As of 4 p.m., February 8th, 2012, the 29th day of the 80th Legislature’s 2nd Regular Session, a total of 1160 bills have been introduced in the House. The bills passed by the House this week include:

House Bill 4271 would require the electronic submission of reports relating to the business and operations of licensed mortgage lenders, brokers and servicers as established through the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and to release the Commissioner of Banking from the duty to publish an aggregate analysis of the information contained in said reports annually.

House Bill 4314 would require that when a vacancy occurs in the office of magistrate, a person of the same political party as the former officeholder must be appointed. The bill states the judge of the circuit court, or the chief judge when there is more than one judge of the circuit court, shall fill the vacancy by appointment.

House Bill 4356 would create a misdemeanor offense of child neglect creating a substantial risk of bodily injury. Punishment would be a fine of no more than $1,000 or up to 1 year in jail or both.

A Sampling of the Bills Introduced in the House

House Bill 4392 would require that all magistrates, magistrate assistants, magistrate court clerks and deputy clerks be paid equally. The bill would also eliminate the two-tier system.

House Bill 4396 would permit a $50,000 death benefit to the families of law-enforcement officers who have passed away while performing their duties. The bill also adds law-enforcement officers to firefighters and EMS personnel who already qualified for survivor benefits.

House Bill 4397 would make it a crime to interfere with or prevent a person from reporting a crime or seeking assistance arising from the commission of a crime.

House Bill 4403 would require any eligible person seeking to be elected by write-in votes to an office to file a write-in candidate’s certificate of announcement. The bill would exempt delegates in the national convention, which would be filled in a primary, general or special election. The purpose of this bill is to ensure the filing deadline for certified write-in candidates is done sufficiently early to support the required transmission deadline of absentee ballots to voters covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986.

House Bill 4408 would provide an electronic voter registration system allowing for better utilization of the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS). This would allow for use of a designated address for voter registration purposes for participants in the Address Confidentiality Program; establish an offense and related penalty for tampering with or copying voter registration information collected by third-party registration drives; delete obsolete language related to manual voter registration systems; shorten the period of time during which county clerks may enter voter history data into the statewide, centralized voter registration database; clarify certain record-keeping requirements related to confirmation mailings required by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993; and restrict the public release of voter e-mail addresses.

House Bill 4413 would require an investigation of an incident resulting in a death or other serious injury caused by a municipal law-enforcement officer or deputy sheriff. The bill would require the incident be investigated by another agency of the state criminal justice system instead of the agency involved in the incident.

House 4423 would create the “West Virginia Winner” program which help would promote healthy living and improve lifestyles. The bill hopes to increase longevity of West Virginia residents by competing in various athletic and cultural events in the fifty-five counties. The bill provides that the program be administered by the Office of Healthy Lifestyles, and declares who may participate in the events together with participation fees to be paid.

House 4432 would prohibit declination or termination of property insurance based solely upon an applicant’s or home owner’s possession of a certain breed of dog. The bill provides an exception if the dog has a history of biting people.

House Bill 4434 would require carbon monoxide detectors to be installed in apartment buildings, condominiums, one and two family dwellings and cabins intended to be rented or leased, dormitories, bed and breakfasts and rooming and lodging facilities. The bill also requires that the smoke detectors and sprinkler systems meet state fire code requirements.