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House of Delegates Passes Governor’s Pay Raise Bill

House Floor Session

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February 22, 2019

The House of Delegates convened at 11 a.m. on Feb. 22 for the 45th Day of the 84th West Virginia Regular Legislative Session to consider legislation. On this day, 15 bills were passed out of the House of Delegates, including the bill to approve a five percent pay raise for state police personnel and public school employees.

House Bill 2730 would issue a pay raise to the state police, WV K-12 school teachers, and WV K-12 school personnel starting this fiscal year. The raise would be five percent more than the aggregate salary of these state employees. This piece of legislation was suggested by Governor Jim Justice, and has raised a lot of discussion in the state regarding teacher pay.

Several delegates were hesitant to approve of the pay raise on the issue of teacher merit, and others had fiscal concerns.

“People who walk off the job don’t deserve a pay raise,” Delegate Tom Bibby, R-Berkley said in reference to last week’s strike.

Delegate Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, raised concern over the $105 million fiscal note that would come with issuing state employees the pay raise.

Delegate Christopher Thompson, D- Randolph, addressed these fiscal concerns, saying that there was a need to address recruitment and retention of WV teachers.

After a lengthy discussion, House Bill 2730 passed through the House of Delegates in a vote of 89-8 and was also approved to be made effective starting July 1, 2019. House Bill 2730 now moves on to the Senate for consideration.

There was a number of Senate Bills that were passed by the House of Delegates on this day.

Senate Bill 13 was passed on this day, a bill that generated a large amount of controversy while it was on second reading. This bill would fulfill a past promise of reimbursement that the state made to the state’s racehorse industry. Senate Bill 13 would restore $11 million to the purse funds for racetrack horses in the racing industry. This bill would restore money that was taken from the purse funds by the state in 2005 to help fund needed worker’s compensation cases.

Senate Bill 442, Senate Bill 443, and Senate Bill 444 were also passed on this day. These bills all address supplemental appropriations for state agencies. Senate Bill 442 would allow the Insurance Commissioner to utilize federal block grant money. Senate Bill 443 and Senate Bill 444 would add supplemental appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Resources for mental health services, laboratory funds, and other miscellaneous items.

House Bill 2532 was also passed on this day. This bill would grant West Virginians renewing their drivers’ licenses or vehicle registrations the ability to make a contribution in the amount of $3, $5 or $10 to the West Virginia Farm Bureau, the West Virginia 4 H Program, or the West Virginia Future Farmers of America Education Foundation.

House Bill 2540 would make it unlawful for any person through carelessness, neglect or otherwise to let any edible portion of any big game or game fish to go to waste needlessly. The bill also provides for penalties and gives the Division of Natural Resources the authority to enforce this law. This bill was passed after a lengthy floor discussion regarding freedom.

House Bill 2541 was also passed this day. This bill updates safety measures for public K-12 schools in West Virginia. House Bill 2541 would to require county boards to implement a safety plan for public schools, containing the following requirements: visible room numbers on the outside of the building, provide updated school floor plans to local first responders and law enforcement, and provide active shooter and first aid training to teachers and students.

House Bill 2807 was passed unanimously. House Bill 2807 would provide a reducing modification to the West Virginia adjusted gross income of a shareholder of a Subchapter S corporation engaged in banking business in WV.

House Bill 2829 would terminate the state severance tax on the extraction of limestone and sandstone starting in 2021. The bill comes with a fiscal note of $1.2 million.

Delegate Vernon Criss, R-Wood, addressed concerns regarding the costly implication of this tax cut. He stated that because of the Division of Highways being the largest purchaser of limestone and sandstone in the state, a lot of that cost would be directly funneled back into the state. The bill passed through the House of Delegates.

House Bill 2872 would allow state law enforcement officers to assist the state fire marshals in cases that lend itself to their involvement. This bill would address a gap in code and was passed without little discussion.

House Bill 2901 also passed on this day. This bill would allow a licensed racetrack to establish a secondary location for racetrack video lottery terminals and racetrack table games at a location within the county as approved by the lottery commission.

House Bill 2934 would authorize licensing in the state for interactive wagering. Casinos in the state would be allowed to create applications to allow individuals to wager digitally on a mobile device or desktop. There would be a 15% privilege tax on these games.

“This is to address a problem with a huge black market,” Delegate Dianna Graves, R-Kanawha said in defense of the bill. “The passage of this bill allows us to capture that dangerous black market, bring it under regulation, and establish state control.”

House Bill 2934 passed through the House.

House Bill 2968 would authorize the addition of remote service units, or RSU’s, to customer bank communications terminals. This bill also passed unanimously.

House Bill 3134 was postponed for one day.

Bills on second reading that were advanced without amendment on this day were Senate Bill 26, House Bill 2452, House Bill 2550, House Bill 2598, House Bill 2617, House Bill 2690, House Bill 2694, House Bill 2718, House Bill 2770, House Bill 2802, House Bill 2816, House Bill 2827, House Bill 2828, House Bill 2830, House Bill 2926, House Bill 3024, House Bill 3045, House Bill 3133, and House Bill 3135.

Action on House Bill 2617, House Bill 2802, and House Bill 2991, three additional bills on second reading, was postponed for one day.

Senate Bill 489, a bill on second reading was amended on this day. The language change that was amended made the legislation more permissive.

House Bill 2229 and House Bill 3132 were amended with technical changes.

House Bill 2837 was amended to change the date effective from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2022.

All bills on first reading were advanced on this day. Additionally, bills reported from committees were read for a first time on this day and advanced to second reading.

The House of Delegates is in recess until 7 p.m. this evening.

Committees Meeting Today:
– The House Committee on the Judiciary will meet at 2:15 p.m. in 418-M.

-The House Committee on Finance will meet at 3:00 p.m. in 460-M.

-The House Committee on Education will meet at 3:00 in 434-M.

-The House Committee on Government Organization will meet at 3:00 p.m. in 215-E.

Committees Meeting Monday Morning Before Floor Session:

-The House Committee on Finance will meet at 8 a.m. in 460-M.

-The House Committee on Government Organization will meet at 9 a.m. in 215-E.

-The House Committee on the Judiciary will meet at 9 a.m. in 418-M.

-The House Committee on Rules will meet at 10:45 behind the House chamber.

The House of Delegates reconvened briefly at 7 p.m. tonight, February 22 to hear committee reports.

All of the committee reports received on this night were read for a first time except for House Bill 3144, House Bill 3142, and Senate Bill 1.

Senate Bill 1 was referenced to the House Committee on the Judiciary for a second reference.

The House of Delegates is adjourned until 11 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 25.

Senate Passes One Bill, Celebrates WV State University Day

Senate Floor Session

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February 22, 2019

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The Senate convened Friday morning to discuss one bill that was one third reading and up for passage.

Senate Bill 613 would require the Commissioner of the Division of Natural Resources (DNR) to include an option for organ donation on hunting and fishing licenses, and would also require publication of the ability to have the option to add organ donation on these licenses. The bill passed the Senate unanimously, and will be reported to the House of Delegates.

23 bills were read on second reading and advanced to third; one of them being Senate Bill 86. The proposed legislation would require county boards of education to provide free feminine hygiene products to female students who need it.

The Senate also adopted Senate Resolution 57 which designated Feb. 22, 2019 as West Virginia State University Day at the Legislature. The school was originally founded in 1891 as an African American college. The University offers 72 academic programs, and brings in a total of $254 million in state revenue annually.

The Senate is adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m.

The following committees will meet today:

Natural Resources at 1 p.m. in 208W

Finance at 3 p.m. in 451M

Judiciary at 3 p.m. in 208W

The following committees will meet tomorrow:

Education at 9 a.m. in 451M

Gov. Org. at 9 a.m. in 208W

Finance at 11 a.m. in 451M

Judiciary at 11 a.m. in 208W

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Judiciary Committee Passes Originating Bill

House Committee

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February 22, 2019

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The Judiciary Committee met yesterday to discuss multiple bills, one of which is an originating bill. This bill increases salaries of the attorney general, the auditor, the secretary of state, the commissioner of agriculture and the state treasurer. The bill gives $125,000 to all of these officers. The bill will be reported to the House.

House Bill 2378 relates generally to grounds for revocation of a teaching certificate. The purpose of the bill is to provide for the automatic revocation of the teaching certificate or license of a teacher who convicted of any offense that requires the teacher to register as a sex offender or any criminal offense which has as an element the distribution of a controlled substance. The bill had four amendments adopted and was reported to the House.

House Bill 2662 relates to certificates or employment of school personnel. The purpose of this bill is to provide for the automatic termination of a service personnel employment contract and the automatic revocation of the bus operators certificate if the employee or bus operator is convicted of any offense that requires him or her to register as a sex offender, or of any criminal offense which as an element the distribution of a controlled substance. All the amendments made to House Bill 2378 applied to this bill as well and it was reported to the House.

House Bill 2719 allows nonmembers of a political party to request that party’s partisan ballot at a primary election. The purpose of this bill is require notification to voters at polling places in primary elections that they may request and use a ballot for one of the major political parties if the voter is not affiliated with any party or if the voter is registered with a party that does not have candidates on a ballot for that polling place. There was an amendment made to the bill to replace all instances of “ballot commissioner” with “election commissioner” which after adopted was reported to the House.

House Bill 2670 relates to damages for medical monitoring. This provides that in any civil action in which a court orders a defendant to pay for a plaintiffs future medical surveillance, screening tests, or monitoring procedures, no plaintiff shall be awarded or paid any moneys to cover such costs until the surveillance, tests, or procures have been completed. The shall also determine the date after which the future medical surveillance, screening tests, or monitoring procedures are no longer required, and any funds remaining after that date shall be repaid to the defendant.

The bill was reported to the House.

House Bill 2943 relates to deliveries by wine specialty shops. The bill provides for a wine specialty shop delivery license. The license allows the delivery of wine baskets within county boundaries, or within a 50 mile radius of the shop. Several conditions are placed on shops seeking to deliver wine gift baskets: no deliveries to dry counties or dry local option areas, no deliveries out of state, no deliveries to private businesses, a maximum of two cases of wine per month per customer, no resale, the wine must be in a sealed container labeled with a warning, the purchases must be made in shop, face-to-face, the purchaser and deliverer must be 21.

The bill was reported to the House.

House Bill 2866 relates to the termination, expiration, or cancellation of oil or natural gas leases. The purpose of the bill is to require lessees to provide lessors with a recordable release for oil or natural gas leases, when the leases are expired, terminated or cancelled under their terms. The bill defines a procedure by which lessors may attempt to document the invalidly of a lease in the public record, while also providing the operators an opportunity to dispute the invalidity before recordation. The bill was reported to the House.

House Bill 2049 relates to a prime contractors responsibility for wages and benefits. Wage payment act claims have a five year statute of limitations. Under the wage payment act, an employee of a subcontractor may seek repayment of wages and benefits from the prime contractor. This bill seeks to address belated claims where the prime contractor, with no prior notice, is subject to suit long after a construction project ceases, due to the failure of a subcontractor to pay its employees. The bill was reported to the House.

House Bill 3073 authorizes a court administrator to make determinations of financial eligibility. This bill amends and reenacts code relating to a court administrator to make determinations of financial eligibility for public defender services. The bill was reported to the House.

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Senate Finance Amends Road Repair Bill

Senate Committee

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February 22, 2019

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Lengthy debate resulted in numerous amendments to Senate Bill 522 during Friday’s morning finance meeting.

In total, four amendments were adopted to the proposed legislation, which intends to create a special road repair fund for the state. Changes to the bill arose out of extensive debate in Thursday’s committee meeting, ultimately resulting in the bill being laid over until Friday morning’s meeting.

Continuing review of the legislation, multiple senators expressed confusion surrounding the bill which establishes a total of $110 million to be used in addressing the state’s current road conditions. If passed, the bill would establish a two year program that uses funding to help counties.

As stated in the bill, in order to have a road be repaired, counties must submit requests for certain road repairs and if accepted, money would then be allocated from the Department of Highways to one of ten districts within the state. After review by the districts, a creation of a priority list would then decide how funding is to be directed to a contractor within the county in question.

Concern over the use of contractors sparked much debate among Senators, specifically surrounding the potential liability that would result following a job being contracted. Despite the Department of Highways stating that they wouldn’t like to increase employment to address the potential repairs, Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, said that the increase in employment would potentially allow for the DOH to “stay on top of the state’s roads” following the end of the program.

Other members of the committee also raised caution regarding to the implementation of funding for the county’s repairs. Under the original language of the bill, the amount of funding would be determined by the total amount of mileage within the committee, in addition to 10 percent which would be allocated for each county to establish a baseline. Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, motioned to amend the legislation to allow for each county to received $1.5 million for repairs. Following discussion, members voted to adopt the senator’s amendment.

Members also adopted two other amendments from Stollings, in addition to an amendment from Sen. Chandler Swope, R-Mercer.

Following consideration of the bill, the committee voted to report the amended committee substitute of Senate Bill 522 to the full Senate.

Senate Bill 472, which would exempt retirement incomes of certain uniformed services members from state income tax, was also reported to the body.

House of Delegates Passes Bill for Department of Motor Vehicles Kiosks

House Floor Session

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February 22, 2019

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The House of Delegates convened today to pass House Bill 2886 which establishes requirements for a divisions of motor vehicles office or division of the motor vehicles now kiosk to the present in a county.

The purpose of this bill is to require counties with a population of 25,000 or greater have a Division of Motor Vehicles office location within the county unless there is a Division of Motor Vehicles office location within 25 miles from the county seat, require counties with a population of less than 25,000 install a Division of Motor Vehicles Now kiosk unless the county seat is within 25 miles of a Division of Motor Vehicles office location, establish a maximum amount of Division of Motor Vehicles office locations in this state, and prescribe a maximum amount of Division of Motor Vehicles Now kiosks.

Judiciary Committee Passes Out Two Bills During Morning Meeting

Senate Committee

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February 22, 2019

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The Senate Committee on the Judiciary met for a brief meeting Friday morning to discuss two different bills before the morning floor session.

Senate Bill 248 would create the Prosecuting Attorney’s Detectives Act. These detectives would investigate any criminal wrong doing with in the prosecuting attorney’s office to promote integrity within the West Virginia Criminal Justice System. The bill was unanimously approved by the Committee, and will be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Senate Bill 249 would create a limited letter of administration that may be issued for estates that do not exceed the value of $2,000. The Committee approved the proposed legislation, and will be reported to the full Senate to be voted upon.

The Committee will meet later today following floor session.

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Finance Concludes Review of Fuel Tax Bill

House Committee

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February 21, 2019

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A bill intended to authorize railroad and commercial watercraft claims for refundable exemption on motor fuel excise taxes was postponed indefinitely during Thursday’s finance committee.

Senate Bill 456, which had come before the committee twice prior to the decision, spurred caution among members. During the bill’s latest review on Feb. 19, committee chair, Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, expressed concern over the legislation and requested for more testimonies to come before the committee before a decision would be given.

Thursday’s committee welcome Jason Wazelle, a representative from the Norfolk Southern Corp, to help briefly answer questions concerning the legislation. Following a brief recess of members, members unanimously voted on the decision.

The committee opened the meeting by reviewing and reporting an originating bill which would allow TeleStroke in Telemedicine. If passed, the legislation would ultimately require for a full time neurologist to be implemented in the Charleston Area Medical Center to help assist in the treatment of stroke patients.

Following reading of the bill, Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, addressed members to explain that although the bill was needed, a longstanding concern associated with the bill was a fiscal impact of $1 million which would require a well qualified neurologist to fill the position.

Committee chair, Blair addressed the Senator to state that although the bill contained a large fiscal impact, he was more than happy to include the legislation in the fiscal year’s budget.

“With this bill we’ll be able to save lives and improve the quality lives in the state. That will far recede the cost of $1 million,” Blair said.

Members also reviewed Senate Bills 592, 316, 535 and 421 and reported each to the Senate with the recommendation of passage.

Senate Bill 522, which would create a Special Road Repair Fund for the state, also sparked debate among members prior to being laid over until tomorrow’s 9:30 a.m. meeting.

If passed, the bill would establish a program which would allow counties to submit requests for certain road repairs. If accepted by the program, money would then be allocated from the Department of Highways to one of ten districts within the state. After review by the districts, funding would then be directed to a contractor within the county which has requested the repair.

Legislation Sparks Debate in Senate Education

Senate Committee

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February 21, 2019

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A Senate Bill which would require video cameras in certain public education classrooms was the source of confusion during Thursday’s Education committee.

If passed, Senate Bill 632 would require contained, special education classrooms to be recorded throughout the school day and have video and audio footage preserved for three months following the initial filming.

A number of Senators expressed concern over language in the proposed legislation concerning a child’s privacy which resulted in representatives from the Department of Education coming before the committee to address concerns.

Questions dealing with a child’s consent to recording, the privacy of the recordings and who would be able to access the footage were all addressed by Sarah Stewart of the state’s Department of Education.

According to Stewart, the bill currently has little language concerning the consent of students who would be filmed, while also establishing that attained footage would only be eligible for review upon request by school administrators , school employees, parent or legal guardians and law enforcement officers.

Currently the bill has a fiscal note set at $7 million which would allocate $2,600 for recording equipment in each classroom.

Following a recess, the committee reconvened to further explain the legislation and ultimately moved to include a number of amendments from members. Sen. Mike Romano, D-Harrison, motioned to add a provision which would delete footage following it’s initial three month preservation, while co-chair, Sen. Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, created a conceptional amendment which would change language within the legislation and require that all self contained classrooms implement video and audio recording.

Sen. Stephen Baldwin, D-Greenbrier, and Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, also motioned to add amendments. After further discussion, committee members adopted language for a committee substitute and reported the bill to the full Senate following a second reference to finance.

Members also reviewed an originating bill which would expand the applicability of educational facilities for the West Virginia College Prepaid Tuition and Savings Program. Following review of the legislation, Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, cited similarities between the originating legislation and House Bill 2793 which passed the House earlier this month.

The Senator questioned the committee chair to ask why the committee would want to originate a bill instead of focusing on reviewing and potentially amending existing legislation. Chairwoman Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, stated that although similar legislation exists, the creation of the bill wasn’t intended to change anything the House had already completed.

“It was brought to my attention that this legislation needed to be completed so I went forward in creating it,” Rucker explained.

Following discussion of the bill, the bill was voted to be reported to the full Senate.

Judiciary Committee Reforms Campaign Financing

Senate Committee

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February 21, 2019

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The Senate Committee on the Judiciary met Thursday afternoon to discuss two separate bills that were on the agenda.

Senate Bill 622 relates to regulating campaign financing. The proposed legislation would raise the state’s public contributions to the federal limits. The 50-page piece of legislation would update campaign financing limitations which include:

Public contributions could be no more than $2,800
- Can contribute for the primary general election
- Totaling $5,600
Contributions to Political Action Committees (PAC) would rise from $2,000 to $10,00
Expenditures would be considered as a contribution

Originating Bill 2 would require the Notary Public Commission to acknowledge notaries beyond the borders of West Virginia.

Both bills were passed by the Committee, and will be reported to the full Senate to be voted upon.

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House Health and Human Resources Advances Three Senate Bills to the House Floor

House Committee

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February 21, 2019

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The House Health and Human Resources Committee convened at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21, in the House Health Committee Room to consider four pieces of legislation. Three of these bills were Senate bills.

Senate Bill 518 would restrict the sale of dextromethorphan to people in the state of West Virginia over the age of 18. Dextromethorphan is commonly found in cough syrups and cold medicines. This bill would address concerns that come with teenagers using dextromethorphan to get high through the means of ingesting a large amount of cough syrup.

The House Committee on Health and Human Resources amended the bill to require the distributor of dextromethorphan to verify the age of people who wish to purchase drugs containing the ingredient through ID verification. Employees are expected to check ID’s of consumers, unless their appearance reasonably leads them to believe they are over the age of 25.

The committee amendment was adopted unanimously, and Senate Bill 518 was advanced to the House floor with the recommendation that it pass as amended.

Senate Bill 489 was also amended on this day. This bill relates directly to Pharmacy Benefit Managers in the state and the regulations that they must undergo through the Insurance Commission. This bill would provide for licensure of pharmacy benefit managers with the Insurance Commissioner, sets forth minimum reimbursement rates, and requires PBMs report data to PEIA. The licenses would last for two years, and the Insurance Commissioner would be responsible for promulgating licensure fees.

The amendment makes a change to the language of Senate Bill 489 to make the bill more permissive. The amendment would permit PEIA to terminate contracts, but does not require them to do so. The Insurance Commission would still be required to discipline Pharmacy Benefit Managers who do not properly report data. The amendment was unanimously adopted. Senate Bill 489 was advanced to the House floor as amended with the recommendation that it pass.

Senate Bill 545 was also amended technically by the House Health and Human Resources committee to ensure that the bill aligned with legislative rules. This bill would update language in code in regards to required HIV testing, and adjust the testing protocol so it includes more modernized testing methods.

Senate Bill 545 was also advanced as amended to the House floor with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2953 was also considered on this day. This bill would permit critical access designated hospitals in the state to become community outpatient medical centers if they meet certain requirements and choose to do so. The legislation is permissive and would allow critical access hospitals to change their business models to best serve those in rural areas of the state by including outpatient beds and services.

House Bill 2953 was advanced to the House floor without amendment and with the recommendation that it do pass