Seven bills were presented on third reading today. Of these, Senate Bill 321 would modify the certificate of need process. Senate Bill 341 would transfer juvenile justice database administration to the Supreme Court. Senate Bill 346 would correct code reference related to bear tagging. All of these bills, except for Senate Bill 263 and Senate Bill 307 have completed legislative action and have been communicated to the Governor. Senate Bill 263 and Senate Bill 307 have been referred back to the Senate for approval.

Ten bills were presented on second reading today. Among these were Senate Bill 384, which would authorize the Department of Transportation to take control of certain highway emergencies and Senate Bill 284, which relates to Viatical Settlements Act. These bills and eight others will be presented on third reading tomorrow.

Nine bills were presented on first reading today. Senate Bill 405 would relate to grandparents’ visitation. Senate Bill 612 would relate to willful nonpayment of child support.

The following committees will meet today:

Finance – 1:15 p.m. – 460M
Judiciary – 12:45 p.m. – 410M

The following committees will meet on Sunday:

Judiciary – 4:00 p.m. – 410M

The following committees will meet Monday:

Roads and Transportation – 10:00 a.m. – 215E
Education – 1:30 p.m. – 430M
Health and Human Resources – 4:00 p.m. – 215E

The House will reconvene at 11:00 a.m. on Monday.

During the second half of today’s split session, Senate Bill 321 was presented on second reading. Senate Bill 321 modifies the certificate of need process.

Members also heard committee reports from committees that met while the House recessed this afternoon.

The House will reconvene at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow.

Members of the House adopted House Resolution 47 declaring today Domestic Violence Prevention Day. The well area outside of the House was full of booths promoting domestic violence prevention. Representatives from Women’s Aid in Crisis, the YWCA, and HOPE, Inc., among several other agencies, were present to offer information to passing guests, staff and lawmakers.

Six bills were presented on second reading today. Of these, Senate Bill 307 would create a Maternal Screening Act. Senate Bill 263 would disclose certain inmates’ personal communications. These bills will be presented on third reading tomorrow. Senate Bill 321 was deferred until the 5:00 p.m. floor session.

Ten bills were presented on second reading today. Among these were Senate Bill 384, which would authorize the Department of Transportation to take control of certain highway emergencies and Senate Bill 284, which relates to Viatical Settlements Act. These bills will be presented on second reading tomorrow.

The following committees will meet today:

Judiciary – Following Floor Session – 410M
Energy, Industry, Labor, Economic Development and Small Business – 1:00 p.m.- 460M
Political Subdivisions – 1:00 p.m. – 215E
Roads and Transportation – 2:00 p.m. – 215E
Senior Citizen Issues – 3:00 p.m. – 215E
Committee on Stimulus Utilization – 4:00 p.m.- 460M
Health and Human Resources – 4:00 p.m.- 215E
LOCEA – 5:00 p.m.- 460M
Judiciary – 5:30 p.m. – 410M
Roads and Transportation – 5:30 p.m. – 215E
Health and Human Resources – 6:30 p.m. – 460M

The following committees will meet tomorrow:

Government Organization – 8:45 a.m. – 215E
Finance – 9:30 a.m. – 460M

The House has recessed until 5:00 p.m.

The 50th Day of the 79th Regular Session has arrived in the Legislature. Crossover day is the deadline to move bills from their originating house. This does not apply to budget and supplementary appropriation bills. During the morning session, the House voted on 15 of the 39 bills on their calendar.

Of those bills passed, House Bill 2868 would create and maintain the West Virginia Autistic Children’s Trust Fund. It would also create a tax credit (equal to an amount paid into a trust) for contributing to the future support of an autistic minor.

Consumers would be exempt from sales tax and use tax if they purchase donated clothing or accessories sold by churches or religious organizations that are exempt from federal income taxes according to House Bill 3017.

Under current law, voters in municipal election may vote absentee ballots by mail. If House Bill 3134 becomes law, it would require the Secretary of State to establish a voting by mail pilot program. The Secretary of State would select five municipalities to participate and all registered and other qualified voters would be eligible.

House Bill 2686 would allow employees to take intermittent 10 minute rest periods for every four hours of work.

The House will reconvene at 1:30 p.m. to continue voting on proposed legislation.

House Update

The House passed 19 bills to the Senate during its 1:30 p.m. session. The majority of these passed unanimously, some of which include:

House Bill 2832 would require the State Board of Education to adopt proficiency standards in reading, language arts and mathematics for students in the third and eighth grades. Each student in those grades would be evaluated on those standards. Students who meet the standards would be eligible for promotion and those who do not would be required to enroll in an after-school or summer critical skills instructional support program. Counties would be required to establish the programs based on a model and curriculum established by the State Board. Students who do not successfully complete the program may not be promoted.

House Bill 2788 would protect incapacitated adults from abust or neglect by a caregiver by enhancing penalties for crimes committed against those persons.

House Bill 3159 would establish a funding mechanism for state aid for local health departments.

The House will reconvene at 4 p.m. to vote on the remaining bills on third reading.

House Update

After three sessions today, the House passed a grand total of 38 bills to the Senate.
This brings the tally of bills passed from the House up to 175. Four passed during the 4 p.m. session including: House Bill 3079 would exempt consumer sales tax on drugs purchased by veterinarians for the treatment of animals; House Bill 2981 relates to primary elections and nominating procedures of third-party candidates; House Bill 3098 relates to the payment of travel expenses of workers’ compensation claimants; House Bill 2388 would expand the membership of the Racing Commission and reorganizing the administrative functions.

Seven Senate bills were presented on first reading including Senate Bill 307 which would develop a uniform maternal risk screening tool to screen pregnant women for potential at-risk pregnancies. Senate Bill 341 was also on first reading and it would transfer the juvenile justice database administration to the Supreme Court.

The following committees will meet tomorrow:

Veterans Affairs- 9 a.m.- 460M

Natural Resources- 9:15 a.m.- 215E

Banking and Insurance- 10 a.m.- 215E

Energy, Industry, Labor, Economic Development, Small Business- 1 p.m.- 460M

Political Subdivisions- 1 p.m.- 215E

Roads and Transportation- 2 p.m.- 215E

Senior Issues- 3 p.m.- 215E

Committee on Stimulus Utilization- 4 p.m.- 460M

Health and Human Resources- 4 p.m.- 215E

LOCEA- 5 p.m.- 460M

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