Today, the House of Delegates adopted one resolution and passed eight bills. 

House Concurrent Resolution 6 names the bridge locally known as Southbound and Northbound East River Bridge in Mercer County as the “U.S. Army Staff Sgt. James Ira “Junior” Spurrier Memorial Bridge.”

Senate Bill 790 changes the “Curator” of the Department of Arts, Culture, and History to the “Cabinet Secretary” of the Department of Arts, Culture, and History. 

House Bill 4850 removes the sunset date for the valuation of property producing oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The bill does not change the methodology. 

House Bill 4911 permits the sale of raw milk in the state, as long as it is clearly labeled as ungraded raw milk, with the date of production and name of the seller. 

Proponents saw this as a freedom bill that allows people to purchase and sell raw milk without being a part of a herd share. Opponents of this bill took issue with the last paragraph giving immunity to sellers of raw milk from personal injury or civil liability lawsuits, except that of intentional or willful and wanton misconduct. The bill passed 76 in favor and 19 opposed. 

House Bill 4978 clarifies the roles of the Secretary of the Department of Health, the Commissioner of Public Health, and the State Health Officer. 

House Bill 5528 increases the allowed megawatts of generated capacity by regulated utilities to 100 megawatts.  

Clarification on parliamentary procedure:
During Committee Reports, a motion was made to recommit House Bill 5039 to the Judiciary Committee. The motion was tabled, and the report was received. A point of order was made to determine if the motion to table was in order, as the maker of the motion had debated the bill. It was ruled in order as it was a new motion. If the individual had moved the previous question, then that motion would not have been in order. 

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

The House is adjourned until tomorrow, February 20, 2023, at 11 a.m.

Committee Meetings, today Feb. 19
The Finance Committee will meet at 2 p.m. in Room 460. 
The Judiciary Committee will meet at 2:30 p.m. in Room 410. 
The Education Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 434.
The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 215E.

Committee Meetings, tomorrow, Feb. 19
The Committee on Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security will meet at 9:15 a.m. in Room 215E.
The Judiciary Committee will meet at 9:15 a.m. in Room 410. 
The Committee on Political Subdivisions will meet at 10 a.m. in Room 434.
The Rules Committee will meet at 10:45 a.m. behind the House Chamber.
The Committee on Technology and Infrastructure will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 434.
The Committee on Economic Development and Tourism will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 410.
The Committee on Health and Human Resources will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 215E. 

Today, the House of Delegates passed eleven bills, including:

House Bill 4654 removes schools, libraries, and museums from the exemption of criminal liability for the distribution and display of obscene matter. Any individual would have to knowingly and intentionally provide minors with obscene matter.

Proponents of this bill said exemptions should have never existed. If providing obscene matter outside of these buildings is illegal, it should also be illegal inside these buildings. They stated the purpose of this bill is to protect children from seeing matter that is obscene, containing pornographic or sexually explicit material. 

Opponents stated they fear the passage of this bill could bring about costly litigation. They stated that people have varying opinions on what is obscene, which could result in a variety of books being challenged. They also fear this puts librarians and staff in danger of being arrested for having a book on a display.  

House Bill 4807 requires internet providers to credit customer’s accounts when the provider fails to provide service for five or more days. 

House Bill 4867 requires age verification for pornography sites to prevent minors from accessing the content. 

House Bill 5170 increases the matching grants for local economic developments to $50,000. 

This morning the House Rules Committee House Concurrent Resolution 6 to the House floor. The committee also moved House Bills 4809, 5137, 5345, 5354, 5022, 5441, and 5590 from the active Special Calendar to the inactive House Calendar.

The House is adjourned until Monday, February 19, 2023 at 11 a.m.

Committee Meetings, today Feb. 16
The Finance Committee will meet at 2 p.m. in Room 460.

Committee Meetings, Monday, Feb. 19
The Finance Committee will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 460. 
The Judiciary Committee will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 410. 
The Education Committee will meet at 2:30 p.m. in Room 434.
The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 215E.

Today, the House of Delegates adopted two resolutions. 

House Concurrent Resolution 74 states that the State of WV defends life by rejecting euthanasia. Delegate McGeehan, the author of this resolution, stated that the resolution provides a bit of explanation of House Joint Resolution 28. 

House Joint Resolution 28 proposes an amendment to the West Virginia Constitution which would prevent a physician or health care provider in the state from participating in the practice of medically assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of a person. If the resolution is adopted by both the House and the Senate, the proposed amendment will be on the 2024 election ballot for the people to decide. The resolution does not prohibit the administering or prescribing of medication to alleviate pain while the patient’s condition follows its natural course or prevent the withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment as long as the intention is not to kill the patient. 

The House rejected House Bill 441, which would have restricted driving in the left lane of multi-lane highways in the state. 

House Bill 4399 passed the House. The bill allows for individuals who have had charges dismissed after a pre-trail diversion or deferred adjudication to file for expungement of all records. The offenses to which this bill would apply would be nonviolent and nonsexual. Delegate Nestor, the bill’s lead sponsor, stated this bill is needed because currently, it’s more difficult to get these records expunged than someone who has been found guilty of a crime to have an expungement processed. 

The House is adjourned until tomorrow, February 16, 2023, at 11 a.m.

Committee Meetings, today Feb. 15
The Committee on Energy and Manufacturing will meet at 2:30 p.m. in Room 460.
The Committee on Economic Development and Tourism will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 410.
The Committee on Health and Human Resources will meet at 3:15 p.m. in Room 215E. 
The Committee on Technology and Infrastructure will meet at 4 p.m. in Room 434.

Committee Meetings, tomorrow Feb. 16
The Finance Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 460 for Budget Hearings, a meeting to follow. Feb.
The Judiciary Committee will meet at 9:15 a.m. in Room 410. 
The Education Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. in Room 434.

Today, the House Rules Committee moved House Concurrent Resolution to the floor. The committee also moved Senate Bill 17 and House Bill 4700 from the active Special Calendar to the inactive House Calendar. Additionally, the committee moved House Bill 5243 to the active Special Calendar. 

House Bill 5243 sets forth the definitions of sex, female, male, woman, man, girl, boy, mother, father, and equal within the WV Code. The bill provides for single-sex environments. The bill was amended to remove the current marriage exemption in the code relating to sexual assault. 

The bill struck up a long debate both on the amendment stage last week and the passage stage today. 

Proponents stated the bill provides definitions and works to prevent women from being displaced in spaces made for them. The bill also states that in regard to data collection related to sex, that data sets should be collected as either male or female. Proponents said the intention of the bill is to protect young girls and women from biological males in sports and vulnerable spaces. It was stated that this bill protects Title 9. It was stated that the bill’s definition of equal allows for gendered sports, the separate female teams and male teams. 

Opponents expressed fear that this bill could affect the Human Rights Act and seemed to be set up to take away rights. They stated that the bill wasn’t about women’s rights but unifying against a “perceived threat.” Opponents stated individuals who are born with sex organs of both male and female are not addressed thoroughly in the bill. They noted that the legislation is identical to legislation in other states and stated the legislation is not cookie-cutter. 

The bill passed the House with 87 in favor and 12 opposed. 

Senate Bill 219 clarifies the elements of a crime by providing definitions for individuals engaged in the illegal use of controlled substances and seeking medical assistance. If a person is in the physical presence of another engaged in illegal drug use where the other suffers an overdose and the person fails to seek medical attention by contacting 911 or any first responder, then that person is guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned for one to five years. 

Several bills were amended today, including:

House Bill 4297 recognizes correctional officers as law enforcement without obtaining certification requirements. The Commissioner of the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall consult with LEOSA to create a training course specifically for correctional officers. The bill states COs may detain and arrest individuals in violation of state law on any Division of Correction and Rehabilitation property. The amendment clarifies that the bill does not expand the scope of law-enforcement powers to COs, correctional peace officers, or Corrections Special Operation Team officers. 

House Bill 4943 creates regulations for home-based businesses. The amendment reverted back to the introduced version, doing away with the committee’s version. 

The House is adjourned until tomorrow, February 15, 2023, at 11 a.m.

Committee Meetings, today Feb. 14
The Education Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. in Room 434.
The Finance Committee will meet at 1:45 p.m. in Room 460 for Budget Hearings, a meeting to follow. Feb.
The Judiciary Committee will meet at 2 p.m. in Room 410. 
The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 215E.

Committee Meetings, tomorrow Feb. 15
 The Committee on Jails and Prisons will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 410.
The Committee on Seniors, Children, and Families will meet at 9:15 a.m. in Room 215E.
The Committee on Fire Departments and EMS will meet at 9:30 a.m. in Room 434.
The Rules Committee will meet at 10:45 a.m. behind the House Chamber.
The Committee on Energy and Manufacturing will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 460.
The Committee on Technology and Infrastructure will meet at 2 p.m. in Room 434.
The Committee on Health and Human Resources will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 215E. 
The Committee on Economic Development and Tourism will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 410.