The Committee on Energy & Public Works met this afternoon.

Markup & Passage

House Bill 4008 was advanced to the floor. The bill 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.

Committee Hearing

House Bill 4410 clarifies the definition of “on-track equipment” to include “any tender, motor unit, freight or passenger car, or other on-track equipment used, operated, or employed upon railroad tracks, including all maintenance of way equipment used to inspect, maintain, and repair the rail system.” This clarifies that vehicle drivers should not get around any crossing gate or barrier when such equipment is visibly approaching on the track.

House Bill 4437 allows Gold Star parents to receive a free Gold Star vehicle registration for personal use.

House Bill 4471 was sent to a subcommittee.

The Committee on Government Organization met this afternoon.

Markup & Passage

House Bill 4005 was advanced to the House floor. The bill, the Workforce Development Act of 2026, clarifies the types of employment a person under 18 is prohibited from performing.

Committee Hearing

House Bill 4015 extends the Tourism Development Act Credit to lodging facilities. To obtain credit, the facility must increase the sales tax base.

House Bill 4018 authorizes the State Resiliency Officer to disburse funds from the West Virginia Flood Resiliency Trust Fund to better enhance flood prevention, safety, and protection, upon the approval of the State Resiliency Office Board.

House Bill 4025 was moved to a future agenda.

The House Judiciary and Subcommittees met Monday morning to discuss House Bills 4352, 4358, 4433, 4044, 4364, 4415, 4169, 4473, and 4484.

House Judiciary

HB4352 prohibits the usage of surveillance and recordings in bedrooms and bathrooms of foster children under any circumstance, with the exception of children with medical diagnoses, and devices cannot be hidden if done so.

The bill was recommended for passage.

HB4358 establishes the Pilot Program for Public Guardian Ad Litem Services.

The bill was recommended for passage.

HB4433 amends the concepts of human trafficking and adds laws against human smuggling

The committee advanced the bill to the markup and discussion phase, where members will discuss potential amendments before deciding to move the legislation forward.

Courts

HB4044 would amend current law to require hair follicle drug testing of parents or guardians in substantiated cases of child abuse or neglect.

The bill authorizes circuit courts to use the testing to assess controlled substance use over the prior 90 days and requires a neurological evaluation when the child is two months old or younger. Attempts to tamper with hair to avoid testing would be treated as a positive result.

The bill was reported to the Judiciary.

HB4477 would grant the West Virginia Attorney General prosecutorial authority over county and municipal elected officials in cases involving alleged election fraud, corruption, or related misconduct.

The bill has been scheduled for a mark-up and discussion, and will be taken up at the committee’s next meeting.

Homeland Security

HB4364 would amend and reenact state law relating to juvenile jurisdiction on military installations.

The bill addresses concurrent juvenile jurisdiction and would allow exclusive federal legislative jurisdiction to be transferred back to the state in cases involving juveniles.

The bill was reported to the Standing Committee on Judiciary.

HB4415 would create a state-level offense for attempting to smuggle contraband into federal correctional institutions.

Lead sponsor of the bill, Del. David Green (R – McDowell, 036), said the legislation was introduced in response to over a dozen attempted contraband smuggling incidents over the past two years, including the use of drones.

The bill would allow the state to prosecute individuals who attempt to bring contraband into federal facilities.

The committee advanced the bill to the markup and discussion phase, where members will discuss potential amendments before deciding to move the legislation forward.

House Legal Services

HB4169 would amend and reenact state law to align mental health examination requirements with those used for involuntary hospitalization proceedings.

The bill addresses individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law solely due to a prior adjudication related to mental health status.

The bill was reported to the Standing Committee on the Judiciary.

HB4473 would authorize the West Virginia Supreme Court to establish rules allowing for the limited practice of law by nonlawyers. The bill grants the court the discretion to establish parameters and limitations for such practice.

The committee advanced the bill to the markup and discussion phase for further consideration.

HB4484 would give county commissions the same authority as municipalities to sell or lease property, providing counties with greater flexibility in managing local assets.

The committee advanced the bill to the markup and discussion phase.

House Finance met this morning to consider two originating bills. The rules were suspended to hear the bill and consider it on the same day.

House Bill 4574 creates a reserve fund, the Temporary Shortfall Supplement Fund for the County Board of Education, for financially distressed counties that have fallen below five percent of available funding. The funding provided to the distressed county must be paid back to the state. The county would be required to present its financials to the State Board of Education upon request and follow all requirements through WVEIS. A report must be submitted to LOCEA after the county’s reserve fund falls below 5 percent for more than 60 days.

This bill stems from a county board of education that is unable to meet payroll due to fiscal problems. County BOEs are supposed to have two months of operational expenses in reserve in case of an emergency. Essential operating expenses include personnel, utilities, and contracts. The State Board of Education has taken over control of Hancock County Schools due to financial concerns. Two other counties at risk are Roane and Randolph. In the case of Hancock County, one-time funds were used to increase staffing, resulting in staffing overages per the school aide formula, and general revenue was used to enter into a turf lease. During this time, certain WEVIS functions were turned off, resulting in clean audits. The Board of Education and the Department of Education were unaware of these issues until late 2025. Hancock had a $5 million balance and clean audits. Other counties could be at risk if they do not begin making tough staffing cuts. The bill advanced to the House floor.

House Bill 4575, an appropriation bill, funds the Temporary Shortfall Supplement Fund for the County Board of Education with $8 million of surplus money. The bill advanced to the House floor.

The committee also heard from the State Police about their budget. In this fiscal year, $800,000 will be used to purchase new weapons equipped with optics to support critical incidents. Another $445,000 will be used to purchase vests.

Future costs include about $7.5 for 470 body cams and in-car camera systems. Additionally, facility security upgrades will cost $2.6 million, plus $200,000 annually. The Fiscal Year 2027 budget proposes a decrease, with costs for improving radio communications in the quiet zone of Pocahontas and for a WV CPRD actuary.

The committee will meet this afternoon to hear about the National Guard’s Budget.

The House subcommittee on Educational Choice engaged in discussion about charter schools in the state with local agencies.

The subcommittee spoke with Casey Sacks, president of BridgeValley Community Technical College, about their current WIN Academy program.

The WIN Academy program accepts high school juniors and seniors and places them into their accelerated degree program for nursing or advanced manufacturing. The academy is free for students.

In the 2025-2026 school year, students earned more than 1200 college credits. This has resulted in $270,000 in tuition savings.

This program fulfills West Virginia graduation requirements, on top of gathering college credits for students. West Virginia students who are at least sixteen years old are eligible for the academy through West Virginia’s open enrollment laws.

After Sacks’ presentation, Tim Conzett, assistant superintendent for the Office of Data Management and Information Systems at the West Virginia Department of Education, provided updates regarding the school choice parent portal.

The school choice parent portal, once it is available to the public, will streamline processes for homeschool students. These processes include filling out notices of intent, containing assessment results, and meeting with teachers for portfolio analysis.

The organization is looking forward to making this portal available as soon as possible for the public.

Lastly, Tom Franta, the founding executive director for the Mountaineer Charter School Alliance, provided information about the newly formed alliance and the goals moving forward.

The Mountaineer Charter School Alliance plans to grow and create a unified charter school system, focusing on maintaining regulatory flexibility, strong student outcome-based activity, and unifying force to bring charter schools together. The organization also plans to build community trust and transparency.

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.