On Day 43 of the legislative session, the House of Delegates passed eight bills, two of which relate to foster care. Another bill was rejected.

House Bill 2027 reduces the timeframe when a foster care placement receives extra severity from 18 months to 15 months or 50 percent of the child’s life. If the arrangement is considered suitable, it cannot be terminated unless it is in the best interest of the child. Within 90 days of securing placement, Human Services must inform foster/adoptive parents of eligible siblings for placement or adoption. If it is in the best interest of the child, the foster arrangement can be ended.

House Bill 2880 assigns an individual through the Court Improvement Program or Public Defender Services to assist parents through the requirements to be unified or reunified with their children.

House Bill 3289 allows the completion of an approved drug court program to qualify as an alternative method to seek accelerated expungement for certain crimes.

House Bill 2876 was rejected. The bill would have increased the members on the Natural Resource Commission to include a deer biologist, bear biologist, turkey biologist, and fisheries biologist.

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

The House is in recess until 5:30 p.m.

The House returned to the floor to hear committee reports and Senate messages. Senate Bill 10 was read for the first time.

Committee Meetings, Today March 26

• The Subcommittee on Agriculture, Commerce, and Tourism will meet immediately after the floor in the McManus Room.
• The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 1:30 p.m. in Room 215E.
• The Committee on Education will meet at 2 p.m. in Room 432M.
• The Subcommittee on Energy and Public Works will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 410.
• The Committee on Health and Human Resources will meet at 3:30 p.m. in Room 215E.
• The Rules Committee will meet at 4:30 p.m. in Room 215E.

Committee Meetings, Tomorrow March 27

• The Finance Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 460.
• The Judiciary Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 410.
• The Rules Committee will meet at 10 a.m. in Room 215E.
• The Committee on Education will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 432M.
• The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 215E.
• The Committee on Health and Human Resources will meet at 3:30 p.m. in Room 215E.
• The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 5 p.m. in Room 215E.

The House Education Committee met this afternoon.

Markup & Passage

House Bill 2167 cleans up code relating to public charter schools.

House Bill 3279 increases the number of individuals on WVU’s Board of Governors. The bill removes voting ability for some members.

House Bill 3422 requires the State Board of Education to create a School Choice Portal. The portal will be maintained to allow parents to file a notice of intent, notice of termination, and other paperwork.

House Bill 3438 allows retired teachers with specializations in math science, and other STEM subjects to be long-term substitutes without their retirement being affected.

House Bill 3446 requires all high school students to submit a FAFSA form to graduate unless a waiver is completed to opt-out.

House Bill 3507 creates a 2-year pilot program for schools in 10 counties to contract qualified mental health professionals to support counselors with behavioral health within schools.

House Bill 3508 modifies the school aid formula. The bill provides additional funding for special education aids.

On Day 42 of the Legislative Session, the House passed 13 bills including the following:

Senate Bill 199 works to address student behavior by requiring that before an excluded student is readmitted a school counselor, school social worker, or school psychologist develop a behavioral plan for re-entry. The bill requires that either the school counselor or a school social worker participate in the conference before a student who’s excluded two times in one semester can be readmitted, and requires that a school social worker establish and implement a behavioral plan.

Senate Bill 283 allows students to take personal finance courses in 9th or 10th grade to satisfy graduation requirements.

House Bill 2646 permits students in 8th and 9th grade to attend summer school to raise grades for eligibility in fall sports.

House Bill 2043 permits the use of drones for tracking mortally wounded wildlife. The bill also limits dog handlers to one dog, when tracking. Anyone using a dog or a drone not on their property must be licensed. Drones cannot be used on other properties without permission from the property owner.

House Bill 3504 adds licensed livestock stockyard facilities, licensed livestock slaughter facilities, and licensed commercial poultry facilities to the definition of critical infrastructure. This bill was originally part of HB 2043 but was separated into a separate bill during a Rules Committee meeting. Trespassing on critical infrastructure carries an enhanced penalty.

House Bill 2960 implements a two-year pilot program where the Division of Highways will hire multiple vendors for snow removal on secondary roads in Monongalia and Preston Counties. Vendor contracts may be terminated by the Secretary of the Division of Highways with 30 days’ notice if a vendor’s performance is unsatisfactory.

House Bill 3343 was amended. The bill adds crystalline polymorph psilocybin to the permitted list of distributed and prescribed drugs if approved and scheduled or de-scheduled by the Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration. The amendment adds that organic psilocybin will also be permitted if approved and scheduled or de-scheduled by the Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration.

The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. tomorrow, March 26, 2025.

Committee Meetings, Today March 25

• The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 215E.
• The Committee on Education will meet at 1:30 p.m. in Room 432M.
• The Subcommittee on Energy and Public Works will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 410.
• The Committee on Health and Human Resources will meet at 3:30 p.m. in Room 215E.

Committee Meetings, Tomorrow March 26

• The Finance Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 460.
• The Judiciary Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 410.
• The Rules Committee will meet at 10:45 a.m. in the Speaker’s Conference Room.
• The Committee on Education will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 432M.
• The Subcommittee on Agriculture, Commerce, and Tourism will meet at 1 p.m. in the McManus Room.
• The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 1:30 p.m. in Room 215E.
• The Subcommittee on Energy and Public Works will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 410.
• The Committee on Health and Human Resources will meet at 3:30 p.m. in Room 215E.

The Senate passed four bills Tuesday during the late morning floor session.

Senate Bill 128 would remove the option for courts to order services at a higher rate than Medicaid.

Senate Bill 595, which would create the Mountain Bike Responsibility Act, aims to establish clear responsibilities and liabilities for trail system operators, mountain bicyclists, and passengers on aerial passenger tramways. The legislation would also mandate insurance for operators and allow waivers for minors.

Senate Bill 721 would authorize the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to track certain mortally wounded wild animals.

Senate Bill 800 relates to insurance holding company systems ans would require insurers to file group capital calculations and liquidity stress test results with the lead state insurance commissioner. The legislation also mandates compliance with NAIC frameworks.

These bills now head to the House of Delegates for consideration.

UPDATE:

The Senate reconvened at 4:45 pm to receive House messages and committee reports. The body read 12 additional bills a first time.

The Senate is adjourned until tomorrow, March 26, at 11 a.m.

Morning Meetings for March 26:

Natural Resources at 9:30 a.m. in 208W

The Finance Committee met this morning to take up several bills.

Markup & Passage

House Bill 3142 authorizes health benefit plan sponsors to communicate electronically with individuals covered by the plan.

House Bill 3440 removes outdated code relating to the State Treasurer’s Office.

House Bill 3111 increases pay to all members of the judiciary.

House Bill Originating makes changes to contributions to the Judges’ Retirement System.

House Bill 3152 authorizes the payment of claims considered moral obligations of the state.

House Bill 3157 shortens the process for road conditions claims.

House Bill 2695 authorizes Raleigh County to levy a special district excise tax to benefit the Raleigh County Economic Opportunity Development District.

House Bill 2751 authorizes Mason County to levy a special district excise tax to benefit the Town of Henderson Economic Opportunity Development District.

House Bill 3492 authorizes the City of Huntington to levy a special district excise tax to benefit the City of Huntington Economic Opportunity Development District.

House Bill 3342 establishes the Firearms Industry Nondiscrimination Act to prohibit discrimination against a firearm entity or firearm trade association.

Today, the House of Delegates passed 19 bills. However, most of the four-hour floor session was spent debating amendments to Senate Bill 460, which changes immunization requirements. The House Health and Human Resources Committee produced a committee substitute that strengthened medical exemptions, which is what the majority of presenters were concerned about during the hearing. It allowed licensed physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants to provide written statements to schools and childcare centers when they deem specific immunizations inappropriate for the child.

Several amendments were offered to the Health and Human Resources Committee’s amendment, but only one was adopted to the committee substitute.

Amendments offered but rejected include:

• HFA Canterbury: removing chickenpox and hepatitis B from mandatory immunizations list.
• HFA Fehrenbacher: requiring provider to be licensed in West Virginia and have an established relationship with the child, no telehealth, allow licensing board to act if the process is abused
• HFA Ferrell: limiting the amount of exemption provided to maintain 95 percent herd immunity
• HFA Kimble: removing the requirement of immunizations to attend any school in West Virginia
• HFA White: providing religious and philosophical exemptions to immunizations, prohibiting exclusion in extracurriculars based on immunization status, allowing for civil action to be taken
• HFA Coop-Gonzalez: restoring the original language of the bill as provided by the Governor

The following amended the Health and Human Resources Committee’s amendment.

• HFA Green: providing religious exemptions to immunizations, but allowing private and parochial schools to make their immunization policies

A competing amendment for the Health and Human Resources amendment, HFA Anders, would have restored the bill to the Senate’s amended form of the bill. This amendment was not taken up due to the adoption of the amended House Committee Substitute.

The bill will be up for passage on Monday. As it stands, Senate Bill 460 provides medical exemptions for specific mandatory immunizations, if a licensed physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner provides a written statement to the administrator of the school or childcare center stating the immunization could be detrimental to the child’s health. It provides the Medical Board cannot act against providers who give written statements if they are acting in good faith. The bill also requires the providers to report the exemptions they’ve granted. The amended bill provides for a religious exemption and allows private or parochial schools to create their own immunization policy. The bill prohibits children from being excluded from extracurricular activities based on immunization status.

The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. Monday, March 24, 2025.

Committee Meetings, Today March 21

• The Finance Committee will meet immediately after the floor session in Room 460.
• The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 2:30 p.m. in Room 215E.

Committee Meetings, Monday, March 24

• The Finance Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 460.
• The Judiciary Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 410.
• The Rules Committee will meet at 10:45 a.m. in Room 215E.
• The Committee on Education will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 432M.
• The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 215E.
• The Subcommittee on Energy and Public Works will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 410.
• The Committee on Health and Human Resources will meet at 3:30 p.m. in Room 215E.

The Senate completed action on a bill Friday that would disqualify employees who work in safety positions from receiving benefits if they fail a random drug or alcohol screening.

Senate Bill 2441 would add new language to state code stating that an employee who fails a “random” screening for alcohol or controlled substances would be disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits if the employee is in a position where “alcohol or drug use creates an inherent risk to the health and safety of the employee or others or (if) that employee is in a safety-sensitive position.”

A “safety-sensitive” position is defined in the bill as “any task or duty fraught with such risk of injury to the employee or others that even a momentary lapse of attention or judgment, or both, can lead to serious bodily harm or death.”

During the committee process members heard that state code already includes numerous reasons an employee could lose their unemployment benefits.

Those reasons include willful destruction of employer property, assault, reporting to work intoxicated or being intoxicated while at work, reporting to work under the influence of any controlled substance without a valid prescription or being under the influence of any controlled substance without a valid prescription while at work.

This legislation adds to that list.

The Senate amended the title of the bill, causing it to head back to the House of Delegates to await concurrence.

The Senate has adjourned until Monday, March 24, at 11 a.m.

Morning Meetings for Monday, March 24:

Gov. Org at 9:30 a.m. in 208W

Education at 9:30 a.m. in 451M

The House Health and Human Resources Committee met this afternoon.

Committee Hearings

House Bill 3382 establishes a central reception center and emergency resource homes for foster children. The bill seeks to eliminate the practice of placing children in hotels due to a lack of foster care placements.

Markup & Passage

House Bill 2377 provides for transparency from the Department of Human Services relating to the child welfare system.

House Bill 2027 reduces the timeframe a foster care arrangement can receive additional protections from 18 months to six months or half the child’s life when the foster home is determined to be a fit and proper placement.

House Bill 2880 establishes a Parent Resource Navigator as an individual established through the Court Improvement Program or the Public Defender Services model who is assisting a parent or parents through requirements to be unified or reunified with their child or children.

House Bill 2503 provides a reloadable form of payment for clothing and approved necessity allowances for children in foster care.

House Bill 3344 establishes a grant program to fund the United States Food and Drug Administration’s drug development trials with ibogaine. The purpose of the bill is to secure the Administration’s approval as a medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder, PTSD, co-occurring substance use disorder, and any other neurological or mental health conditions.

House Bill 3343 adds crystalline polymorph psilocybin to the permitted list of distributed and prescribed drugs if scheduled or de-scheduled by the Food and Drug Administration.