The House reconvened today at 11 a.m. and completed legislative action on six bills, as well as passing six bills with amendments.

Senate Bill 611 completed action and has been sent to the Governor for consideration. It will remove the requirement that the offices of the Higher Education Policy Commission, the Vice Chancellor for Administration and the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education be located in Charleston, West Virginia. The offices will have to remain located in Kanawha County.

The House passed Senate Bill 230, also known as the Optometry Bill, with an amendment. The amendment discards previous lines of the bill that would allow optometrist to perform laser surgeries. It preserves the optometrists rights to prescribe medications and administer epinephrin by injection in case of an emergency.

House members also passed Senate Bill 597, which would require all women seeking an elective abortion to be given the opportunity to see an ultrasound of the fetus before the procedure is performed.

The following committees will meet today:
Rules- 3:15 p.m. Speaker’s Office

The House will reconvene this afternoon at 3:30 p.m.

Members of the Senate reconvened this evening passed nine bills and advanced 18 bills third reading and 17 to second reading. Bills on third reading included House Bill 4397 which would require the Superintendent of the State Police to implement a plan to increase the number of state troopers.

Senators also received the conference report regarding Senate Bill 611, which would remove the location requirement for certain higher education offices. Upon receiving the report Senate members passed the bill and sent it to the House for their concurrence.

Bills on second reading included House Bill 2663 which would expand the power of municipal parking authority officers and House Bill 4034 which would authorize any municipality to enact by ordinance a vacant property registration program.

The following committees will meet tomorrow:
Finance-9 a.m. 451M
Transportation-10 a.m. 451M
Rules-10:45 a.m. President’s Conference Room
Government Organization-2 p.m. 208W

The Senate will reconvene tomorrow at 11 a.m.

House Bill 4352, known as the “business courts” bill, completed legislative action when voted unanimously in the House this afternoon. The House also passed 22 other bills, as well as advanced 48 bills to third reading.

House Bill 4352 will allow the state Supreme Court to establish “business courts” to handle business cases, just as juvenile courts handle children. The bill was written to make the West Virginia court system more efficient and make the state friendlier to businesses.

Other bills that completed legislative action included House Bill 3110, House Bill 4176, House Bill 4425, and Senate Bill 651.

House Bill 3110 will rename conservation officers “natural resources police officers”, House Bill 4176 will create a state-wide credentialing system for health care practitioners, House Bill 4425 will develop a pilot program for unlicensed personnel to administer medication in nursing homes, and Senate Bill 651 will put a preference on current license and permit holders who bid on contacts.

The House will reconvene at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

The House reconvened today at 11 a.m. and sent nine bills to the Governor for consideration.

The House completed legislative action on Erin’s Law, which will increase the penalty for failing to stop and render aid after a motor vehicle accident. If a person does not comply and the accident results in a physical injury that person is guilty of a misdemeanor and will serve up to one year in jail, or be fined up to $1,000, or both. If the negligence results in death, the person will be guilty of a felony and will serve between one to five years in a correctional facility, be fined up to $5,000, or both. The convicted person’s driver’s license will also be revoked for one year following conviction or release from incarceration.

The House also passed several bills with amendments, which will be sent to the Senate for further consideration. The amended bills included Senate Bill 219, which would authorize the establishment of the Fleet Management Office within the Department of Administration. It would also repeal certain exemptions to rules pertaining to vehicles and aircraft owned or possessed by the state.

Additionally, the House honored the late Joseph Paul Albright, former Speaker of the House of Delegates. A resolution was adopted, which paid tribute to “the character, outstanding career and extraordinary public service” of the former lawmaker. Albright also was a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

The following committees will meet today:
Rules- immediately after adjournment- Speaker’s Office

The House will reconvene at 2 p.m. this afternoon.

The House reconvened today at 11 a.m. and passed 12 bills, eight of which have been sent to the Governor for consideration.

The House concurred with Senate amendments to House Bill 4670 and passed the bill, which completed legislative action. The bill will increase the amount of time a dependent person may file for Workers’ Compensation death benefits from one year to two years. The cause of death must be occupational pneumoconiosis, commonly known as “black lung disease.”

Senate Bill 527 also completed action. It will require the State Rail Authority to develop a state rail plan, which will comply with the provisions of the laws of the federal government and any regulations relating to capturing and administering federal money for rail transportation, local rail services, and intermodal facilities.

In addition to the eight bills that completed legislative action, four bills were passed with title amendments and will be sent back to the Senate for consideration.

The House also advanced 36 bills to third reading. Bills advanced included Senate Bill 462, which would limit the age of applicants to be a member of the West Virginia State Police; the applicant must be between the ages of 21 and 39 years old.

The House Budget Bill was read a first time.

The following committees will meet today:
Judiciary- 1:15 p.m. 410M
Health and Human Resources- 4 p.m. 252M
Government Organization- 4 p.m. 215E

The House will reconvene at 5:30 p.m. this evening.

Update: The House reconvened at 6:15 this evening and received reports from committees, as well as messages from the Senate. They also advanced the Senate Budget Bill to first reading.

The House will reconvene tomorrow at 11 a.m.