Blog – Page 159

Bill Regarding Lottery Games Reported to Full Senate

Senate Committee

admin

-

January 11, 2019

A bill removing restrictions on where certain traditional lottery games may be played is set for first reading before the full Senate on Monday.

The Senate convened at 11 a.m. Friday. to review reported bills. Eight bills were reported from respected committees to be read on first reading Monday, Jan. 14. Six bills were reported from the Committee on Finance, and two bills came from the Committee on Judiciary.

Senate Bill 27 was reported to the floor Friday. It removes restrictions on where certain traditional lottery games may be played. This is the same bill, Senate Bill 324 from the 2018 Regular Session. The bill removes current restrictions on where certain KENO themed lottery games may be played. Currently these games may only be played at locations that are authorized to sell alcohol. The bill would allow these games to be sold at all traditional lottery licensed retail locations.

Members of the Senate have expressed concern about whether the bill would enforce the bill in area where alcohol is served.

Senate Bills 252 to 284 also were introduced Friday.

The Senate also voted unanimously to adopt Senate Resolution 7 which recognizes Jan. 11 as Women and Girls Day at the capital.

The Senate is adjourned until Monday, Jan. 14 at 11 a.m.

Judiciary Committee Reports Bill to the House Floor

House Committee

admin

-

January 11, 2019

0

In Friday’s floor session, the House of Delegates met briefly to recognize bills discussed by committees.

The House Judiciary committee reported House Bill 2164 which helps clarify that appeals to the state Supreme Court are a matter of right. This bill is a bipartisan bill and its lead sponsor is Del. John Shott, R-Mercer, it is due for first reading on Monday, January 14^th.

The House also observed in Women’s and Girls day. Special guest, U.S. Sen. Shelly Moore Capito, was on the floor as well.

The House is adjourned until Monday, Janurary 14 at 11 p.m.

Overview of the Department of Education Reviewed by Committee

House Committee

admin

-

January 11, 2019

0

Steve Paine, State Superintendent of Schools, gave an overview of the Department of Education this morning regarding their process so far and what they need to focus more in the future. Superintendent Paine said, Mathematics is a concern of the department as it is currently the states number one deficiency. West Virginia also has a chronic absentee problem. Over 20 percent of kids miss school, being considered “absent” means that a student has to have missed 18 or more days of school.

The department also wants to focus more on being proactive, with a special interest in mind to place a teacher in every school that is certified to teach coding and programming courses. The department expressed their willingness to partner with Governor Justice on the “Jim’s Dream” program for adult second time around. Our state has also seen an improvement in graduation rates going up with more students graduating from high school.

West Virginia Office of the Attorney General Presents Budget Overview for 2019

House Committee

admin

-

January 11, 2019

0

The House Committee on Finance heard a presentation from the West Virginia Office of the Attorney General during their committee meeting at 9 a.m. on Jan. 11 in 460-M.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey presented an overview of the office’s responsibilities, followed by a presentation of the office’s financial standing and requests for the fiscal year of 2019.

Morrissey reported that his office facilitated approximately $40 million over the course of the last five fiscal years, and approximately $13 million in savings since Dec. 2015, primarily through the office’s work to reduce Social Security fraud reduction.

Morrissey emphasized the ability of his office to locate and reduce financial fraud within the state of West Virginia, and maintained that any reduction of his staff in the year of 2019 would reduce this efficiency and add to cost through increasing a greater reliance on outside counsel to carry out the tasks of the office. For this reason, Morrissey requests state appropriations to his office that are equivalent to the amount of money they received in the fiscal year of 2018, and within the constraints of the budget recommendations.

“We are aggressive when it comes to finding fraud,” Morrissey said. “You will get a return on your investment.”

As far as budget requests for the fiscal year of 2019, Morrissey asked the Finance Committee to consider transferring the jurisdiction of the Medicare Fraud Control Unit to the hands of the Attorney General’s Office. Morrissey said that 43 states allocate the responsibility of finding Medicare fraud to the attorney general’s office, and that West Virginia should not be an outlier in this matter.

“We have the fraud experience,” said Morrissey. “And from a fiscal integrity perspective, it’s nice to have a fresh pair of outside eyes to examine this issue.”

The West Virginia Attorney General’s Office ultimately stated a goal for 2019 to streamline operations in order to save taxpayer dollars and maintain transparency.

Delegate Paul Espinosa (R-Jefferson, District 66) said he was eager to work with the Attorney General’s Office on this matter. He spoke upon the idea that because the Department of Health and Human Services has the second largest budget after education, that he appreciates the amount of discretion that this budget request would bring to the state on the issue of fraud.

Department of Health and Human Resources Gives Update on Opioid Epidemic

House Committee

admin

-

January 11, 2019

0

The House Committee for Substance Abuse met to formally begin their work for the 84^th legislative session.

In Friday’s meeting, legislators heard progress of their programs and statistics on how the opioid epidemic is affecting West Virginia.

Bob Hansen, director of the Office of Drug Control Policy, touched on many subjects during the presentation, but also highlighted the drug overdose deaths.

“The opioid crisis in West Virginia is a health crisis, a social services crisis, and an economic crisis,” Hansen said.

West Virginia is losing $8.8 billion a year as a result of this crisis, according to statistics from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.

Research also shows that those at highest risk for drug abuse are men between the ages of 35 and 54, have a high school diploma or less education, unmarried, and working blue-collar jobs.

West Virginia also is one of a few states that has substance use waivers, as well as the first state to have a neonatal syndrome waiver.

Prevention is an important emphasis in this plan and a $2,260,000 SAMHSA grant awarded to the DHHR will help with their prevention cause.

Senate Judiciary Committee Updated on State Revenue

Senate Committee

admin

-

January 11, 2019

0

West Virginia set a record with $184.9 million in budget surplus in the 2018 fiscal year and revenue projections are projected to increase by 2.05 percent in the upcoming fiscal year, Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy told legislators Thursday.

In Thursday’s meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hardy and Mike Cook, director of the State Budget Office, presented updated revenue projections.

Hardy forecasted the 2019-2020 revenue projection to increase by 2.05 percent.

“That’s a very conservative revenue estimate,” Hardy said. “It’s a good revenue estimate. Even though times are good, we’re not trying to go out there and overestimate next year’s revenue.”

Hardy said the state set a record with $184.9 million budget surplus in 2018 which can now be used throughout the state.

“It’s great for everyone,” Hardy said. “The administration and the Legislature now has some money to work with.”

Hardy also addressed the committee about issues discovered in October surrounding the Louis A. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Hardy said the Department of Revenue purposed a supplemental one-time infusion of funds to get the VA hospital “back on its feet.”

Cook addressed the committee with a six-year plan and said that the 2019 general revenue is $185.9 million above the estimate established in Dec. of 2018.

Cook said that because of an increase in general revenue, the state now has one of the best Rainy-Day Funds in the country.

The committee also introduced the following bills and motioned to report them to the full Senate:

Senate Bill 24, relating to local boards of health.
Senate Bill 28, removing hotel occupancy tax limit collected for medical care and emergency services.
Senate Bill 36, allowing adjustment of gross income for calculating personal income liability for certain retirees.
Senate Bill 106, alleviating double taxation on foreign income at state level.
Senate Bill 10, relating to Second Chance Driver’s License Program.
Senate Bill 27, removing restrictions on where certain traditional lottery games may be played.

Senate Bill 13, which changes the distribution of racetrack video lottery net terminal income, excess net terminal income, and excess lottery fund, was laid over.

House Finance Committee Examines Fiscal Forecast, Discusses State’s Economic Strength

House Committee

admin

-

January 11, 2019

0

The House Committee on Finance met at 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon to discuss the current economic state of West Virginia, the projected economic growth that the state will see, and possible implications that may come with Governor Justice’s proposal to deduct Social Security taxes.

The West Virginia Department of Revenue provided the data that drove the presentation given during the committee. Mark R. Muchow, the Deputy Revenue Secretary for the West Virginia Department of Revenue, presented and interpreted the figures.

The West Virginia Department of Revenue reported accelerated growth since late 2016. General revenues are also projected to grow 13.5 percent in the first half of 2019.

Economic projections are calculated when taking the figures from Justice’s revenue proposal into consideration, and the data generated takes these policies into account.

State road fund collections are expected up exceed estimates, and have already increased 20 percent since the 2017 fiscal year. Lottery revenues also will continue to increase from the prior year, and the construction sector is expected to boom.

“2018 is one of the best years we’ve seen in a decade or so,” Muchow said on the current state of the West Virginia economy. “We’re going to continue to see a lot of growth in construction and leisure and hospitality.”

One major reason for the state’s above average growth in the construction sector is the effect the pipeline industry has had on the state’s economy.

Muchow’s major concern for the state in terms of economic standing was the continuing decline of the manufacturing sector.

“The manufacturing sector continues to underperform,” Muchow said. “This impacts locations in the state that once relied on manufacturing—such as Huntington and Charleston.”

Despite the manufacturing sector falling short, the state is estimated to grow their revenues by at least 1.9 percent. By 2020, they hope to increase revenue by at least 2 percent.

Muchow cited that the biggest state expenditure to the state would not be the $50 million it would cost under Justice’s plan to cut taxes for Social Security recipients, but the $150 million it would cost to dedicate enough money to PEIA to provide a satisfactory cushion for state workers for the next few years.

“We appear to be on the upswing overall. Pipeline business is growing, energy is increasing, and our health sector is continuing to improve as well.”

The House Finance Committee will meet at 9am Jan. 11 in 460-M to hear the West Virginia Attorney General’s Budget Presentation, as well as a budget presentation from the West Virginia Lottery.

Vetoed Bill Reemerges to Make Its Way Back Into Discussion

House Floor Session

admin

-

January 10, 2019

0

The House Committee on Health and Human Resources met briefly Thursday to discuss a bill establishing universal forms and deadlines when submitting prior authorizations electronically.

The committee met Thursday afternoon for introductions and housekeeping items on its agenda. The committee also discussed an originating bill that had been passed in the 83^rd Legislature but vetoed by the governor.

Last year, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 442 dealing with prior authorization.

In his veto message, Gov. Jim Justice said, “Enrolled Community Substitute for Senate Bill 442 is concerning because it voids current contracts governing prior authorization response times would be ruled as unconstitutional.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Makes Headway on Infrastructure Legislation

Senate Committee

admin

-

January 10, 2019

0

The Senate Judiciary Committee convened today to discuss two bills in regards to rules on Infrastructure.

Senate Bill 177 amends current legislation by requiring a sunset provision, and by updating an energy efficiency standard for commercial buildings from the 2000 edition to the 2010 edition of the International Property Maintenance Code. Kenneth E. Tyree, West Virginia State Fire Marshall, was brought in to discuss the West Virginia’s current building codes.

Senate Bill 190 is a Division of Highways (DOH) rule relating to new employment procedures. The bill provides a new pay plan for the DOH that allows salary and hourly classified employees to be compensated for hours worked after the accumulation of 40 hours.

The Committee amended the bill to define Premium as time and a half when employees work in excessive of 40 hours per week.

Both bills were passed by the Committee unanimously to be delivered to the full Senate for consideration.

The Committee is adjourned until next Monday, Jan. 14.

West Virginia Employment Rate Projected to Rise by 2.2 Percent

House Committee

admin

-

January 10, 2019

0

The Senate Committee on Finance convened for a Budget Presentation 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 10.

Mark Muchow, deputy secretary of revenue, updated committee members on the past fiscal year and presented a forecast for the approaching months.

Muchow said that since 2016, the state’s economy has seen growth which can be accounted to major pipeline investments, the Governor’s Road to Prosperity Program, a general revenue growth of 1.5 percent in the first part of the 2019 fiscal year and a 20% total increase in coal production since 2016.

As the national employment rate is predicted to rise by 4.9 percent, Muchow said that the state’s employment rate will rise by 2.2 percent despite above average employment growth in the construction sector. Muchow said that demographics continue to hinder WV’s workforce.

In addition to a rise in WV’s employment, Muchow said that wages within the state will approach the national average following a decline in 2018.

In the presentation Muchow also said that personal income taxes will see an average annual growth of 9.1 percent from 2018-2024 while consumers sales tax will experience an average annual growth of 3.5 percent from 2018-2024.

Muchow’s final baseline forecast predicted a good fiscal year for 2019 which could see a slowdown in economic growth and a possible recession in 2020 following a slowdown in the state’s oil and natural gas industries.

Despite a possible recession, Muchow said that the state grew 3-4 percent in coal production while production in surrounding states declined. Muchow said a surge in state exports, such as coal, help money build up and improve economic growth.