Blog – Page 138

House Bill 2030 would authorize the Division of Corrections (DOC) and the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to create a valid West Virginia identification card for inmates in DOC facilities. The DOC would be required to ensure that each inmate has a proper identification card upon release, and the cards would expire 90 days after being released.

Senate Bill 340 would repeal article 20E of the insurance code, which created the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Insurance Joint Underwriting Association Act. It would also repeal article 20F of the insurance code, which created the Physicians’ Mutual Insurance Company Act.

Senate Bill 402 would designate the Division of Forestry as the primary agency for the collection, preparation and central registry of information relating to timber theft. Anyone who would willingly cut and steal timber worth less than $1,000 would be convicted of a misdemeanor and subject to more than 30 days incarcerated and/or a $1,000 dollar fine. If the timber is worth more than $1,000, the person would be convicted of a felony and subject to one to three years incarcerated and/or fined three times the value of the timber.

Senate Bill 510 would amend the prerequisites for filing a medical professional liability claim. The bill would require that the 30-day notice for filing a claim include specified information about any agents, servants, employees or officers of the health care provider who would be named in the potential suit.

The Committee approved all fours bills, and will be reported to the full Senate on Monday to be voted upon.

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Senate to Receive SB 451 Message Monday

Senate Floor Session

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February 15, 2019

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The Senate is set receive a message concerning Senate Bill 451 during Monday’s floor session.

President of the Senate, Sen. Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, announced the anticipated arrival of the message following Thursday’s passage from the House of Delegates. If passed, the legislation would result in comprehensive education reform to the state.

Following announcement of the message, eight pieces of legislation were brought before the body. Of the proposed bills, Senate Bill 60 sparked debate between members of the body. Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, opened discussion of the bill which would license the practice of athletic trainers.

Sen. Mike Romano, D-Harrison, expressed concerns over the legislation allowing for athletic trainers to assists in occupational injuries. The Senator said he feared athletic trainers may be ill equipped in addressing occupational injuries and asked why occupational therapists weren’t included in the bill.

Tarr addressed Romano and explained that the bill states that athletic trainers would be allowed to assist in all injuries as long as they consult with another health professional concerning the injury. He also explained the difference between occupational therapists and athletic trainers to better illustrate how trainers would be better equipped in addressing work injuries.

Lead sponsor of the bill, Sen. Richard Plymale, D-Wayne, rose in support of the legislation by stating that the bill was a “long time coming.” He also explained that many businesses currently hire athletic trainers to assists with injuries.

Following debate, the bill was unanimously passed by the body.

Senate Bills 66, 393, 516, 518, 563, 590 and House Bill 2521 were also passed.

Of the eight bills on second reading, only one received an amendment. Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, rose to explain the amendment which strikes a section of House Bill 2481, a bill which would permit the retail sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays after 1 p.m.

Additionally, Senate Bills 619 through 634 were introduced.

Senate Bill 620 would require prescriptions to be made by electronic means and providing exceptions.
Senate Bill 630 relating to the allocation of premiums for employers and employees in PEIA.
Senate Bill 632 would require video cameras in certain public education classrooms.

Also passed by the Senate were Senate Resolution 46, which designated Feb. 15, 2019 as Corrections Day, and Senate Resolution 47, which congratulated Spring Valley High School’s volleyball for winning the 2018 Class AAA State Volleyball Championship. A number of guests joined the body in celebrating passage of the two resolutions.

The following committees will meet today:

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. in 208W.

House Government Organization Considers Multiple Bills During Meeting

House Committee

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February 15, 2019

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The House Committee on Government Organization convened for the first part of their meeting at 9 a.m. on Friday, February 15, in 215-E. The committee had a consideration of multiple bills during this meeting, and advanced four bills to the House floor for consideration.

The Government Organization Committee will continue to meet at 2 p.m. for consideration of House Bill 2886, House Bill 3093, and House Bill 2654.

Bills that were advanced during this committee include House Bill 2924, House Bill 2929, House Bill 2982, House Bill 3007, and House Bill 3016.

House Bill 2924 is a bill that would to permit the West Virginia Tourism Office to contract with the Division of Highways to sell advertising space on the WV511 website to promote in state tourism and raise capital for technological improvements to the website. 50 percent of the advertising dollars generated under this bill would be deposited in the Tourism Promotion Fund and 50 percent would be remitted to the Division of Highways.

This bill was passed unanimously by the committee and advanced to the House floor with the recommendation that it should pass.

House Bill 2929 was also advanced to the House floor. This bill would also pertain to a collaboration between the WV Tourism Office and the Division of Highways. House Bill 2929 would authorize an agreement between the two organizations in which staff would be provided at the WV Welcome Centers and rest areas, and displays promoting tourism would be created at these welcome centers and rest areas.

House Bill 2982 is a bill concerning auctioneers in the state of West Virginia. It provides updates for the licensure requirements, provides for exemptions to licensure, requires auctioneers to submit to background checks, and provides penalties for unlicensed auctioneers. This bill was also passed and advanced to the House floor.

House Bill 3007 was also advanced, a bill to authorize the Commissioner of Agriculture to require background checks within their hiring process.

House Bill 3016 would outline the code that pertains to the State Aeronautics Commission. This bill was advanced to the House Finance Committee for second reference.

The House Committee on Government Organization will reconvened at 2 p.m. to continue to have a consideration of House Bill 2886 and House Bill 3093, and House Bill 2654.

House Bill 3093 is a bill that would require the same building code standards to be applied to manufactured housing as are applied to other housing. This bill was unanimously advanced to the House floor with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2654 was taken off the agenda on this day.

House Bill 2886, a bill to require counties with a population of 25,000 or more to have a DMV Office and counties with a population of less that 25,000 to have DMV kiosks. The bill was amended by Delegate John Hott, R-Grant, Delegate Tony Paynter, R-Wyoming, and Delegate Terri Sypolt, R-Preston, to remove language in the bill that would close three DMV offices throughout the state.

With amendment, House Bill 2886 was advanced to the House floor with the recommendation that it pass.

House Legislation Feb. 11-15

Hannah Graham

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February 15, 2019

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As of 4 p.m. Friday, February 15, 2019, the 38th day of the first regular session of the 84th Legislature, 1,126 bills have been introduced to the House. Of those bills, 108 have passed and have been sent on to the Senate for further consideration.

House Bill 2330 would allow military veterans who have certain qualifications to qualify for examination for licensure in certain fields. If a service member obtains a MOS related to the fields of plumbing, HVAC operation, or fire safety installation, they can also opt to take the examination for state licensure without going through additional state training under passage of this bill.

House Bill 2405 is a bill to impose a tiered tax on managed healthcare providers within the state. If passed, the tax would be applied at the beginning of fiscal year 2021. The intent of the bill is to maximize federal matching dollars for utilization in the state’s Medicaid program

House Bill 2674 would create a loan repayment program for mental health professionals who have worked in the state of West Virginia within an underserved area for at least five years.

House Bill 2734 would expand the utilities that currently can apply to the WV Public Service Commission for special reduced rates for low income utility customers to include privately owned sewer utilities and combined water and sewer utilities. West Virginia individuals receiving TANF, Social Security, and other specific forms of government assistance would be eligible to apply for these reduced utility rates if this bill passes.

House Bill 2813 would facilitate the collection of West Virginia use taxes from out-of-state retailers that do not have a physical presence in the state but “have an economic nexus” within the state.

Senate Bill 451 – House strike-and-insert amendment. This amendment to the comprehensive education bill would set uniform levy rates for county boards in the state, offer an open enrollment policy for student transfer eligibility, and cap the amount of charter schools allowed in the state at 2. The strike-and-insert amendment would also replenish funding for WV innovation zones by $5 million, include social workers and psychologists within public K-12 schools, eliminate educational savings accounts completely, and provide for one law enforcement officer per WV school. There would also be financial incentive for math and science teachers in the state, and a 5 percent pay raise for teachers.

House Bill 2338 is a bill that would exempt antique military vehicles from using certain registration insignia that covers the original markings of the vehicle, was passed unanimously by the House.

House Bill 2359 is a bill that would exempt commercial motor vehicle operators employed with a farm related service industry from the commercial driver’s license requirements. West Virginia citizens employed in the fields of agrichemical business, harvesting, livestock feeding, and other applicable careers would be exempt from getting a commercial driver’s license for a limited time.

House Bill 2673 would create the Oil and Gas Abandoned Well Plugging Fund, which would create a tax exemption from certain gas wells in the state and provide funds for the WV Environmental Protection Agency to plug more orphaned wells.

House Bill 2709 is a bill that mandates that information given to the Department of Natural Resources for hunting licenses are not subject to discovery with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

House Bill 2715would create a specialized Class Q hunting permit for disabled persons.

House Bill 2739 was passed by both chambers in the previous year, but did not complete legislative action in time. This bill would make it a criminal offense for any participating public employer of any retirement system administered by the Consolidated Public Retirement Board to fail to make required contributions.

House Bill 2743 would make technical updates to code regarding pension funds. This bill would delete a reference to municipal policemen’s pension or municipal firefighter’s pension as restrictions on pensions funds are contained in another section. This bill was passed unanimously by the House.

House Bill 2761 would modernize the self-storage lien law. The bill clarifies what rights owners have, what dates would be made effective after July 1, 2019, among other technical code changes.

House Bill 2793 would expand the applicability of educational facilities that are eligible for consideration under the West Virginia Prepaid Tuition and Savings Program. Currently in code, only institutions of higher education are included. This bill would also include certain private K-12 state institutions to be included in the program.

House Bill 2821 would make a financial adjustment within the institution of the national guard. This bill would clarify the recipient of command and clerical pay and to allow for an appropriate annual adjustment.

House Bill 2848 relates to the WV ABLE Act. This bill would raise the age requirement for eligibility from 21 to 26, thus matching the federal ABLE act. It also clarifies that family members and attorneys are permitted to manage a beneficiary’s ABLE account.

House Bill 2472 provides a special license plate for pollinators. This bill sets an annual fee of $15 for each special pollinator registration plate which shall be deposited into a special account designated the Pollinator Protection Fund and credited to the Department of Agriculture. The bill also sets an annual fee of $10 for the plate, which will be deposited in the State Road Fund.

House Bill 2579 relates to the collection of tax and the priority of distribution of an estate or property in receivership. The bill seeks to clarify conflicts within the code and create uniformity relating to the collection of taxes, the priority of distribution of an estate and to limit the liability of a fiduciary charged with distribution of the estate.

House Bill 2618 includes undue influence as a factor in the definition of financial exploitation of an elderly person or protected person. This bill amends both the civil and criminal actions for financial exploitation of an incapacitated person, elderly person or protected person to expand the definition of financial exploitation to include the use of undue influence resulting in financial or asset loss or disadvantage.

House Bill 2716 relates to motorboat lighting and equipment requirements. This bill strikes the motorboat lighting and equipment requirements in current code and replaces them with the laws contained in the federal navigation laws and rules. The revised code language provides that motorboats on the waters of this state are subject to lighting requirements, equipment requirements, and pilot and navigation rules, as contained in the federal navigation laws and rules promulgated by the United States Coast Guard.

House Bill 2846 designates a “Back the Blue” plate in support of law-enforcement personnel. The purpose of this bill is to provide a special license plate for supporters of our law-enforcement officers.

House Bill 2992 relates to governmental websites. The purpose of the bill is to require all executive agencies to provide a website containing information beginning December 31, 2019. The website shall include the office contact information, the contact information of each staff member, an organizational chart, a list of administrative agency officials, a list of governing statutes and legislative procedural rules, meeting minutes, annual reports, all agency forms, and frequently asked questions and answers.

The bill provides that all county commissions may maintain a website beginning with specific information and shall update the required information and shall update the information within 30 days of any change and report the information to the Office of Technology who shall be responsible for providing a mechanism for updating the county information.

Additionally, all state municipalities may create and maintain a website that provides the title and name of each elected office holders, the contact information of each office holder, a copy of each municipal ordinance, a copy of the approved meeting minutes, a schedule of regular meeting days for each calendar year. Municipalities shall report the information to the Office of Technology who shall be responsible for providing a mechanism for updating the municipality information.

Bills Being Considered in the House This Week:

House Bill 2011 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 delegated to the WV Division of Highways each year, and allow them to contract out services for projects that they don’t have the manpower or resources for.

House Concurrent Resolution 32 would request the Commissioner of the WV Division of Highways to increase the speed limit on the highways to 75 miles per hour, in areas where appropriate.

House Bill 2881 is very similar to a piece of legislation that re-registered and changed the color scheme for state registration plates. The purpose of this bill is to provide for a change of the color scheme for county and municipal vehicle registration plates. House Bill 2881 would require all municipalities to obtain a new title certificate, registration certificate, and registration plate for all vehicles prior to January 1, 2020 and will require renewal every two years.

House Bill 2733 would add the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the list of protected classes under the state Human Rights Act.

House Bill 2924 is a bill that would to permit the West Virginia Tourism Office to contract with the Division of Highways to sell advertising space on the WV511 website to promote in state tourism and raise capital for technological improvements to the website. 50 percent of the advertising dollars generated under this bill would be deposited in the Tourism Promotion Fund and 50 percent would be remitted to the Division of Highways.

House Bill 2929 was also advanced to the House floor. This bill would also pertain to a collaboration between the WV Tourism Office and the Division of Highways. House Bill 2929 would authorize an agreement between the two organizations in which staff would be provided at the WV Welcome Centers and rest areas, and displays promoting tourism would be created at these welcome centers and rest areas.

House Bill 2982 is a bill concerning auctioneers in the state of West Virginia. It provides updates for the licensure requirements, provides for exemptions to licensure, requires auctioneers to submit to background checks, and provides penalties for unlicensed auctioneers.

House Bill 3007 is a bill to authorize the Commissioner of Agriculture to require background checks within their hiring process.

Senate Legislation Feb. 11-15

Joelle Gates

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February 15, 2019

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As of 4 p.m. Friday, February 15, 2019, the 38th day of the first regular session of the 84th Legislature, 636 bills have been introduced to the Senate. Of those bills, 110 have passed and have been sent on to the House for further consideration.

SB 13: The bill would establish an annual appropriation to the special funds established by racetrack licensees for the purpose of paying regular purses. to distribute funds from the State Excess Lottery Fund to the Purse Fund.

SB 14: The bill would create a special revenue account administered by the Commissioner of Agriculture. The Committee Substitute for the Committee Substitute replaces language in the bill. The specifics of the program would be developed in rules which are authorized in the bill. There is also a required report to the Governor, President and Speaker on the effectiveness of the program which is to be submitted every two years.

SB 19: The proposed statute would provide a legislative declaration that the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program provide vouchers for seniors to purchase products from farmers’ markets.

SB 26: The bill would permit full time employees of educational services cooperatives to participate in the State Teachers Retirement System and the State Teachers’ Defined Contribution Retirement System.

SB 40: The bill would allow the West Virginia Supreme Court to establish and operate a military court called the Military Service Members Court, a stand-alone court operated in conjunction with drug courts and other specialty courts. The bill encourages the Supreme Court to give deference to circuits or regions operating Military Service Member Court programs to maximize flexibility, and to consider regional and other differences and circumstances. Once established, Military Service Member Court programs may not be terminated without at least six months written notice from the Supreme Court administrator to the Speaker of the House of Delegates and the President of the Senate.

SB 47:The bill would amend current West Virginia code which currently provides a favorable tax treatment to wind power projects. In particular, the code section states that each wind turbine installed at a wind power project, and each tower upon which the turbine is affixed, shall be considered personal property that is a pollution control facility. As a pollution control facility, it is subject to an allocation of the value of property determined by the WV Tax Commissioner in accordance with that section, and all of the value associated with the wind turbine and tower shall be accorded salvage valuation.

SB 60: The bill would make unlawful for any person to practice or offer to practice athletic training in the state without a license or permit.

SB 66: This bill would attempt to prevent the use of deceptive lawsuit advertising and solicitation by providing criminal penalties.

SB 74: The bill would exempt people who volunteer their time or services, without wages, for a ski area operator or for a ski area sponsored program from workers’ compensation coverage, notwithstanding that the people may receive noncash remunerations.

SB 153: The bill would end the practice of ongoing charges of consumer credit, debit cards or third-party payment accounts without the consumer’s consent for ongoing shipments of a product or ongoing deliveries of services. The bill requires that businesses provide clear and conspicuous disclosures relating to automatic renewal offers or continuous service offers. The consumer must provide affirmative consent before charging a customer an automatic renewal offers or continuous service offer.

The bill provides for a civil cause of action to recover actual damages and $1,000 per violation. No action may be brought until the consumer provides written notice of the violation to the business.

SB 285: The bill would create a procedure for selling homemade food items and allows for certain exemptions from licensing, permitting, inspections, and packaging laws. It also allows for third-party distribution of those items.

SB 291: The bill rewrites a section of code by defining terms, specifically adding personnel from the Division of Forestry as an “emergency responder.” If passed, the bill would give statutory survivor benefits of $100,000.00 to Division of Forestry personnel who die during an emergency wildland fire response.

SB 296: The purpose of the proposed bill is to open an 11-month enrollment period in which certain members of the Public Employees Retirement System may purchase previously forfeited service credit. The bill would amend dates in the statute, providing an opportunity for any members who have previously forfeited service credit accrued toward the West Virginia Public Employees Retirement System to purchase the forfeited credit.

SB 317: The bill would create a new article of code authorizing three or more contiguous counties to form a multi-county trail network authority. The new article is loosely modeled after an article which created the Hatfield McCoy Regional Recreation Authority and allows multi-county trail network authorities to incorporate private land into authority-managed trail systems. The bill provides legislative findings, highlighting the economic benefits that recreation could bring to the state.

The bill highlights the following areas:

Creation of an Authority; Board
Prohibited Acts for Trail Users; Criminal Penalties
Limited Liability for Landowners
Purchasing Requirements; Criminal Penalties

SB 339: The bill would allow people 16 years of age or older to possess pepper spray on the Capitol Complex for self-defense purposes. The bill would also allow the Director of Protective Services to temporarily prohibit the possession of pepper spray during designated special events on campus.

SB 345: The bill would amend term for an entity who receives a state grant from “person” to “grantee” and by defining “grantee” to include a state spending unit and local government. It changes “person” to “grantee” throughout the section.

SB 352: The bill would modify the procurement process of the Division of Corrections & Rehabilitation by amending code so that it:

Broadens the procurement bonding requirements by making the furnishing of a bond permissive, not mandatory, and expanding the types of surety that may be required.
Allowing for best value procurement when it is advantageous to the state while also setting out the criteria for evaluating best value proposals.
Allowing for direct award contracts without competitive bidding in instances where only a single source or effectively a single source for the commodity or service is available.
Enumerating various grounds that disqualify a vendor from being awarded a contract with the division or having an existing contract renewed.

The bill also adds a new section of code that creates a special revenue fund for the division’s sale or disposition of surplus property. It sets out the grounds and procedures for the sale or disposition of surplus property as well. Money in the special revenue fund is required to be used for facility maintenance and repair.

SB 393: This bill intends to protect the right to farm and to protect agricultural operations from nuisance litigation if the facility has been in operation for more than one year.

The bill adds a new section of code which provides for additional limitations on nuisance actions.

SB 405: The bill would replace the current maximum amount of expenses recovered by a purchaser from $200 to $500.

SB 408: The bill would clarify who has the authority to make determinations of indigency for the purpose of eligibility with the public defender services. The Committee Substitute would give the authority to make the determination to the court administrator in circuits with one. In circuits with no administrator but a public defender’s office, a public defender employee makes the determination; circuits with neither an administrator or a public defender office, the circuit court makes the determination.

SB 440: The proposed legislation is a direct result of events that happened at West Virginia University in 2018. Five fraternities disassociated themselves from the University, and were subsequently banned from rejoining the University again for the next ten years.

Under current law, the anti-hazing law only relates to greek chapters that are a part of a higher education. The bill would amend the current code to include any students who are enrolled in a school of higher education, and are a part of a greek chapter, can be prosecuted for hazing. Whether or not a chapter is associated with a school or not.

SB 442: The proposed bill would decrease the Insurance Commissioner’s current expenses line item by $10,000.

SB 443: The bill would appropriate federal money to the Department of Health and Human Resources. It would increase current expenses appropriation for Division of Health – Community Mental Health Services by $1.4 million; increase personal services for Division of Human Services – Child Care Development by $200,000; increase current expenses for Division of Human Services – Child Care Development by $13 million.

SB 444: The bill would increase current expenses to Division of Health- Laboratory Services fund by $885,554, and increase current expenses to Division of Health – West Virginia Birth-to-Three fund by $885,554.

SB 452: The bill would increase current expenses for Division of Justice – Second Chance Driver’s License Program by $100,000.

SB 461: The bill would clarify taxation of lottery winnings. It clarifies that “gross prizes” as newly defined in the bill are subject to personal income tax withholding. The bill also sets out that all lottery prizes are to be taxed as “source income” subjecting them to all state and federal income tax laws so withholding of state taxes occurs whenever federal taxes are required to be withheld.

SB 481: The bill would alter the statutory, in-state residency restriction for members of the Judiciary Vacancy Advisory Commission (JVAC), which currently prevents more than three members of the Commission from being residents of the same congressional district of the state. The bill would provide that no more than four members may be residents of the same congressional district, and no more than two members of the JVAC may be residents of the same state senatorial district.

SB 491: The bill would extend the statutory deadline for the implementation of automatic voter registration in conjunction with certain Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) transactions from July 1, 2019 to July 1, 2021. The DMV is in need of updating their system mainframe before they can implement the automatic voter registration. The proposed legislation would give the DMV more time to update their system mainframe.

SB 496: The bill would transfer some or all authority to regulate milk and milk products from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Agriculture. This bill also establishes rules which the Department of Agriculture would be required to follow in order to successfully distribute milk or milk products.

SB 499: The bill would modify West Virginia’s tax code, as it relates to taxation of partnerships, due to changes made to federal law. Under the new federal partnership audit regime, the Internal Revenue Service will assess the partnership, or other pass-through entity, an imputed federal income tax liability. The partners, and equity owners of other passthrough entities, will not be reporting federal audit adjustments to the Tax Commissioner and paying additional West Virginia income taxes.

The bill would also update the West Virginia Personal Income Tax and Corporation Net Income Tax sections of code to allow the Tax Commissioner to collect revenue the State would have received prior to the changes in federal partnership audit regime, but not with the federal changes and the current structure of our code. These amounts will not be collected without enactment of this legislation.

SB 516: This bill would require payment to an attorney representing an adoptive parent and the legal guardian. It also requires an attorney to submit an invoice for the work, along with a copy of the final order, to the caseworker responsible for the child or children. If funds exist, the Department is to pay the invoice within 45 days of submission of the invoice. The Department is also required to propose legislative rules for promulgation setting a fee schedule for attorneys in these cases.

SB 518: This bill prohibits a person from selling or trading a drug product containing dextromethorphan to a person under the age of 18. It also prohibits a minor under the age of 18, unless emancipated, from purchasing the product. The bill does not relate to valid prescriptions. A person found guilty of violating these provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of $100 to $250.

SB 542: The bill would amend and reenacts code concerning registration plates. The bill would allow for the creation of various special registration plates, many of them related to honoring members of the military, some of which are exempt and others that are not from the payment of registration fees.

The bill would permit a qualifying applicant, to choose one non-exempt plate instead of one exempt plate without having to pay registration fees.

SB 563: This bill would add language to a section of code limiting admission of certain evidence in sexual offense prosecutions, and prohibits a court from ordering, or otherwise requiring, a victim in a sexual offense prosecution from being required or ordered by a court to submit to sexually invasive physical examinations. For the purposes of the bill, a sexual offense includes any crime of which sexual intercourse, contact, or intrusion is an element of the crime.

SB 590: This bill amends a section of code relating to permitting guided bear hunts by licensed outfitters and guides; providing the Director of the Division of Natural Resources rule-making authority; setting license fee for outfitter and guide applications; and providing penalties for guides and outfitters.

HB 2191: The bill would allow operators to be licensed as retailers in up to 10 locations, increasing the maximum bet permitted for limited video lottery terminals and removing restrictions on bill denominations accepted by limited video lottery terminals. This bill also fixes the state share of gross profits from a limited video lottery revenue at 50 percent beginning July 1, 2019.

HB 2307: The bill would remove the requirement to take an examination for a barbering and cosmetology license to practice in this state by an applicant with a valid license from another state. The bill also states the board may issue a provisional license to an applicant with an expired license and authorizes the board to set the applicable fees for a provisional license and shall not exceed half the cost of a full license.

HB 2446: The bill would establish the Blue Alert program which will aid in locating a law-enforcement officer who has disappeared in the line of duty or locating a suspect or suspects who kill or inflict a life-threatening injury upon a law-enforcement officer and remain at large.

HB 2459: The bill would allow West Virginia to opt out of a federal law passed in 1996 transposing a lifetime ban on receiving SNAP benefits on persons convicted of drug felonies. The federal law allows states to opt out. Since 1996, 47 states have modified the ban or opted out altogether. West Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi are the only states which still have the lifetime ban. The bill would allow West Virginia residents who have been convicted of a drug felony to receive SNAP if they are otherwise qualified.

HB 2492: The bill would require a report of neglect or abuse of an incapacitated adult or facility resident or of an emergency situation involving such an adult shall be made immediately to the Department Health and Human Resources’ adult protective services agency.

HB 2521: This bill would revise existing code to provide that, in addition to pelts (which are already permitted under current law), fur-bearer parts, including: glands, skulls, urine, essence, claws, baculum, and meat, of game or fur-bearing animals taken during the legal season may be sold, traded or bartered. The bill also adds language permitting the sale, trading or bartering of the hide and tails of legally killed squirrels.

Education Omnibus Bill Advances

Andrea Lannom

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February 15, 2019

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House Passes Amended Senate Education Bill

After days of deliberation, and close to 11 hours of debate on the amendment stage, the West Virginia House of Delegates passed a Senate education bill with several changes.

The House passed Senate Bill 451 in a 71-29 vote. The bill as amended by the House included a 5 percent pay raise for teachers and service personnel, a $250 tax credit for teachers and service workers purchasing supplies, a salary increase for math teachers, a provision including seniority to be considered in a reduction in force decision unless the last personnel evaluation is unsatisfactory, a $1,000 year-end bonus for teachers and service personnel who miss fewer than four days, and a provision providing a law enforcement officer in every school.

The bill also capped charter schools to two in West Virginia. These two charters would have to be low-performing Title I elementary schools and a majority of parents and teachers would have to vote in favor of conversion. The bill also was changed to eliminate Education Savings Accounts, or ESAs.

House Finance Chair Eric Householder, R-Berkeley, estimated the total cost of the bill to be about $202 million.

Delegate Daryl Cowles, R-Morgan, supported the bill, commended members of the House for sorting through provisions of the bill and compared the process to cooking chili.

“We sorted through the ingredients. Some things went in and some things did not go in,” Cowles said, mentioning several provisions he supported including the pay raise, the two charter schools, expanded Innovation Zones, and bonuses for math teachers. “These were the good things that went into this pot of chili.”

Others, including Delegate Mick Bates, D-Raleigh, weren’t optimistic.

“It has improved substantially from what was sent over from the Senate,” Bates said. “Overall, we’ve done excellent work. There were many things in the bill I am in favor of and would support. My concern is what we will be voting on will not be what we sent over to the Senate.”

Bates’ biggest concern was the charter school provision.

“If charters would have come out, I would have been comfortable with the bill we had,” Bates said. “However, there is no way this is going to be the final product. So the question is what does the Senate do? If they take the position that we need to expand charters, I don’t think the House will accept that and it puts at risk all the good things in the bill.”

Bates also was concerned about was the local share of state aid.

“We did things to help counties with low population or those losing population and did things to help counties with growing populations. The problem is that over time, this will cause bigger differences between the amount of state aid that goes into these counties. The problem is in the near future we’re going to see legal challenges as well as fighting over state dollars for education.”

Senate Bill 451 was an originating bill out of the Senate Education Committee. The committee advanced the bill Jan. 28 and the Senate made a rare move to commit the bill to the Committee on the Whole—which comprises all members in the Senate.

Senators called and questioned several witnesses and advanced the bill to the floor, passing the measure in an 18-16 vote.

As it passed the Senate, the bill included unlimited public charter schools, 2,500 ESAs for households making under $150,000, a bonus for math teachers, a tax credit for school supplies for teachers only, a year-end bonus if teachers aren’t absent more than four days, $24 million for student support personnel and a provision making it where reduction in force decisions would not be based on seniority alone.

The Senate’s version included a provision that had no pay during work stoppages unless days are made up, and a provision requiring unions to get written permission from members before spending membership dues on political causes.

The Senate’s version also included a non-severability clause.

A proposed strike-and-insert offered in the House Education Committee made several substantial changes to the version that passed out of the Senate. The biggest changes included making charter schools a pilot program and capping them at two for the state. The Education Committee’s version also eliminated ESAs.

The Education Committee’s version also expanded the year-end bonus to include service personnel, added that teachers would get paid during work stoppages and could have extracurricular activities, said reductions in force decisions would be on seniority plus evaluations, and eliminated the provision requiring unions to get written permission from members before spending membership dues on political causes.

The House Education Committee advanced its strike-and-insert last Friday following three days of discussion. The bill then headed to House Finance.

Monday started off with a public hearing at 8 a.m. where many voiced their opinions on the bill. As per a motion adopted on the House floor on Feb. 8, the House Finance Committee hosted a second public hearing at 5:30 p.m. The committee met in between and after the two public hearings to discuss the bill, hear from speakers, and go over their own proposed strike-and-insert amendment.

About 60 people spoke in the two hour-long Monday evening public hearing to a packed House chamber. Some senators stood at the back of the chamber to listen to the speakers.

A majority of those who spoke Monday evening voiced strong opposition to the measure. They expressed concerns that certain provisions in the bill would create wider gaps between higher- and lower-income families, and expressed fears that certain provisions could result in losses of funding for public schools.

Heather Blankenship, a teacher and mother of four, told the committee that although she felt there are problems with public schools, she didn’t think these problems would be solved by adding charter schools or ESAs.

“We need highly qualified teachers, seniority, competitive pay, and support from the Legislature,” Blankenship said.

Those who supported the bill disputed that there would be a loss of funding for public schools, said the bill would give parents more choices of where to send their kids, and mentioned the 5 percent pay raise.

Supporters also mentioned other states with charter schools and ESAs. There are 44 states and the District of Columbia that have charter schools. Five states currently have ESAs. Nevada’s ESA program currently is not operating.

Dan Brokke, a pastor and administrator at Grace Christian School in Huntington, spoke in favor of the bill.

“Please vote in favor of this bill and include ESAs. This would not only be a help to students in private schools but public school parents could use it toward extra-curricular activities or college courses,” Brokke said. “Think about the children and their parents.”

Debate and testimony extended into Monday night. The committee later took up its proposed strike-and-insert, which proposed changes to the House Education version.

The Finance Committee’s proposed strike-and-insert made a few changes to the Education Committee’s strike-and-insert. However, the committee ultimately ended up rejecting the proposed strike-and-insert in a narrow 13-12 vote near midnight.

The committee met early the following morning and voted 17-8 to advance the House Education proposed strike-and-insert. The House then received the bill and took it up for immediate consideration, advancing it to second reading.

“We went line-by-line, point-by-point through this bill to work with all parties in order to build consensus and support for the House’s changes to this bill,” said House Education Committee Chairman Danny Hamrick, R-Harrison. “In the end, we drafted a product that was able to pass this House on a wide 71-29 margin.”

Senate Bill 451 now heads back to the Senate for further consideration.

“There’s a long way to go,” Bates said. “It’s a long way from over. The ball is down in the Senate’s court. They will receive it. I don’t expect they will accept it. I expect they will reject it. They will ask us to recede and we will not. We will trade messages for next couple of days, put a conference committee together and see where it goes from there.”

Judiciary Committee Approves Regulations on Third-Party Litigation Financing

Senate Committee

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February 15, 2019

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The Senate Committee on the Judiciary met yesterday afternoon to discuss and debate in great detail over litigation financing.

A litigation financing transaction is a non-recourse transaction in which financing by a third-party, who is unrelated to the case, is provided to a consumer in return for a consumer assigning to the litigation financier a contingent right to receive an amount of the potential proceeds of the consumer’s judgment, award, settlement, or verdict obtained with respect to the consumer’s legal claim.

Senate Bill 360 would add regulations to this type of business in West Virginia. The proposed regulations with this legislation would include:

All litigation financiers to register with the secretary of state.
Litigation financiers must:
- Provide the consumer with a completed, written agreement.
- Contract must contain a right of rescission within five days of receiving funds.
Prohibits litigation financiers from:
- Paying, offering to pay, or accepting any commissions or referral fees to or from any attorney, law firm, medical provider, chiropractor, or physical therapist.
- May not use false or misleading advertisements.
- May not charge a consumer an annual fee of more than 18 percent of the original amount of money provided to the consumer.

Committee members heard testimonies from insurance agencies, the West Virginia Association for Justice, and local attorneys who were all in favor of passage of the bill. Senators expressed most concerns over the 18 percent rate, and if that requirement was too low or too high. After hearing the testimonies, the members agreed that the original 19 percent was a fair rate for both the litigation financiers and the consumers.

The Committee also discussed Senate Bill 601 which would authorize the Division of Corrections to release inmates 180 days prior to his or her discharge date if they have not been released on parole. Inmates may be placed on electronic monitoring during the period of supervision. This bill was proposed in result over overcrowded prisons throughout the state.

The Committee approved both bills unanimously, and will be reported to the full Senate to be voted upon.

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Senate Finance Receives Land-Grant Bill from Education

Senate Committee

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February 14, 2019

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Legislation relating to federal funds for land-grant institutions came before the Senate Finance Committee following Tuesday’s review from the Education Committee.

Senate Bill 553, which intends to donate funding to two of the state’s universities, was brought before finance committee members to be considered. The proposed legislation would donate $1.4 million to West Virginia State University to match funding supplied by federal land-grants.

President of the university, Anthony Jenkins, came before the education committee on Tuesday to urge passage of the bill to ultimately spread the universities positivities impacts on the state.

Following consideration, the bill was reported to the full Senate with the recommendation to pass.

Members also reviewed a supplemental appropriation to the Department of Veteran’s Assistance. According to the Cabinet Secretary of the department, Dennis Davis, House Bill 2666 would address $5 million of unpaid bills accumulated by the VA.

Davis explained that the department has implemented a corrective action plan intended to address the debt and prevent further loss of funding.

Committee members motioned to report the bill, in addition to House Bill 2668 and Senate Bills 310, 519 and 587, to the full Senate as well.

Legislation Passes Health Committee

House Committee

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February 14, 2019

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Three pieces of legislation were reported to the full Senate by the Health and Human Resources Committee, 1 p.m. Thursday.

Of the proposed bills, two were from the Senate and two were from the House of Delegates.

Review of Senate Bill 86, a bill which would require county boards to provide free feminine hygiene products to female students, opened discussion between committee members. Council led members in reviewing a committee substitute of the proposed legislation which calls for county boards to supply feminine hygiene products to girls in grades 6 through 12. The introduced bill called for counties to provide free products to all girls in the selected grades range but was altered to only supply products to students with financial need.

According to council, the legislation was created following representatives in Monongalia county noticing that an inability to purchase feminine hygiene products directly effected the attendance of female students in grades 6 through 12.

Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, expressed concern over the bill’s potential impact on county school boards following implementation. Currently, the bill has no fiscal note because it would require county school boards to cover the total cost of the program.

Rucker stated that although she supported the bill, she didn’t like that it’s an unfunded mandate for a program which some schools may already have in place.

Committee chair, Sen. Michael Maroney, R-Marshall, addressed Rucker and explained that although the bill has a unfunded mandate, the Senate Finance chair and multiple country boards were contacted during the drafting of the legislation and said they were okay with county school boards covering the costs.

Members voted to agree to the committee substitute and report the bill to the full Senate with the recommendation that it shall pass.

Senate Bill 300, relating to adoption records, also came before the committee and sparked debate. According to council, the proposed legislation would require multiple health records to be completed and uploaded online prior to the adoption of a child.

Gary Thompson, director of the Health Statistics Center at the Department of Heath and Human Resources, came before members to discuss the objectives of the legislation, and stated that although the service would be voluntary, he expected that 2,000 cases would be reported online within the first year.

Thompson also explained that two jobs would be added to the DHHR in order to keep up with the projected high volume of cases within the first few years.

Following discussion, Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, moved to add a conceptional amendment which would require the DHHR to report the total volume of cases to the state every three years. The Senator attributed the amendment to a fear that too many positions would be present in the DHHR following passage of the bill.

Overall, members moved to incorporate the amendment into a committee substitute which has been reported to the full Senate.

House Bill 2607 was also reported while House Bill 2490 was laid over.