The House Judiciary Committee and its subcommittees met to discuss House Bills 4352, 4358, 4044, 4364, and 4169.

House Judiciary

HB 4352 plans to prohibit the usage of cameras in foster children’s bedrooms and bathrooms, unless the cameras are deemed appropriate and necessary by the bill’s exemptions.

HB 4358 is looking to establish a pilot program to provide legal representation for children in juvenile abuse cases. This pilot program will be named the West Virginia Public Guardian ad Litem Services Pilot Program and will function similarly to the West Virginia Public Defender Services. This bill aims to strengthen the structure of Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) and ensure that qualified individuals are focused and understand the role.

House Courts

HB 4044 addresses child welfare by requiring a hair follicle drug test of a child’s abuser before restoring visitation rights.

House Homeland Security

HB 4364 aims to address juvenile jurisdiction and allow the transfer of juveniles back to the state jurisdiction from federal legislative jurisdiction.

House Legal Services

HB 4169 includes plans to align mental health examination requirements with involuntary hospitalization for those who have been prohibited from possessing a firearm. This bill would include physicians, licensed counselors, licensed clinical social workers, nurse practitioners with psychiatric certification, or a physician’s assistant with duties in psychiatric medicine, to provide a certificate of mental health examination for someone to regain their ability to own a firearm

The House Finance Committee met this morning to hear the Governor’s Budget Proposal.

The executive budget was presented by State Budget Director Mike McKown. The Governor’s recommended appropriations relate only to the general revenue fund, which is about 27.76 percent of the total budget.

According to the director, the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) is in excellent shape and ranks among the strongest pension systems in the country. It is funded at 101.8 percent. The Teachers Retirement System (TRS) is at 85 percent funding. The fund needs $2 billion to be fully funded.

The Rainy-Day funds are at $1.2 billion; both are invested and doing well. They will not be needed to balance the budget. While they are doing well, the funds would only last about 90 days in an emergency. The Personal Income Tax Reserve Fund is about $460 million.

The director said that fiscal year 2026 (FY26) funds are strong, and the state is expected to have a healthy surplus. In the budget, public education, Medicaid, social services, and corrections are all fully funded. The major drivers of the base budget increase are the HOPE scholarship, pay raises, and the PEIA employer contribution increase. These three items account for over 94 percent of the total base increases for FY27, with HOPE increasing by $124.3 million, pay increasing by $78.4 million, and PEIA employer costs increasing by $35.1 million.

The pay raises average 3% for all state employees, regardless of funding source. Because it is an average, some employees will be getting less than 3 percent. To fully fund HOPE, a supplemental of $230,144,341 is needed; this will fund the second half of FY27 and the first half of FY28. Allocations and payments are made this way because when payments are due in August, there isn’t enough cash flow.

The presenter briefly spoke about the sale of the long-term care facilities. The sale will not reduce the appropriations needed to operate the state’s three hospitals. The company that bought the facilities is required to build new facilities.

The State’s portion of SNAP has increased due to federal changes. It used to be a 50/50 split between the State and Federal Funds; it will now be 75 percent state-funded and 25 percent federal-funded.

Next, the director went over the 6-year plan, a planning tool used to analyze future budgets. The plan allows future budget gaps to be caught and balanced by that specific fiscal year. The plan uses basic revenue assumptions and major expenditure drivers for the general revenue, lottery, and excess lottery funds.

The State Budget Director will be back on Monday to answer questions relating to the presented budget.

House Health and Human Resources engaged in discussions about House Bill 4196, House Bill 4335, and House Bill 4336; HB 4196, HB 4335, and HB 4336 will be moved to markup and passage.

House Bill 4196 plans to require licensed programs to offer long-acting contraceptives, such as an injectable or an implant, to patients recovering from methadone and suboxone. This would include new and current patients in accordance with the Medication-Assisted Treatment Program Licensing Act.

House Bill 4335 is planned to create a quick, standard practice for Medicaid providers and require the electronic submission of credentialing applications. The bill aims for the Department of Human Services to implement an electronic system that is consistent statewide for credentialing of Medicaid providers. Under this bill, the Department of Human Services will be expected to complete enrollment determinations within five business days of a completed application. The credentialing form is expected to be simple, straightforward, and easily accessible.

House Bill 4336 will update the drug testing standards for medication-assisted treatment programs. In addition to West Virginia code, 16B-13-5, the bill plans for drug testing under the medication assisted-treatment program to include one test each month for the first three months; then one test each quarter for the next nine months; and then four tests per year. Under the new addition, the program may drug test a patient when there is a reasonable basis to believe that a patient may be engaging in substance use or diversion that goes against the treatment plan.

The proposed bill includes removing the following language, as stated in §16B-13-5 of the West Virginia Code.

– The medication-assisted treatment program shall be eligible for, and not prohibited from, enrollment with West Virginia Medicaid and other private insurance. Prior to directly billing a patient for any medication-assisted treatment, a medication-assisted treatment program must receive either a rejection of prior authorization, rejection of a submitted claim, or a written denial from a patient’s insurer or West Virginia Medicaid denying coverage for such treatment: Provided, That the director, in consultation with the Inspector General, may grant a variance from this requirement pursuant to §16B-13-6 of this code. The program shall also document whether a patient has no insurance. At the option of the medication-assisted treatment program, treatment may commence prior to billing.
– (h) All employees of an opioid treatment program shall furnish fingerprints for a state and federal criminal records check by the Criminal Identification Bureau of the West Virginia State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The fingerprints shall be accompanied by a signed authorization for the release of information and retention of the fingerprints by the Criminal Identification Bureau and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The opioid treatment program shall be subject to the provisions of §16B-15-1 et seq. of this code and subsequent rules promulgated thereunder.
– (s) The physician shall follow the recommended manufacturer’s tapering schedule for the medication-assisted treatment medication. If the schedule is not followed, the physician shall document in the patient’s medical record and the clinical reason why the schedule was not followed. The director may investigate a medication-assisted treatment program if a high percentage of its patients are not following the recommended tapering schedule.

With these removals in mind, delegates engaged in debate with Lee Weingart, a telehealth representative from QuickMD, and Stephen Loyd, director of the West Virginia Office of Drug Control Policy.

Weingart provided reasons for the changes that provisions cause harm over time; the requirement of fingerprinting and federal background checks is overly broad and could include people who do not physically interact with patients. Weingart said the heart of the bill is the reduction of excessive monthly testing. Lastly, he said many medication-assisted treatment programs don’t offer tapering schedules and shared concerns of patients not having the capacity for tapering, and an unnecessary burden on patients.

Main concerns from the delegates include the practice of patients paying cash for treatment using suboxone, reduction in the amount of drug testing for patients being treated for drug addictions, and the removal of background checks for employees in these clinics that treat people with addiction.

Following the debate with Weingart, Loyd provided his perspective as a physician on the bill and the current language included in it. Loyd said he agreed with the bill’s idea on drug screening, adding that there is no proven benefit for excessive drug screening. Loyd recommended patients receive once a week for the first four weeks and for the remainder of the year every 45 days, resulting in eight screenings a year. With consideration of disagreements between the delegates, Loyd expressed a desire to find a happy medium and believes some positives could come out of the bill with amendments.

The House Energy and Public Works Committee met this afternoon.

House Bill 4008 allows the West Virginia Business Ready Sites Program to provide micro-grants of up to $100,000 to sites that are at least five acres and up to $250,000 that are over 20 acres.

House Bill 4040 allows municipalities to facilitate improvements to nonstate roads by providing legal safeguards and ensuring public safety.

House Bill 4045 creates the Rossi Act, which requires entities providing goods, services, and utilities to allow changes to an electronic account to be made by telephone or mail.

The House Committee on Government Organization met this afternoon to hear about two bills.

House Bill 4005, the Workforce Development Act of 2026, amends the WV Code, Chapter 12, Article 6, regarding child labor. It provides provisions for when children aged 16 to 18 can be employed.

House Bill 4006, the West Virginia Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing Growth Act, establishes the Aerospace Development Program to be administered within the Department of Commerce. The bill provides tax incentives for the program. Additionally, the bill establishes the Job Development Investment Grant Program to be administered by the Division of Economic Development.