stollings’ amendment, citing the amendment could potentially cause the legislation to be rejected.
Prior to it’s adoption, Stollings furthered urged adoption of the bill by stating that if rejected, the bill would potentially contribute to the state child welfare crisis.
“We’re putting up a barrier if we support the age standard found in this bill,” Stollings said. “We have a major child welfare crisis in this state and I believe that teen pregnancy is a direct contributor. Putting up a age limit will establishing another barrier for the girls in our state.”
Following the adoption of the amendment, the committee motioned to report the bill to the full Senate with the recommendation of passage, in addition to House Bills 2490, 2954, 2407 and 2770.
Immediately following consideration of the Family Planning Access Act, multiple industry representatives came before members to explain House Bill 3131, a relating to salary adjustments to employee of the Department of Health and Human Resources. After lengthy discussion of the bill, members moved to adopt a committee amendment prior to reporting the bill to the full body.
Also passed by the committee were two study resolutions relating to defibrillators in public schools and the causation, diagnosis and compensation of black lung.
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary met Thursday morning before floor session to discuss House Bill 2079, removing certain limitations on medical cannabis grower, processor, and dispensary licenses.
The original House bill would limit the number of grower and processor permits, and dispensary permits to 165, and remove the requirements that licenses be limited in regions in the state.
The Committee adopted a strike and insert to the bill and would do the following:
The Committee adopted two amendments to the strike and insert. Senator Baldwin (D – Greenbrier, 10) moved to amend the strike and insert by adding “geographical locations” to the list of factors when granting a dispensary permit. Senator Lindsay (D – Kanawha, 8) amended the strike and insert by adding a requirement that any West Virginia business licensed under the bill must have 51 percent of the business own by West Virginia residents.
The bill was approved by the Committee, and will be reported to the Senate to be voted upon.
The Committee also adopted four originating Senate Concurrent Resolutions during the meeting. Those resolutions include:
All four resolutions will be reported to the Senate to be voted upon.
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The Senate Body convened Thursday morning and unanimously concurred with House amendments to Senate Bill 1, Increasing access to career education and workforce training.
The Proposed legislation would to establish an Advanced Career Education (ACE) program and create the West Virginia Invests Grant Program.
The ACE would prepare students in secondary schools for community and technical college for an associate’s degree or work certification. The program would require pathways that consist of a curriculum of courses leading to an associate degree or certification that has been determined to satisfy an area of workforce need as determined the Department of Commerce.
The West Virginia Invests Grants would provide tuition assistance to qualifying students who pursue higher education at a community or technical college. The bill also provides a provision for the Grant that people who graduate with assistance from the Grant must reside in the state for a minimum of two years. If they chose to leave the state, they will then be required to pay back the grant.
The House Amendment to the bill was for technical cleanup and stylistic changes.
Senate Bill 285, relating to sale of homemade food items, also completed legislation. The proposed legislation would create a procedure for the selling of unhazardous homemade food items, and would allow third-party distribution of those items.
The House Amendment to the bill was for technical changes.
The following bills also completed legislation:
All six bills will be vent to Governor Justice to be signed into law or vetoed.
The Senate also passed 16 bills on third reading which include the following:
30 bills were advanced to third reading including House Bill 2010, relating to foster care, with amendments passing as well.
The proposed legislation updates the regulation of foster care in West Virginia. The bill does nine things which include:
The Senate Committee on Finance amended the bill for technical cleanup and reorganization.
The Senate is currently in recess until 4:30 p.m.
The following committees will meet today:
Rules immediately following floor session in the President’s Chamber
Health 10 minutes following the conclusion of Rules in 451M
Education 10 minutes following the conclusion of Health in 451M
UPDATE:
The Senate is adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m.
The following committee will meet tonight:
Judiciary at 5:40 p.m. in 208W
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The House of Delegates met at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 7 to consider several pieces of legislation on third reading. The body passed 33 bills. Among noteworthy bills passed were Senate Bill 4 and Senate Bill 318.
The House of Delegates had a consideration of and passed Senate Bill 4, a bill to establish municipal home rule as permanent statute in the state of West Virginia. The municipal home rule program is currently statute in many municipalities across the state, allowing them to pass ordinances and establish levies and taxes according to their individual needs. The passage of Senate Bill 4 would prevent the program from succumbing to its sunset clause in July of 2019.
The House Government Organization committee proposed a primary amendment to the version of Senate Bill 4 that was passed by the Senate. The strike and insert amendment would make several substantial changes to the originally passed bill.
The strike and insert amendment removes the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act and Labor-Management Relations Act provisions from the list of laws which municipalities may not contradict to reflect the will of this committee. It originally added referendum language to Senate Bill 4 that would subject rules set by municipalities to referendum votes of 30% of the voting population.
Delegate Steve Westfall, R-Jackson, and several other delegates proposed a secondary amendment that would strike the referendum language from the strike-and-insert amendment.
Delegate Geoff Foster, R-Putnam, spoke against the secondary amendment, arguing that the removal of the referendum language would “remove the right of the people to have a say.”
Delegate Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, spoke in defense of the secondary amendment, arguing that a referendum would freeze any action that a municipality wanted to take as far as levying necessary taxes.
The secondary amendment passed in a 56-42 after a lengthy discussion.
A secondary amendment proposed by Delegate Chris Phillips, R-Barbour, was also passed by the House of Delegates. The amendment would prevent a municipality from passing any ordinance concerning the possession of firearms.
A similar secondary amendment was proposed by Delegate Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, regarding architectural engineering. This amendment to Senate Bill 4 was also adopted.
The House’s version of Senate Bill 4 was passed in a vote of 87-11.
Another substantial bill that was passed on this day was Senate Bill 318, which would transfer West Virginia’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit from the Office of the Inspector General to the Attorney General’s Office.
Senate Bill 318 has stark similarities to House Bill 2867, which aimed to do the same thing. This bill was defeated in the House Judiciary Committee several weeks ago.
Members were concerned about the movement of an arguably effective office to a more political office. Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, was one of the members who spoke in opposition of the bill’s passage.
“We would be putting this fraud unit in a political, high profile office. It’s going to sensationalize the whole process. We’re going to be seeing a lot more visibility and a lot more press conferences after investigations if this paces.”
Other Delegates spoke in favor of the bill’s passage, arguing that Medicaid investigations should not be carried out under the purview of a Department of Health and Human Resources office.
“This just avoids a conflict of interest,” Delegate Tom Bibby, R-Berkley, said.
Senate Bill 318 passed in a close vote of 58-42.
Other noteworthy bills on third reading that were passed out of the House of Delegates included the passage of Senate Bill 238.
Senate Bill 238, which was passed unanimously by the House of Delegates, would increase the fines and period of license suspension for passing a stopped school bus as well as provide for the installation of forward-facing and rear-facing cameras on all school buses.
Senate Bill 529 passed after a debate regarding the bill’s classification as a “booze bill”. The bill would clarify provisions in the Non-Intoxicating Beer Act. Most of the provisions regard the methods of licensure and ability of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission to regulate stores selling alcohol. One change would increase the ABV of non-intoxicating beers from 12 percent to 15 percent.
“This is yet again, another one of those booze bills that we’ve been passing all session,” Delegate Tom Fast, R-Fayette said. “The increase of access to alcohol does not make our state a better place.”
Despite the concerns from several members, Senate Bill 529 passed.
Senate Bill 658 was passed in an 85-13 vote. This bill would allow individuals in the state of West Virginia with a felony of financial matters to not be restricted from licensing a vehicle.
All bills on third reading were passed out of the House of Delegates. All bills can be accessed via the Calendar.
The House is in Recess until 5:00 p.m. today, Wednesday, March 7. The House will reconvene to consider bills on second reading and to receive committee reports and messages from the Senate.
Committees Meeting After Floor Session:
-The House Judiciary Committee will meet at 3:30 p .m. in 418-M for consideration of resolutions.
Two bills intended to create a PIEA rainy day fund were reported to the full Senate following the adoption of an amendment in Thursday’s Senate finance committee.
If passed, House Bills 3139 and 2665 would result in the creation of a PEIA fund intended to be used by the state’s higher education establishments. Prior to discussion of the bill, multiple individuals from the state’s governmental industries came before members to explain the specific details of the bill
Deputy Secretary of the Department of Revenue, Allen Prunty, opened discussion of 3139 by explaining the new fund would act as a way to address future premium increases from PEIA. The fund would be established with 150 million, 105 million of which would come from the supplemental appropriation found in House Bill 2665.
Prunty said the bill would establish three years of prefunding partially through a collection of fees from employees of the state’s higher education universities. The collection of these fees would be mandated, but according to Prunty, the bill established language which would give higher education employees the ability to request six additional months to cover the cost.
Following further discussions with additional representatives, Prunty returned to explain a conceptional amendment for the bill which was created through conversations with West Virginia University. The secretary explained the amendment would have serves two purposes; focusing the collection of assessment fees from those higher education employees who have PEIA, and establishing the option of a three payment installment plan, spanning three years, two of which are fiscal years.
After discussion of the amendment, Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, offered an additional amendment which would completely strike the section that requests payment from employees, keeping the language which establishes the fund. Tarr explained that the amendment intends to take the burden of payments away from the state’s higher education establishments, giving the Legislature the opportunity to find additional revenue to fund the remaining 40 million of the rainy day fund.
Multiple Senators agreed with Tarr’s amendment, ultimately resulting in it’s adoption to the bill. Following review of the amendment, counsel explain that the industry’s amendment would no longer be needed.
Following a vote from the committee, members motioned to report House Bill 3139, in addition to 2665, to the full Senate.
House Bill 2049 would amend §21-5-7 of the State Code 7 to provide additional language regarding how an employee may seek wages and/or fringe benefits from a prime contractor in the event that a subcontractor does not pay those wages and benefits in a manner consistent with the Wage Payment and Collection Act.
The Committee strike and insert amendment was different from the House version with regards to notification of employers. The House bill set requirements for delivery of notice including for the mail to be certified. The adopted strike and insert amendment does not set any requirements.
House Bill 2709 related to hunting licenses. The Committee adopted a strike and insert amendment to bill that took away all of the original language of the House bill, and inserted the language of Senate Bill 414, The Protect Our Right to Unite Act.
The now amended bill would protect an individual’s right to anonymously support organizations. The proposed legislation would provide that such information is exempt from production under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It would also state that the names, addresses, and other contact information of people’s hunting or fishing licenses is exempt from disclosure of a FOIA.
House Bill 2779 would use funds being held by the courts to plug orphaned oil and natural gas wells which are currently polluting the environment. The Committee adopted a strike and insert amendment proposed by Senator Romano (D – Harrison, 12) which would strike all of the language of the proposed House bill, and insert eh language of Senate Bill 541.
The amended bill would now require assurances for each well drilled instead of using a blank $50,000 bond to cover all wells drilled by an operator. In some cases, it only amounts to $20 per well. The bill would be in response to the orphaned well problem.
All three bills were approved by the Committee, and will be reported to the Senate to be voted upon.
The following bills were also passed by the Committee:
The Committee also considered passage of House Bill 2164 which would codify the right to appeal a final judgement of a circuit court to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. A motion was made by Vice Chair Weld (R – Brooke, 1) to strike all of the language of the House bill, and insert the language of Senate Bill 266, West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals. The motion was defeated by a vote of 8 – 8, and the bill is still in the Committee.
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A bill which would reduce the severance tax on the state’s coal became the topic of extensive debate in Wednesday’s Senate finance committee.
Following the introduction of a committee amendment to House Bill 3142, members participated in lengthy discussion, ultimately resulting in the adoption of an amended amendment and the bill being reported to the full Senate with the recommendation of passage.
Senior Vice President for the West Virginia Coal Association, Chris Hamilton, stood before the committee to address numerous concerns surrounding the proposed legislation and further explained the intentions of the bill. According to Hamilton, the state’s coal severance tax is split into two categories; thermal and steam. If passed, the bill would effect the amount of severance tax which is given back to the state and to counties.
Currently the state receives 4.65 of the tax while counties receive .35. House Bill 3142 intends to reduce the state collection to 2.65 over a period of years while still allocating .35 to individual counties.
While discussing the legislation, multiple committee members questioned how the legislation could potentially impact employment in the state’s coal mines. Mark Muchow, deputy secretary for the Department of Revenue then came before the committee to explain that an impact on employment would depend on the market for steam coal, and although the market seems to be decreasing for surrounding states, West Virginia has recently experienced a 3.65 increase in coal production.
After numerous Senators spoke in favor and opposition of the bill, the committee concluded discussion of the legislation by adopting a committee amendment which was then amended by Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, to require 5% of the coal’s severance tax to be allocated to counties for the purpose of economic development.
Prior to consideration of the bill, the committee also reviewed House Bills 2673 and 2807 and reported each to the full Senate.
The committee opened their meeting by reviewing multiple supplemental appropriations, all relating to reallocation of state funds to various government organizations. Following consideration, all were reported to the full body.
The House of Delegates’ fiscal year 2020 budget was passed by the Senate in a 20-14 vote, Wednesday.
Immediately following passage of House Bill 2020, majority leader, Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, motioned for the bill to become effective upon passage, resulting in rejection.
The proposed budget received a strike and insert amendment from finance committee Chair, Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, Tuesday, ultimately resulting in the budget being amended to include the Senate’s budget.
Senate Bill 150, the Senate’s budget bill, included reductions to the Governor’s introduced budget by a total of $100 million. Most notably of the reduced allocation is the withdrawal of the Governor’s proposed teacher raise totaling $80,000,000.
Improvements to the proposed bill currently totals at $137,048,000 for fiscal year 2020.
Following passage of the budget, the body also passed numerous House Bills following brief discussion. Of the passed legislation were House Bills 2009, 2083, 2515, 2530, 2550, 2617 and 2647.
Of the 13 House Bills on second reading, eight received amendments from various Senators and committees in the body. House Bill 2992, which relates to governmental websites, received an amendment from the committee on government organization and then received an amendment to the amendment from the finance committee,
Prior to readings, the body acknowledged various pieces of unfinished business and received multiple messages from the House, many of which were amended by the body. Senate Bill 154, which would allow for school facilities to be used for memorial services for certain community members, and Senate Bill 360, relating to third-party litigation financing, received amendments to the House’s amendments.
Multiple resolutions relating to George Washington High School’s athletic teams were also passed during Wednesday’s floor session Each of the resolutions were intended to congratulate the teams for their achievements. Of the resolutions were Senate Resolutions 70, 71 and 72.
The Senate is currently in recess until 6 p.m.
The following committees will meet today:
The following committees will meet tomorrow:
UPDATE: The Senate reconvened following their 6 p.m. recess to recieve committee reports and announce additional committee meetings. The body also recieved a proclamation from the Governor extended the session for one day with the intention of focusing on the 2020 budget.
