The committee meeting began on Monday with Dr. Vern Howard, Chair of the Colorado MLK Holiday Commission, explaining an MLK curriculum that emphasizes that non-violence is the way to promote positive social change.

Howard cited a bombing in Montgomery and how Dr. King told followers who were ready to rise up in violence that non-violence was the way. He repeated the following quote from King: “Evil doers, those creating violence, are just as much victims as people for whom the violence is poured”

Howard informed the committee that he knew of six states that are currently using this curriculum.

Shifting gears, the committee heard a school safety presentation from Keith Vititoe, Safety Director, Kanawha County Schools and Ross Mellinger, Sherriff, Jackson County.

This presentation was in response to an April 6 incident in Jackson County where a student smuggled a gun onto the school bus and had a target in mind upon arrival at Ripley Middle School. Fortunately, another student saw the gun, grabbed the magazine and diffused the situation.

“We were within a matter of minutes of being headlines on the six o’clock news,” Mellinger told lawmakers. “We were about to be the next national tragedy.”

Mellinger knew he had to do more to protect the children in his county but funding and staff were a challenge when considering options. Out of this came the development of The Shield Program, required overtime that requires every Jackson County deputy to spend two hours a week monitoring a school of their choice.

“If I can’t put an officer in every school, then you make it as random as you can to leave that prospective shooter guessing,” Mellinger explained.

Mellinger estimates the cost of The Shield Program at $21,000. The program is a cooperative effort between Jackson County Schools, the Jackson County Commission and his office.

A similar approach could soon be implemented in Kanawha County Schools.

Safety director Vititoe told lawmakers the district plans to hire retired law enforcement to be an armed presence in plain clothes. A team of 12 will rotate among 55 schools with no on-site officer.

Vititoe asked lawmakers to make it easier for counties to hire security personnel. He also requested that small and large schools alike have equal access to any security protocols adopted by the Legislature.

The Legislative Oversight Committee on DOT Accountability met this afternoon.

The committee received a report from the naming resolutions sub-committee and accepted the annual report from the Department of Transportation.

DOT Secretary Jimmy Wriston provided an update on the Department of Highways’ work. The DOH is ready for bad weather events. He stated there has been some inflation on salt but there hasn’t been an inventory issue yet. The inventory concerning the DOT/DOH right now is a possible fuel shortage. Canopy clearing began November 15 and will continue through March 30. The goal for canopy clearing this year is 500 total acres.

The DOT was awarded Marshall and WVU Tech’s employer of the year. The department is going to begin hiring college students for part-time positions to allow them to gain experience while still in school. This year the DOT hired over 1000 people. Retention will be the focus over the next few months.

WV Parkways Authority Director Jeff Miller provided an update on the toll system. The toll system is undergoing major improvements including license plate cameras, POS upgrades, and additional payment options. The agency is currently transitioning the system from hardware storage to cloud storage. Toll rates are expected to increase by five percent in 2025.

EZ pass continues to be the quickest way to get through the tolls. The agency has seen an increase in EZ pass usage.

The Joint Committee on Technology met this afternoon for interim presentations.

Since 2005, Microsoft has been pushing for increased privacy rights across the globe. The EU passed the General Data Protection Regulation in 2018; it is “the global gold standard” for privacy regulations. The United States has sectoral privacy laws such as GLAB, HIPPA, COPPA, FCRA, and state consumer protection laws. However, other privacy laws are handled at the state level. Only five states have comprehensive privacy laws, including Virginia. Last year there were 60 privacy bills introduced in 30 states.

Microsoft has five privacy priorities: covering modern datasets, corporate responsibility, consumer empowerment, transparency, and strong enforcement. The presentation included key issues that have been brought to Microsoft’s attention. Enforcement can be handled by the attorney general by using the private rights of action. There needs to be a clear distinction between the controller and the processor. A controller is a business that decides how and why to collect consumer data while the processor processes the data on behalf of another company. The scope of data covered should include language to ensure legislation will apply to modern online data sets. Exemptions should be defined clearly, data level exemptions’ or industry exemptions. Consumer rights should include access, control, port, minimization, and the ability to delete personal data. Consumers should be able to consent to sensitive data being used and be able to opt-in/out of profiling.

The Secretary of State’s Office presented on the digitization of state government. The online one-stop shop business page is working to incorporate everything from registering with the SOS, paying fees, setting up tax information, and more on one page with one cart to checkout altogether.

Annual business reports are filed online, with 99 percent being filed and available. An online enterprise licensing system is in the works. The SOS is working on a digital Q&A page and a call center.

The goal is to have a “Golden Record” where companies/businesses/organizations can have one login for all accounts. This would be standardization across all state agencies.

Mark Muchow, Deputy Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Revenue gave lawmakers an update on the state’s financial health Monday morning during a meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Finance.

Muchow informed lawmakers that the state’s General Revenue collections last month were $112.7 million above estimates and 10.3 percent ahead of the November 2021 figure. Year-to-date general revenue collections are now $687.5 million above initial estimates according to Muchow.

Severance tax collections also continued to surge in November. Muchow explained that severance taxes for the first five months of this fiscal year exceeded total severance tax collections for all of fiscal year 2021 by more than 2.3 times.

Consumer sales tax collections of $153.2 million were $15.1 million above the estimate for November and 2.7% ahead of prior November collections.

Personal income tax collections in November totaled $158.9 million according to Muchow. Those collections exceeded the estimate by $109.7 million and prior year receipts by nearly 15 percent.

Muchow noted that the majority of the state’s surplus is from excess severance tax collections, a highly volatile revenue source. He advised cautious optimism with the numbers currently healthy across all sectors.

Also on Monday, the committee heard from Chelsea Ruby, Cabinet Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Tourism.

Ruby stated that prior to 2017, the tourism industry in the state was in decline but after an increase in funding, the outlook has improved drastically. During the pandemic, tourism naturally declined in the state, but numbers as of this month are 3.8 percent above where they were prior to the pandemic.

Ruby noted the success of the state’s Cooperative Advertising Program, which provides partners with the opportunity to leverage state resources and brand identity to advertise individual destinations, attractions and events. It has allowed the southern WV rafting companies to advertise in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. The Tourism Department determined where many of the visitors of the rafting companies were located and targeted the ads in those areas.

Traditional advertising, such as TV, billboards, print, and online is used by the Tourism Department in conjunction with sponsorships and event advertising. An example of this is the state’s advertising on the digital scoreboards at the Washington DC Capitols’ games. The department is also working to recruit major events to the state, such as the world mountain bike championship and the USA national diving championship at Mylan Park, according to Ruby.

She noted that more private investment is happening than ever before. More than 300 million applications have been submitted for tax credits on new tourism projects. The projects are taking place in every tourism region of the state.

Ruby said she believes strongly that tourism advertising is important because it improves the state’s overall image. When people know what West Virginia has to offer, they are more likely to live, work, and retire here. She thanked lawmakers for their continued funding support.

The Joint Judiciary Committee met this morning to hear three presentations.

The first presentation was on public nuisance law. Elbert Lin stated public nuisance was originally defined as a narrow legal action, a method for governments to prevent interference with public right. Starting in 1979 the definition began to expand beyond criminal action to a broader action of unreasonable interference. It was stated that the broader definition creates a threat to businesses.

There are limitations on public nuisance. To be a public nuisance, the case must include a public right, must relate to real property, requires unlawful conduct, and defendant must have control of the nuisance. Remedies are often limited in a public nuisance case.

Legislation is the best way to create limits to public nuisance law. It creates “guardrails on the judiciary.” Several states have general laws defining public nuisance. Other states include the unreasonable interference. Most states’ definitions related to property. Many states exempt certain activities from public nuisance. West Virginia’s public nuisance laws label specific places or activities as public nuisance and exempts farming and gun ranges from public nuisances.

Tony Majestro stated he has worked on opioid litigation over the last few years. His presentation focused on public nuisance cases involving products. Twenty-five state have recognized nuisance cases on products. The case law requires illegal and negligent activity. The sale of opioids in Cabell County affects the public rights. Currently, 8.9 percent of the population has opioid addition disorder. They are at increased risk of hepatitis and HIV. Forty-five percent of the county’s CPS cases related to drug abuse. Public nuisance cases relating to opioid sales is the governmental agencies exercising their discretion to alleviate the crisis in their area.

The second presentation was on proposed legislation on juror incentivizing measures. The bill would create two new sections of code while amending two current sections of code relating to juror service. The first thing the legislation would do is provide a tax credit to employers who pay employees wage for the first five days of juror service. Second, the bill amends the reasons a juror can be excused from services. The bill also increases the per diem pay to $80 per day. The bill would also provide for 10 free hours of counseling services for jurors involved in particularly graphic cases. The bill also creates a special revenue account.

The final presentation was on the definition of “sexual contact” in code. Recently, there has been a movement to update and amend code to include martial rape. West Virginia is one of 26 states that retain marital immunity for rape. A bill passed out of Senate Judiciary last year to update the code.

The Legislative Oversight Committee on Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority heard an overview from William Valentino from a Study Group on the Per Diem Payment of Fees. The current per diem rate is frozen at $48.25. It was freezing in 2017 and then extended in 2021 and 2022. On July 1, 2023 without legislative action, the per diem rate will raise to $54.48 per inmate.

West Virginia jails and corrections facilities have a capacity of 4265. A previous study showed that the state had 5,177 incarcerated. The numbers have dropped to 4,558 incarcerated.

In 2020, the average number of stays a person spent in a regional jail due to pretrial delays was 251 days. About 80 percent of pretrial detainees are arrested due to substance abuse disorders or mental health disorders. While jails offer services for mental health and substance abuse, they are not mental health treatment facilities.

The group discussed if there should be a periodic review for those who are convicted of lesser crimes to see if there’s an alternative to jail that would allow the individuals to get the treatment need and allow them to get back to work.

The current pretrial risk assessment is a questionnaire with many self-reported questions. It was recommended that a study could take place to see how these assessments can be strengthened and how they can be used. Currently, the effectiveness isn’t clear great because the pretrial hearing is often set before the questionnaire is complete.

Cost-sharing measures were discussed during the workgroup. There is no doubt that counties bear the largest burden for per diem. The suggestion of additional agencies sharing the burden included the state police and municipalities. Both could have unintended consequences.

Community corrections were discussed. These would be alternatives for incarceration. Currently, there is a unique setup in Jefferson County, where a nonprofit report center is in place. The cost county about $150,000 a year.

One reason pretrials are delayed is that juvenile abuse and neglect take precedence over everything else on the docket. It was stated that about 80 percent of circuit courts’ time is spent dealing with juvenile abuse cases. A solution to this would be to divert all abuse and neglect to family courts or shift preliminary hearings for abuse and neglect to family courts. This would allow more criminal pretrials to move through the circuit courts faster.

Another suggestion during the workgroup was to help with substance abuse disorder by creating more drug treatment facilities. One complication is that if it was a secure facility, the cost of operating would be similar to the cost of another jail. However, if it was a non-secure facility, then an individual could get out.

There is a referral program for substance abuse disorder through the state police. It is just being put into place, where an individual can turn themselves in to the state police as needing treatment. Currently, there is not enough data to know how effective it will be.

Members of the Joint Committee on Natural Gas Development listened to a presentation from John Deskins, director of the Bureau of Business & Economic Research at West Virginia University, during the second day of November interim meetings on Monday. The committee met at Cacapon Resort State Park in Berkeley Springs.

According to Deskins, natural gas severance tax revenue between the start of the 2023 fiscal year in July and October accounted for approximately 20 percent of the $575 million in total general revenue surplus tax revenue during the same time period. Those figures came in at $205 million, easily exceeding the $92 million estimate by the Department of Revenue.

The actual taxable natural gas price of $5 per million Btu was greater than the expected taxable natural gas price of $2.25 per million Btu according to Deskins. He mentioned that  higher taxable natural gas prices also drive revenues for other state taxes, such as the corporate net income tax collections, personal income tax collections due to royalty payments, and higher natural gas prices naturally boost coal prices due to market forces, creating the boost in severance tax collections.

Deskins closed by giving the committee a word of caution, noting that he expects natural gas prices to fall over the course of the next year.

The Joint Judiciary Committee met this afternoon. First, the committee heard from the Tourism Cabinet Secretary Chelsea Ruby. She presented on where Tourism stands in the state.

She stated that prior to 2017, the tourism industry in the state was in decline but after an increase in funding, tourism in the state started to take off. During the pandemic, tourism did decline in the state. Now, the tourism industry numbers are 3.8 percent above the pre-pandemic numbers.

A program that has been extremely successful is the cooperative advertising program, which is a public/private partnership fund. It has allowed the southern WV rafting companies to advertise in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. The Tourism Department determined where many of the visitors of the rafting companies were located and targeted the ads in those areas.

Traditional advertising, such as TV, billboards, print, and online is used by the Tourism Department in conjunction with sponsorships and event advertising. An example of this is the state’s advertising on the digital scoreboards at the Washington DC Capitol’s Game. The department is also working to recruit major events to the state, such as the world mountain bike championship and the USA national diving championship at Mylan Park. Tourism also brings the “Country Roads Camper” to events across the country.

More private investment is happening than ever before. More than 300 million applications have been submitted for tax credits on new tourism projects. The projects are taking place in every tourism region of the state.

Tourism advertising is important because it improves the state’s overall image. When people know what West Virginia has to offer, they are more likely to live, work, and retire here.

Next, the Committee heard from Keith Hoover, the Deputy Administrative Director, and Counsel at the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on the Judiciary Workload Study.

The Circuit Courts have 75 judges in 31 circuits. These judges are elected to 8-year terms in nonpartisan elections. In the state’s Family Courts, there are 46 judges in 27 circuits. These judges are elected to 8-year terms in nonpartisan elections. In Magistrate Courts, there are 159 magistrates in 55 counties. Magistrates are elected in nonpartisan elections for 4-year terms.

Of the state’s judiciary budget, 82 percent goes to the more than 1,000 FTEs. The legislature has the power to create and reallocate positions in the judiciary. In 2014, five circuit court judges and two-family court judges FTE positions were added. From 2014 to 2019, the number of abuse and neglect cases increased by about 50 percent, leading to a need for more judges to handle the caseload.

The cost of a new circuit judge and staff is $422,000. The cost of a new family court judge and staff is $272,000. The cost of a new magistrate and staff is $110,000.

The committee heard a brief presentation regarding opportunities for West Virginia development and growth from Karen Schaufeld, CEO, SWaN Hill Top House Hotel. Lawmakers are currently in the middle of three days of traveling interim meetings at Cacapon State Park in Berkeley Springs, WV.

Schaufeld began by mentioning a favorable business tax climate, but also noted the many other factors that go into a decision to locate a business in a particular area.

She mentioned that an educated population, with an emphasis on career and technical education, is often key.

Schaufeld explained that most businesses have core principles and values that weigh heavily in decisions on where to locate. Many companies are committed to using all renewable energy to power operations by a certain date. Amazon was used as a common example of this principle.

She noted that many companies value a diverse workforce, with goals of 50 percent female employees and 30 percent people of color as an example. Companies also want employees to have access to quality healthcare, including family planning, according to Schaufeld.

Schaufeld used Pittsburgh as an example of a city that has revitalized itself from an industrial city to a diverse and vibrant city by focusing on intense collaboration with lawmakers, community organizations and leaders from a variety of industries.

She closed by emphasizing that West Virginia already has many advantages when it comes to attracting business, including location to the eastern seaboard, natural beauty and outdoor recreation.