Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
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Senate Education Advances Bill on County Superintendents

Jaidyn Carter
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Senate Education Advances Bill on County Superintendents

The Senate Education Committee met Tuesday morning to discuss bills regarding the Board of Education, non-traditional instruction days, and athletic training in secondary schools.

Senate Bill 176 would extend the number of non-traditional instruction days for instructors from five to 10 days, which would count toward the 180 required days of school instruction.

This bill aims to clarify the number of non-traditional instructional days for teachers.

The legislation was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage, first being reported to the committee on Finance.

Senate Bill 232 would establish the West Virginia Secondary School Athletic Trainer and Career Technical Education Program Act.

This bill would establish a five-year program to have licensed athletic trainers in all secondary high schools in West Virginia.

The bill was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage, first being reported to the committee on Finance.

Career and technical education (CTE) programs for athletic training would be present in each high school through the Board of Education. The program would be fully implemented by July 1, 2031, and all secondary schools must have a licensed athletic trainer on staff.

Senate Bill 694 would no longer require a county superintendent of schools to reside in the county in which he or she serves or in a contiguous county.

The county superintendent would be appointed by the board upon a majority vote of the members and serve for a term of no less than one year and no more than four years.

Senator Trenton Barnhart (R – Pleasants, 03) proposed an amendment that would require the county superintendent to be within a one-hour drive from the board office instead of a two-hour drive, to encourage being in the local area of the community.

After the discussion, Senator Barnhart withdrew his amendment.

Senate Craig Hart (R–Mingo, 06) proposed a conceptual amendment limiting the state board’s authority and granting authority to the elected board of education when electing a superintendent within a county.

Following the discussion, the amendment was rejected.

Senator Scott Fuller (R – Wayne, 05) proposed an amendment to not require a time limit for the county superintendent.

The amendment was adopted.

The bill, as amended, was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage.

House Debate CEs Relating To WVRHTP

Soleil Woolard
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House Debate CEs Relating To WVRHTP

The West Virginia House of Delegates advanced House Bills 4137, 4629, 4740, and 4951 to the Senate.

House Bill 4137 would update existing code about the West Virginia Law Institute. The institute was established to provide support services to the legislature and the West Virginia University College of Law. These updates address issues with membership based on congressional districts, how vacancies are filled, and would exempt the Institute from open meeting laws.

House Bill 4629 would allow higher education institutions to give people who are 18 to 21 tobacco products if they are conducting a scientific study or research. This only applies to research that is medical and furthering efforts for prevention and tobacco regulation.

House Bill 4740 would make changes to ensure consistency between West Virginia’s Rural Health Transformation Program (WVRHTP) and the State of West Virginia’s commitments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This bill would allow the WV Rural Health Transformation Program to not have to use the Division of Purchasing and use the Department of Health to process their spending.

House Bill 4951 would require MDs and DOs to complete continuing education and nutrition education under the guidelines of the WVRHTP.

The West Virginia Rural Health Transformation Program was established to improve healthcare across the state, develop the economy, build a more robust workforce, and help West Virginians with their health outcomes.

In the floor session, debate occurred over HB 4951 with concerns about government regulation within the medical field. Under this bill, this would change the guidelines of continuing education to include medical education pertaining to nutrition.

Delegate Shawn Fluharty (D – Ohio, 5) asked Delegate Evan Worrell (R – Cabell, 23) about the current decision making the medical board has and if they could do this themselves. Worrell said the medical board does have the power currently to decide these guidelines themselves.

“This is a government mandate. This is big government walking into the board of medicine instead of allowing professionals to make decisions on the continuing education aspect,” Fluharty said. “I think we let the medical professionals decide what’s medically necessary and not the government mandating something for continuing education purposes.”

In response, Worrell said, “This initiative is a part of the Rural Health Transformation Program application, and what I would say is the professionals will be making the determination of what will be taken. The board of medicine and osteopaths will decide what nutrition education will be for the members. I do trust those professionals to make those decisions.”

House Bill 4951 advanced to the Senate with 58 in favor and 35 against.

Bills introduced can be found here.
Resolutions introduced can be found here.

Committee Meetings, Today February 3

Committee Meetings, Wednesday February 4

The House is adjourned until 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, February 4, 2026.

Senate Adopts Marshall University Day Resolution

Jaidyn Carter
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Senate Adopts Marshall University Day Resolution

The Senate met Tuesday morning, passing two resolutions regarding Marshall University Day, honoring victims of Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War, and passing six bills.

Senate Bill 536 would revise requirements for serving as appointed voting members of the Professional Charter School Board.

The following requirements would be:

* Be a citizen of the state.
* Be experienced and have expertise in public or nonprofit governance, management, and finance, public school leadership, assessment, curriculum, or public education.
* No more than three of the appointed members of the Professional Charter School Board may be of the same political party.

The other bills discussed related to insurance coverage for drivers, mortgage loans, bank institutions, and mortgage lenders.

All bills were passed and reported to the House of Delegates for further consideration.

Afternoon Meetings:

Health and Human Resources at 1 p.m. in Room 451M

Economic Development at 1 p.m. in Room 208W

Finance at 3 p.m. in Room 451M

Judiciary at 3 p.m. in Room 208W

The Senate is adjourned until Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 11 a.m.

House HHR Engages In Debate About Pesticide Bill

Soleil Woolard
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House HHR Engages In Debate About Pesticide Bill

The House Health and Human Resources Committee advanced two bills this evening.

House Bill 4641 would organize the guidelines for nutritionally adequate school breakfasts and lunches to follow standards set by new federal guidelines, as well as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This bill was advanced to the Standing Committee on Education.

House Bill 4770 would create limitations on the use of AI technology to deliver mental health care except for administrative functions. This bill was advanced to Finance.

House Bill 4982 would establish and expand a coordinated, statewide Healthy Lifestyles framework to promote nutrition, physical activity, and wellness through cross-agency collaboration, school-based initiatives, public-private partnerships, grants, and reporting requirements to improve the health of West Virginians.

House Bill 4760 would require insurance to cover certain nutrition and dietary needs that are recommended by a person’s physician.

House Bill 4907 would restrict the use of pesticides within 1000ft of schools. These pesticides include paraquat or paraquat dichlorate, atrazine, dicamba, chlorpyrifos, 2,4-dichloroacetic acid (2,4-D), glyphosate, or perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance.

House Energy Advances Markup & Passage Bills, Hears Two More

Cheyenne DeBolt
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House Energy Advances Markup & Passage Bills, Hears Two More

The House Energy and Public Works Committee met this evening.

Markup & Passage

House Bill 4012 would reduce the regulatory burden on utility companies when constructing and maintaining electric power generation and transmission facilities within this state by shortening the time to final decision.

House Bill 4026 requires integrated power companies to expand their integrated resource plans. The bill was amended to clarify that costs and benefits should be included in the plans submitted to the PSC.

House Bill 4461 provides that consumers are not required to pay for service outages lasting more than 12 hours.

House Bill 4489 allows the DMV to issue birth, death, marriage, or divorce records in the State Registrar. The bill allows for the DMV to collect a fee for doing so.

Committee Hearing

House Bill 4011 would facilitate the implementation of third-party certification of mass balance attribution to promote waste reduction practices by enabling the use of recycled material in feedstock for new products.

House Bill 4862 would require the board of a public service district to cooperate with a county commission when the county commission has authorized the dissolution, sale, or merger of the district with another public service district.

Senate Judiciary Advances ICE Bill

Jaidyn Carter
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Senate Judiciary Advances ICE Bill

The Senate Judiciary Committee met this afternoon and advanced three bills dealing with illegal immigration, telecommunication devices, and Social Services.

Senate Bill 615 would require individuals with an illegal immigration status to be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and be deported.

If the same individual is present in the state under an illegal immigration status for a second time, they would be guilty of a felony offense and would be incarcerated in a state penitentiary for 3-5 years, and following their release, be sent to ICE for deportation.

Law enforcement can suspect an individual is in the United States under an illegal immigration status only if law enforcement is detaining them for a separate legal issue and chooses to report the individual to ICE.

Separate legal issues include, but aren’t limited to:

* Speeding
* Broken headlight, taillight, brake light, or turn signal
* Expired registration or inspection
* Checkpoint stops (DUI or license checkpoints)
* Illegal turn or U – turn

The bill was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage.

Senate Bill 543 would require the Bureau of Social Services to prepare and file its complete policy manual as a legislative rule and be made available for public scrutiny.

The policies include governing child protective services, foster care, youth services, licensing, casework standards, and other operational or programmatic guidance used by the bureau.

The bill was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage.

Senate Bill 440 would make transporting telecommunication devices into a state correctional facility a felony.

If an individual attempts to deliver anything into a state correctional facility to aid or facilitate another individual’s escape, they would be guilty of a felony and would be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison.

Delegate David Green (R – McDowell, 036) testified to the body in support of the bill, pointing out the ongoing attempts to transport telecommunications in McDowell County correctional facilities using devices such as drones.

A Chief Deputy from McDowell County testified that he personally engaged with approximately 45 offenders from various places, such as Florida and Mexico, who have attempted to transport contraband such as cellphones in correctional facilities in West Virginia.

The bill was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage.

House ACT Subcommittee Advances Four Bills

Cheyenne DeBolt
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House ACT Subcommittee Advances Four Bills

The House Agriculture, Commerce, and Tourism Subcommittee met this afternoon.

Markup & Passage

House Bill 4504 requires the Division of Natural Resources to make rules for hunted antlered deer. The bill would allow first antlered deer to be taken under current rules, but adds that the second antlered deer must have three points on one side.

House Bill 4663 repeals the special license for multi-vendor private fairs and festivals where multiple vendors share liability and responsibility.

House Bill 4386 changes the age limit for firefighters. The bill was amended to allow applicants to be 40 years old.

House Bill 4493 was amended; the bill now creates the West Virginia Wholesale Accountability Act. The bill requires the wholesaler of residential homes to notify the seller that the home will be transferred to another individual or organization before the buyer takes legal title to the home.

Committee Hearing

House Bill 4762 would provide reciprocity for licensed veterinarians and veterinary technicians who are licensed and in good standing in other states and offer specialized and temporary licensure to foreign graduates through PAVE and ECFVGG.

House Bill 4800 would add “any other livestock” to penalties for dogs wounding livestock.

Senate Energy Advances Bills on Coal Mining and Utility Rates

Jaidyn Carter
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0
Senate Energy Advances Bills on Coal Mining and Utility Rates

The Senate Energy Industry and Mining Committee met Monday afternoon and advanced four bills relating to coal mining, electricity utility rates, public water systems, and the Creating Natural Resources Anti-Commandeering Act.

Senate Bill 48 relates to the powers and duties of the Public Service Commission.

The bill would grant commissioners the power to enforce, establish, and change tariffs, rates, joint rates, tolls, and schedules for all public utilities. This bill is intended to prevent electricity utility rates from being increased during the winter.

The legislation was reported to the full Senate with the recommendation of passage, but first reported to the committee on Finance.

Senate Bill 586 relates to modifying requirements for public water systems.

The bill would prohibit the Secretary of the Department of Health from promulgating rules that would cause public water systems or businesses to have backflow preventers.

Low-hazard backflow prevention assemblies may not be inspected more frequently than once in three years by the Secretary of the Department of Health.

The bill was reported to the full Senate with the recommendation of passage.

Senate Bill 685 would implement the Creating Natural Resources Anti- Commandeering Act.

This bill would prohibit agencies in the state of West Virginia and political subdivisions from knowingly and willingly participating in the enforcement of any federal act relating to coal, oil, gas, timber, or other extractive resources that do not exist under current law.

According to the bill’s legislation, it’s intended to protect West Virginia employees, including law enforcement officers, from being directed to violate their oaths of office and rights affirmed under the Tenth Amendment.

The bill was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage, first being reported to the committee on Judiciary.

Senate Bill 686 would provide exceptions to waste and trespassing for certain coal estates to encourage safe and efficient mining, extraction, and production of coal.

The bill would require tenants in common and joint tenants to be liable for their cotenants, jointly or severally, for damages.

The bill was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage, first being reported to the committee on Judiciary.

Senate Passes Illegal Ballots Bill

Jaidyn Carter
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Senate Passes Illegal Ballots Bill

The Senate met this morning, introducing bills 696-715, adopting resolutions 14, 23, and 24, and passing seven bills, including one that prohibits the acceptance of an absentee ballot that does not comply with West Virginia State requirements.

Senate Bill 61 would require that any person who knowingly and intentionally counts and includes an absentee ballot that does not comply with the bill’s legislation shall be guilty of a felony.

The standards under which a ballot would not count in an election, according to the bill, include:

* If the individual’s registration record is not accessible during the time of the election.
* If the individual’s poll book signature doesn’t correspond with their registration record.
* If the individual fails to present a valid identification document.

If an individual cast a ballot in the incorrect precinct, the ballot cast may not be counted for that election. Voters with a disability whose polling location is not accessible can use a different precinct and have their ballot counted.

Senate Bill 233 would require an individual to hold a current valid license issued by the Commissioner of Labor to administer a psychophysiological detection of deception examination, lie detector, or other similar examinations utilizing mechanical or electronic measures to evaluate truthfulness using physiological reactions.

The licensed individual must be at least 21 years of age, a U.S. Citizen, has not been convicted of a felony, has not been honorably discharged or released from an armed service of the United States, and have met any other qualifications necessary.

Senate Bill 506 would require the county commissioner of each county to authorize the lease, rent, or permit the usage of county-owned wireless towers.

County commissions may not impose a charge to local entities to use the tower space of they are a public safety operation, including 911, law enforcement management, ambulance, rescue, and firefighters.

These bills passed the full Senate and were reported to the House of Delegates for further consideration.

Afternoon Meetings:

Transportation and Infrastructure at 1 p.m. in Room 451M

Workforce at 1 p.m. in Room 208W

Pensions at 2 p.m. in Room 451M

Energy, Industry and Mining at 2 p.m. in Room 208W

Finance at 3 p.m. in Room 451M

Judiciary at 3 p.m. in Room 208W

Morning Meetings for Feb. 3:

Government Organization at 9:30 a.m. in Room 208W

Education at 9:30 a.m. in Room 451M

The Senate has adjourned until tomorrow, Feb. 3, at 11 a.m.

House Judiciary and Subcommittees Discuss Several Bills

Soleil Woolard
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0
House Judiciary and Subcommittees Discuss Several Bills

The House Judiciary Committee and its subcommittees heard and discussed several bills this morning.

Judiciary

House Bill 4382 would require collection agencies to provide 30 days’ notice by mail before wage garnishments.

House Bill 4552 would clarify what correctional officers of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation can do in their facilities.

House Bill 4570 would allow a landlord to serve an eviction notice by posting it on the front door, secure it, and take a photograph of it to show that it was posted.

House Bill 4625 would change the definitions of excise tax on property transfers to add and clarify exemptions.

House Bill 4522 would ban foreign spending on state ballot issues.

House Bill 4601 would expand the West Virginia State Police Unit for Child Abuse and Neglect Investigations. This bill would increase the number of members in the unit and would have offices located within the Department of Human Services offices.

House Bill 4603 would create a diversion process to allow parents who are having their children removed from their home to be placed with a family member under guardianship. This process is only available to select child abuse and neglect cases. Cases that are not available to this process include, but are not limited to, those where a parent has subjected a child to abandonment, torture, and chronic abuse.

House Bill 4755 would create enhanced sentencing for offenders of aggravated vehicular homicide, driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury, and third offense driving under the influence. This sentencing applies to offenders who have been previously convicted.

Courts

House Bill 4468 would require any court or state records that contain identifying information of a victim or an arrest remain confidential. This bill would require the name and address in a criminal complaint be confidential.

House Bill 4893 would increase the penalties for contempt of court.

House Bill 4466 would make the influence of narcotics in public fall under the same penalties as public intoxication of alcohol.

Homeland Security

House Bill 4179 would create a felony charge for individuals who assault police officers or police dogs.

House Bill 4345 would establish a protocol for preserving records and evidence in missing persons cases that are unresolved after one year by making them digital and being housed at the West Virginia Fusion Center.

Legal Services

House Bill 4053 would establish the Blue Envelope Program. The Blue Envelope program would assist communication between law enforcement officers and individuals with autism, dementia, or intellectual and developmental disabilities during a motor vehicle-related interaction.

This envelope would include documentation such as, but not limited to, a driver’s essential documents, a driver’s license, vehicle registration, and an emergency contact card.

House Bill 4600 would require absentee ballots mailed in to be received by 8:00 p.m. on the day of the election to be counted.

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