Blog – Page 132

House of Delegates Convenes to Pass Bills on Third Reading

House Floor Session

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February 26, 2019

The House of Delegates convened at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, February 26 to consider forty-four bills on third reading on the 49th day of the regular legislative session. Forty-four bills were passed on this day, in preparation for Wednesday being crossover day.

House Bill 2011 was passed by the House of Delegates after a lengthy discussion regarding the scope of privatization in the implications of the bill. This bill would create a program in the state known as the Road Maintenance Program that would allow for and encourage a program in every district of the state to contract out with private contractors in order to perform road maintenance within that district. The WV Division of Highways and Legislative Auditor would oversee the efficacy of this bill if it were to pass. The Road Maintenance Program would aim to solve for the abundance of road work projects, however, several members were concerned about the amount of contracting the Division of Highways would do out of the state of West Virginia. Despite this, the bill was passed overwhelmingly.

House Bill 2014 was also passed by the House of Delegates. This bill would create the WV Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets Act, which would strengthen protections for items created of commercial value. The bill would add a formula definition of intellectual property, adds provisions to protect employment nondisclosures, and provides criminal and civil penalties for violations.

House Bill 2049 would provide protections for prime contractors in regards to wages and benefits. If an employee believes that they haven’t been paid the proper amount of wages by the prime contractor, they would have to first notify the prime contractor of the discrepancy and then give them notice and provide them with verifiable proof, such as a check stub. They must also give the contractor time to remedy the lack of payment before taking court action. This bill passed unanimously in a 58-41 vote.

House Bill 2378 passed unanimously. This bill would allow the revocation of state teaching licenses from individuals who have been convicted of a crime requiring them to register as sex offenders, or individuals who have been convicted of a crime regarding the possession or transfer of a controlled substance.

House Bill 2396 was also passed unanimously on this day. This bill would create the WV Fresh Food Act. This bill would require all state funded institutions to purchase a minimum of 5% of fresh food from West Virginia. The intent of this bill is to stimulate economic growth for the state’s agricultural industry.

House Bill 2497 was passed unanimously by the House of Delegates. If passed, this bill would issue more protections for whistleblowers in the state of West Virginia. It codifies the protection of West Virginia whistleblowers, and mandates that they cannot be passed up for a raise or promotion because of their status as a whistleblower, and they cannot be prohibited from taking part in political or union activities.

House Bill 2617 would require the Insurance Commissioner to provide for the use of electronic means of delivery and electronic signing of the form for making an offer of optional uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage by insurers. After little debate concerning the rights of the uninsured and underinsured, this bill ultimately passed.

House Bill 2991 was also passed on this day, a bill to require the WV Office of Drug Control Policy within the DHHR to conduct an assessment of WV’s system of care for treatment and recovery services for substance use disorder. This assessment will be used to find gaps in the treatment and recovery services for substance use disorders. Money found in these assessments will be allocated to the Ryan Brown Fund.

House Bill 3020 would allow an institutional governing board, the Higher Education Policy Commission or the Community and Technical College Council to enter into a contract for materials, goods, equipment, services, printing, facilities, or financial services with an affiliated nonprofit corporation in the state. After lengthy discussion, this bill was also passed.

House Bill 3131 also generated lengthy discussion, but was ultimately passed. This bill would give the Department of Health and Human Resources the authority to use existing funds to make salary adjustments and increase the salary ranges for certain employees, such as CPS workers.

Action on House Bill 2931 and House Bill 2937 was postponed for one day.

All other 34 bills passed by the House of Delegates can be accessed on the Calendar.

The House of Delegates is in recess until 3:00 p.m. today, Tuesday, Feb. 26 to continue consideration of the posted agenda.

Committees Meeting Today After Floor Session:

-The House Committee on Political Subdivisions will meet at 1 p.m. in 434-M.

-The House Committee on Pensions and Retirement will meet at 4 p.m. in 460-M.

-The House Committee on Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services will meet at 5 p.m. in 215-E.

-The House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources will meet at 7 p.m. in 215-E.

Transportation Committee Amends House Bill

House Committee

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February 26, 2019

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House Bill 2539 was unanimously voted to be amended by the Senate committee for transportation and infrastructure, Tuesday morning.

If passed, the legislation, which relates to exemptions to the commercial driver’s license requirements, would align the Division of Motor Vehicle’s speciality farming license to federal code.

Dwayne O-Dell from the West Virginia Farming Bureau, explained that the license would only pertain to to a very small number of farmers in the state which would grant them permission to certain farm vehicles during particular periods of the year.

General Counsel for the DMV, Adam Holley, came before the committee to ask if members could also apply a $25 annual fee to the legislation. Currently, Holley predicts that due to the license only applying to small pool of citizens, employees of the DMV would be unable to attain familiarity with the extensive process of applying the license

Holley stated that a fee of any amount of would be able to assist in educating employees if the program were to increase following implementation.

Sen. Greg Boso, R-Nicholas, motioned to amend the legislation by applying a $10 fee to the bill. Boso explained that the lower amount would be more comparable to the current cost of a commercial license in the state.

Following consideration, the committee voted to amend the legislation and report the bill to the full Senate with the recommendation of passage.

House of Delegates Rejects Motion to Reject Campus Carry Bill

House Floor Session

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February 25, 2019

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The House advanced the Campus Self Defense Act Monday evening following rejection of a motion to reject the bill on first reading.

The bill would amend the provisions of West Virginia Code relating to the authority of state boards to restrict the carrying of a concealed deadly weapon on the property of a state public institutions of higher education.

The bill amends provisions relating to the authority of the Higher Education Policy Commission, the institutional Boards of Governors and the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education by stating that the none of the statutory authority of the boards shall be construed to provide the authority to restrict or regulate the carrying of a concealed deadly weapon by a person who holds a current license to carry a concealed deadly weapon, except as authorized.

The bill is up for second reading on Tuesday.

The House passed the following bills:

· Senate Bill 26 – Permitting certain employees of educational service cooperatives participate in state’s teacher retirement systems

· Senate Bill 489 – Relating to Pharmacy Audit Integrity Act

· House Bill 2229 – Adding violations of law upon which a public servant’s retirement plan may be forfeited

· House Bill 2452 – Creating the West Virginia Cybersecurity Office

· House Bill 2550 – Creating a matching program for the Small Business Innovation and Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program

· House Bill 2598 – Relating to submitting a certifying statement attesting to status as a charitable or public service organization

· House Bill 2690 – Relating to guaranty associations

· House Bill 2694 – Relating to the state’s ability to regulate hemp

· House Bill 2718 – Requiring purchasers of roundwood to collect and maintain certain information

· House Bill 2770 – Fairness in Cost-Sharing Calculation Act

· House Bill 2816 – Removing the terms “hearing impaired,” “hearing impairment,” and “deaf mute” from the West Virginia Code and substituting terms

· House Bill 2827 – Removing the residency requirements for hiring deputy assessors

· House Bill 2828 – Relating to Qualified Opportunity Zones

· House Bill 2830 – Establishing Next Generation 911 services in this state

· House Bill 2837 – Relating to the licensing of advance deposit wagering

· House Bill 2926 – Requiring the Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to study the housing needs of veterans

· House Bill 3024 – West Virginia Business Ready Sites Program

· House Bill 3045 – Exempting certain complimentary hotel rooms from hotel occupancy tax

· House Bill 3132 – Relating to exempting providers that serve no more than 30 patients with office-based medication-assisted treatment

· House Bill 3133 – Relating to requiring a parolee or probationer found to have suffered with addiction to participate in a support service

· House Bill 3134 – Establishing criminal penalties for negligent homicide, and increasing criminal penalties for reckless driving

· House Bill 3135 – Expiring funds to the balance of the Department of Commerce, Development Office

Bills Amended on Second Reading:

· House Bill 2014 – West Virginia Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets Act

· House Bill 2049 – Relating to a prime contractor’s responsibility for wages and benefits

· House Bill 2378 – Relating generally to grounds for revocation of a teaching certificate

· House Bill 2662 – Relating to certificates or employment of school personnel

· House Bill 2802 – Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act

· House Bill 2991 – Relating to the Ryan Brown Addiction Prevention and Recovery Fund

· House Bill 3044 – requiring the Commissioner of Highways to develop a formula for allocation road funds

· House Bill 3136 – relating to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

· House Bill 3137 – relating to the personnel income tax fund

· House Bill 3139 – relating to the funding of the Public Employees Health Insurance Program

· House Bill 3140 – relating to the Division of Natural Resources Infrastructure

· House Bill 3145 – relating to student financial aid resources

All bills on first reading were advanced as well.

The House of Delegates will reconvene at 9 a.m. February 26, 2019.

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House Technology and Infrastructure Advances Six Senate Bills

House Committee

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February 25, 2019

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The House Committee on Technology and Infrastructure convened at 3 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 25 to consider legislation on the 48th Day of the legislative session. On this day, the committee considered and advanced seven Senate Bills concerning state agency laws.

The Technology and Infrastructure committee had a consideration of Senate Bill 3, a piece of legislation similar to House Bill 2005. Upon receiving House Bill 2005, the Senate split the ideas into several individual bills. Senate Bill 3 is very similar to the small facilities deployment provisions included in the House bill.

Senate Bill 3 would establish the West Virginia Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act and provide for access to public rights-of-way for the collocation of small wireless facilities. Senate Bill 3 would also provide for the collection of fees and also sets the amount of fees. The bill also lays out requirements for how the state can regulate pole attachments. During the committee meeting, the bill went under some technical amendments.

Senate Bill 3, after a little discussion surrounding the differences between it and House Bill 2005, was unanimously voted upon to be advanced as amended to the House Floor with the recommendation that it pass, but it first goes to the House Judiciary Committee for a second reference.

The committee also had a consideration of Senate Bill 10, a bill that would mandate that court-ordered restitution to victims of a crime is not subject to the administrative cost off-set provision of the Second Chance Driver’s License Act.

The Second Chance Driver’s License Act is a state program that allows for the temporary reinstatement of an individual’s driver’s license that has been suspended or revoked due to failure to pay court restitution as a result of a motor vehicle violation or has failed to appear in court when charged with a criminal offense.

This bill, which would eliminate the administrative overhead cost associated with the program, was unanimously advanced by the committee and advanced to the House Finance Committee for a second consideration.

Senate Bill 55 was tabled on this day due to what was deemed to be vague language within the bill. This bill would prohibit holders of a Level 3 WV Driver’s License under the age of 18 from using a wireless communication device while driving. Concern was raised among the committee members regarding what constituted as a wireless communication device, especially considering the fact that most Bluetooth enabled devices can be accessed through the steering wheel. For these reasons, Senate Bill 55 was tabled.

The committee also had consideration of Senate Bill 153, a bill to provide greater flexibility for making infrastructure project grants. The bill would increase the maximum amount of grant funding from 20 percent to 25 percent. Additionally, the bill would increase the maximum amount of aggregate state funding from $100,000 to $500,000 annually. This money, which comes from the WV Lottery, would be intended to provide more flexibility and more time efficiency for state infrastructure projects.

Senate Bill 153 was approved by the committee, and advanced to the House Finance Committee with the recommendation that it pass.

Senate Bill 190 was another bill advanced during today’s Technology and Infrastructure meeting. This bill would update the Division of Highways payment plan and amends their employment procedures pursuant to the new payment plan. This bill was advanced to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Senate Bill 297 would extend expiration of military members’ spouses’ driver’s licenses for six months after active military duty. Currently, military members are able to extend the expiration of their driver’s licenses for six extra months after they are finished with their active duty activities. This bill would extend that provision to their spouses, allowing them to do the same thing.

This bill was passed by the committee, as was an amendment proposed by Delegate Danny Hamrick, R-Harrison. The amendment would also add people working out of the United States on behalf of the state and federal government, allowing them to get similar expiration extensions. As amended, Senate Bill 297 was advanced to the House Finance committee.

Senate Bill 542 was also advanced to the House Finance committee on this day. This bill, which was passed by the committee with little discussion, would permit an applicant who qualifies for both a military-related exempt and non-exempt vehicle plate, to choose one non-exempt plate instead of one exempt plate without having to pay registration fees. This would allow qualifying individuals to choose to have a plate exemptible that is usually not exemptible.

Judiciary Committee Commits Sexual Assault Bill to Study Resolution

House Committee

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February 25, 2019

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The Judiciary Committee met Monday taking up several bills including, Senate Bill 563, which prohibits sexual assault victims from being subjected to certain physical examinations.

This bill adds new sections to code that prohibits a court to require an alleged victim in a prosecution for a sexual offense to endure a gynecological or physical examination of certain body parts. It also provides that a victim’s refusal to undergo a physical examination does not serve as a basis to exclude evidence from prior, relevant physical examinations, unless constitutionally required. Finally, it provides that for purposes of this new subsection, the term “sexual offense” means any offense in which sexual contact or intrusion is an element of the offense.

The committee discussed the bill and asked questions of counsel but decided it would be safer to study the bill more in a study resolution.

The committee also took up Senate Bill 453, which relates to background checks of certain financial institutions. This bill provides an alternate form of background checks for certain situations or instances. It provides that the Commissioner of the Division of Financial Institutions may determine alternate acceptable forms for background check information for direct and indirect principals of a licensee or applicant for a mortgage lender or broker license or a money transmission license who are not residents of the United States.

The committee advanced this bill and reported it to the House.

The committee also advanced Senate Bill 440, which relates to the Antihazing Law. Currently, the anti-hazing law only applies to organizations operation under the sanction of, or recognized as an organization by, an institution of higher education. Unsanctioned organizations are not covered by the anti-hazing law.

The bill will be reported to the House.

The committee advanced Senate Bill 510, which relates to medical professional liability. The purpose of this bill is to amend the prerequisites for filing a medical professional liability claim to clarify and provide additional expert witness qualifications.

The bill will be reported to the House.

The committee also advanced Senate Bill 295, which relates to crimes against public justice. The purpose of this bill is to include court security officers, the state fire marshal assistant, and deputy fire marshals in the definition of persons against whom obstructing an officer is a crime. The bill will be reported to the House.

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Banking and Insurance Sends Bills to Senate

Senate Committee

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February 25, 2019

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The Senate banking and insurance committee convened to report two House Bills to the Senate, Monday.

The brief meeting center around discussion of House Bills 2476 and 2609. Following the committee’s discussion and consideration of amendments, both bills were reported to the full Senate with the recommendation of the passage.

If passed, House Bill 2476 would amend a section of the state’s insurance code relating the evaluation of totaled automobiles. According to counsel, the language of the legislation was intended to clarify the the evaluations of insurance claims.

Counsel also provided the committee with a technical amendment drafted to strike language to further clarify the intentions of the bill.

Following discussion, the committee unanimously voted to adopt the amendment.

Members also reviewed House Bill 2609, relating to presumptions of abandonment and indication of ownership in property. Counsel addressed members to explain the purpose of the bill is to strike a section of code which was enacted in 1984 and is no longer needed.

According to counsel’s explanation, the proposed legislation received no objections from the Division of Financial Institutions.

Judiciary Committee Reports Three Bills to the Senate

Senate Committee

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February 25, 2019

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The Senate Committee on the Judiciary met Monday afternoon to discuss two Senate bills and one House bill on the Committee agenda.

Senate Bill 574 would permit members of a hospital medical staff to order an involuntary hospitalization of a person who is present at the hospital if the physician believes that the individual is addicted or mentally ill and because of the addiction or mental illness is likely to cause serious harm to themselves or to others if allowed to remain at liberty. Senator Lindsay (D – Kanawha, 8) proposed an amendment that would require physicians to do an evaluation of an individual before they could be involuntary held, which was adopted.

House Bill 2547 would this bill would fix an oversight with regard to the electioneering prohibition zone from last year’s legislation shrinking that zone from 300 to 200 feet to comport with Federal precedent. The original bill brought it down to within 100 feet, but the Committee adopted an amendment by Senator Baldwin (D – Greenbrier, 10) to only lower it to 200 feet.

Senate Bill 414 would create the Protect Our Right to Unite Act. The bill would provide protection of privacy of association, enforcement by state or citizen action, damages, and attorney’s fees.

The Committee passed all three bills, and will be reported to the full Senate to be voted upon.

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Multiple Bills Swiftly Pass Out of Senate

Senate Floor Session

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February 25, 2019

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25 pieces of legislation received passage on third reading during Monday’s floor session.

Of the legislation on the agenda, Senate Bills 238, 316, 400, 421, 432, 441, 511, 535, 539, 544, 547, 554, 592, 596, 597, 603, 627, 654, 656, 665, 666, and 667 received passage in addition to House Bills 2036 and 2821.

Senate Bill 603, which would exempt certain activities from licensing requirements for engaging in business of currency exchange, was up for third reading with the ability to amend but received no amendments before being passed unanimously out of the Senate.

Senate Bill 627, relating generally to Rural Rehabilitation Loan Program
Senate Bill 666, would create the WV Motorsports Entertainment Complex Investment Act
Senate Bill 667, would create the WV Motorsport Committee.

House Bill 2740, which would bar a parent from inheriting from a child in certain instances, and House Bill 2746, relating to administration of estates, were laid over.

Additionally, discussion of legislation which would create a road and repair fund led to the adoption of an multilayer amendment.

If passed, Senate Bill 522 would create a special fund intended to address the state’s roads. Following lengthy discussion of the bill in the Senate finance committee, the legislation was brought before the body on second reading where Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, proposed an amendment.

The Senator rose to describe his collaboration with fellow Senator Chandler Swope, R-Mercer and Sen. Dave Sypolt, R-Preston, to potentially amend three sections of the legislation. According to Tarr, under the introduced version of the bill, each county district would be able to contract road repairs to local contractors when not meeting their 70 percent productivity threshold. The Senator explained that if adopted, his amendment would allow funding allocated to smaller counties to be used toward boosting the productivity of a larger counties’ repairs.

The amendment would also reduce the amount of baseline funding allocated to counties from $1.5 million to $1 million, and give more control to local boards when establishing a priority list of road repair.

Following further discussion of the amendment, members voted to adopt the changes and engross the bill to third reading. Of the other 21 bills on second reading, five bills also received and amendment.

The body also passed Senate Resolution 59, which designated Feb 25, 2019 as Civil Air Patrol Day at the Legislature, and Senate Resolution 60, which recognized Leadership Jefferson.

The following committees will be meeting today:

The Senate Committee for Banking and Insurance will meet at 2 p.m. in 451M.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in 208W.

The following committees will meet tomorrow:

The Senate Committee for Transportation and Infrastructure will meet at 10 a.m. in 208W.
The Senate Health and Human Resources Committee will meet at 1 p.m. in 451M.
The Senate Education Committee will meet at 2 p.m. in 451M.

The Senate is in recess until 4:30 p.m.

UPDATE: The Senate reconvened at 4:30 p.m. to review reports from standing committees and put two bills under immediate consideration and read for a first time.

Senate Bill 414 would create the Protect Our Right to Unite Act.
Senate Bill 547 which woulid limit landowner liablity for recreational use of lands.

Senate Meets on Day 46, Completes Action on One Bill

Senate Floor Session

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February 23, 2019

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Today, the Senate convened in an afternoon session following morning comittee meetings to pass 16 Senate Bills and two House bills, one of which completed legislative action.

Among the bills passed by the Senate today was Senate Bill 529, which seeks to clarify certain provisions of the Nonintoxicating Beer Act.

One bill which was previously passed by the House was passed by the Senate unchanged and now heads to the Governor for a signature. That bill, House Bill 2612, propsed rules related to the completion or updating of source water plans.

House Bill 2036, House Bill 2740, House Bill 2746 and House Bill 2821 were also on third reading but were all laid over and retain their place on the calendar.

Senate Bill 596, adjusting voluntary contribution amounts on certain DMV forms, was also laid over one day on Third Reading and will retain its place on the Senate Calendar.

The Senate also advanced 22 bills from 2nd Reading to Third Reading which will be up for passage Monday. One bill, Senate Bill 544, would increase salaries for members of WV State Police over three-year period. One bill, Senate Bill 603, was advanced to third reading with the right to amend.

All bills on first reading were read a first time and advanced to 2nd REading. The Calendar is always available on the Bulletin Board.

The Senate is adjourned until 11:00 a.m. Monday, February 25th.

Government Organization will meet Monday at 8:30 a.m. in 208W.

Finance will meet Monday at 9:30 a.m. in 451M.

Natural Resources will meet Monday at 10:45 a.m. in 208W.

Senate Bill 632 Raises Questions Among Finance Committee

Senate Committee

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February 22, 2019

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Legislation which seeks to implement video cameras in special education classrooms sparked extensive debate and concern among Senate finance member’s, Friday.

Senate Bill 632, which received lengthy consideration from the education committee on Thursday, was brought before members of the finance committee for further consideration.

Following an explanation of the proposed legislation from Sarah Stewart of the state’s Department of Education, members cited concern over two areas in the bill relating to funding and an amendment proposed by Sen. Charlie Trump, R-Morgan.

During Thursday’s education committee, the Morgan County Senator requested to amend legislation to protect students involved in additional circumstances from disciplinary action when footage relating to circumstances in question are under review.

Sen. Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur, questioned the amendment, which would essentially protect students from disciplinary actions if they weren’t included in the original request to review footage. Hamilton addressed the committee to state that even though he was tore on an opinion relating to the bill, he believes the legislation is discriminatory to the state’s special education students.

Currently, the bill would only allow for footage to be reviewed by school administrators, teachers, parents or legal guardians and law enforcement officers, upon request.

After discussion of the bill, Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, motioned to remove the amendment offered by Trump.

Members of the committee also raised concern over the potential fiscal impact of the bill which would request $7 million from the state and allocate $2,600 for each of the state’s 2,715 special education classrooms.

Following further discussion of the bill, members motioned to amend the committee substitute for the committee substitute and report it to the full Senate with the recommendation of passage.