Saturday, August 23, 2025
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Home Blog Page 68

House Passes Budget Bill

Today, the House discussed the Budget Bill. Several amendments were offered to House Bill 4023 and all were rejected. House Bill 4023 was amended into Senate Bill 250.

The amended Budget Bill, now Senate Bill 250, appropriates funding for the state and its agencies during the fiscal year 2023. Below is a breakdown of some of the line items in the budget.

Appropriations from general revenue, which totals $4,641,378,000, including claims against state:

  • Legislative, which includes Senate, House, and Joint Expenses: $26,096,694
  • Judicial: $149,908,338
  • Governor’s Office: $10,488,332
  • Auditor’s Office: $2,487,115
  • Treasurer’s Office: $3,514,380
  • Department of Agriculture: 25,077,648
  • Attorney General: $5,203,194
  • Secretary of State: $950,738
  • Department of Administration: $107,877,676
  • Department of Commerce: $64,071,610
  • Department of Tourism: $7,000,000
  • Department of Economic Development: $12,534,591
  • Department of Education: $2,030,623,801
  • Department of Arts, Culture and History: $10,907,680
  • Department of Environmental Protection: $6,781,786
  • Department of Health and Human Resources: $1,189,565,047
  • Department of Homeland Security: $471,938,825
  • Department of Revenue: $32,919,968
  • Department of Transportation: $5,219,128
  • Department of Veterans’ Assistance: $12,712,658
  • Bureau of Senior Services: $19,612,957
  • WV Council for Community and Technical College Education: $82,435,026
  • Higher Education Policy Commission: $345,303,367
  • Miscellaneous Boards and Commissions: $18,129,517
  • General Revenue Total: $4,641,360,076

Appropriations from State Road Fund total $1,492,255,013 including claims against state:

  • Department of Transportation: $1,491,821,781

Appropriations from Other Funds total $2,002,782,414 including claims against state):

  • Legislative: $2,636,623
  • Judicial: $1,850,000
  • Governor’s Office: $695,914
  • Auditor’s Office: $36,525,884
  • Treasurer’s Office: $2,842,202
  • Department of Agriculture: $20,838,584
  • Attorney General: $1,700,639
  • Secretary of State: $6,036,718
  • Department of Administration: $130,614,813
  • Department of Commerce: $47,303,848
  • Department of Economic Development: $240,303,389
  • Department of Education: $65,271,774
  • Department of Arts, Culture, and History: $1,227,512
  • Department of Environmental Protection: $66,099,299
  • Department of Health and Human Resources: $642,170,325
  • Department of Homeland Security: 45,666,044
  • Department of Revenue: $454,313,553
  • Department of Transportation: $11,767,448
  • Department of Veterans’ Assistance: $1,964,234
  • Bureau of Senior Services: $10,514,707
  • Higher Education Policy Commission: $49,638,332
  • Miscellaneous Boards and Commissions: $70,737,759

Appropriations from general revenue fund surplus (often referred to as “back of the budget”)

The total for the General Revenue Surplus is $419,792,150. Additional funding for the following shall be provided if there is a surplus in the FY2023 budget.

  • West Virginia University: $14,100,000
  • Marshall University: $8,100,000
  • Tourism-Brand Promotion: $7,000,000
  • Jobs & Hope: $2,771,363

Several other bills passed the House today, including the following:

Senate Bill 181 creates the Core Behavior Health Crisis Service System. This is a 988 National Suicide Prevention hotline center. The Bureau of Health will maintain and operate the system.

Senate Bill 213 establishes a licensed professional counseling compact. This compact will members to practice in other states without additional licensure. Ten states must pass legislation to enter into a compact before it happens. Currently, Maryland and Georgia have compact laws for licensed professional counselors. Alabama has passed legislation, but it is awaiting approval from the governor. Thirteen states are looking at the legislation. Passage of this bill will give West Virginia a seat in the first ten to pass the legislation and a seat at the table as compact rules are discussed.

Senate Bill 274 requires the secretary of the DHHR to allocate CPS workers by Bureau of Social Services’ districts annually. The bill also requires the reporting of this allocation process to the Legislative Oversight Commission of Health and Human Resources Accountability.

Senate Bill 593 expands the definition of criminal justice agency to include the Marshall University Science Center to allow its participation in the WV DNA Database for missing persons, relatives of missing persons, and unidentified remains.

The House is in recess until 7 p.m.

Committees – Today

The Committee on Health and Human Resources will meet at 2:30 p.m. in Room 215E

The Judiciary Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 410.

The Finance Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 460.

The Education Committee will meet at 3:30 p.m. in Room 434.

The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 4 p.m. in Room 215E.

The House reconvened at 7 p.m. to receive Senate messages and committee reports. Several bills were read for the first time and will be on second reading tomorrow.

The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

Committees – Tonight

The Finance Committee will meet at 8:15 p.m. in Room 460.

The Judiciary Committee will meet at 8:30 p.m. in Room 410.

Committees – Tomorrow, March 9, 2022

The Rules Committee will meet at 10:45 a.m.

Senate Passes Bill to Change Rules for Judicial Appointments

The Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that would change the rules for state judicial appointments, including a current Supreme Court vacancy.

House Bill 4785 makes a change to law regarding gubernatorial judicial appointments, allowing them to stand if the unexpired term is no more than three years.

This would impact the state Supreme Court seat recently vacated by Evan Jenkins. Governor Jim Justice soon will appoint someone to fill that position.

Under current law, the Governor would appoint someone to serve until the general election this fall when someone would be elected to serve the rest of Jenkins’ term.

However, if this bill completes legislative action, the legislation would allow the appointee to serve until the 2024 election, the next election in which the seat would have been on the ballot.

The Senate passed the bill with an amended title, so the House will have to concur with the amendment to complete action on the bill and send it to the Governor’s desk. The amendment made no substantive changes to the bill.

UPDATE:

The Senate completed action on one bill and made its way through second and first reading on the calendar during its evening floor session. The body also received additional committee reports and read several of those bills a first time.

House Bill 4797 completed action. The legislation would facilitate the creation of an EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan for West Virginia that describes how our state intends to use its share of NEVI Formula Program funds. This deals with an electric vehicle charging network that will need to be created in each state.

The Senate is adjourned until tomorrow at 11 a.m.

Health will meet at 6:15 p.m. in 451M.

Tomorrow Morning Meetings:

Judiciary at 9 a.m. in 208W

Economic Development at 10 a.m. in 451M.

House Gov. Org. Advances Eight Bills in Penultimate Meeting

The Committee on Government Organization advanced several bills in its final meeting.

Senate Bill 5 establishes the West Virginia Unmanned Aircraft Systems Advisory Council. It requires all operators of unmanned aircraft systems to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

Senate Bill 138 reduces the number of board members on the WV Board of Medicine from 16 to 15 members.

Senate Bill 530 provides a coal severance tax escrow fund for the state portion of coal severance taxes paid on public-private transportation facilities. The bill authorizes the DOT to repay collected tac in escrow to private entities.

Senate Bill 582 creates the WV Workforce Resiliency Act and the Recovery and Hope Act. It establishes the Workforce Resiliency Office and the State Recovery and Hope Office.

Senate Bill 588 establishes the WV Rail Trails Program consisting of rail-to-trail and rail with trail programs. It expands State Rail Authority to acquire railroad rights-of-way and land for both trail programs.

Senate Bill 611 removes the cap on contract bidder’s surety or collateral bond.

Senate Bill 685 permits a salesperson to designate a cooperate entity to receive compensation for real estate sales.

Senate Bill 714 adds the Directory of the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety, and Training as a voting member to break tie votes by the Coal Mine Safety and Technical Review Committee.

House Finance Advances Four Bills on Day 55

The Finance Committee met this afternoon.

Senate Bill 262 authorizes the State Treasurer to prepare, maintain, and publicize a list of financial institutions engaged in boycotts of energy companies. The bill requires the Treasurer to post the list to his or her website and submit the list to public officers. The Treasurer is required to send a written notice to a financial institution when it is added to the list within 45 days. The bill advances.

Senate Bill 438 requires the State Treasurer to create rules and emergency rules relating to securing public deposits. The bill establishes the West Virginia Security for Public Deposits Program and requires the program to be operable by March 1, 2024. The bill advances.

Senate Bill 246 requires all newly constructed public-school buildings and all existing public-school buildings undergoing a major improvement to have water bottle filling stations installed. The bill also requires the board to create a policy allowing students to carry water bottles. The bill advances.

Senate Bill 228 provides tuition and fee waivers for terms of service completed in West Virginia as an AmeriCorps volunteer. The bill advances.

Senate Completes Action on Bone Marrow Awareness Program

The Senate completed action on eight bills and passed six others during Monday afternoon’s floor session.

One of the bills that completed, House Bill 4631, will establish the Demetry Walker bone marrow and peripheral blood stem donation awareness program. The legislation will require the Bureau of Public Health to post information on its website and create an online brochure providing information about bone marrow and peripheral blood stem donation.

Delegate Danielle Walker (D-Monongalia, 51) introduced the bill after her son, Demetry Walker died of leukemia at age 23. Prior to his passing, Demetry said for every blood donation he received during his cancer treatment, he wanted others to donate after his death. He wanted to make a difference by increasing awareness of the need for donors to help provide a wider variety of matches for patients.

The bill now heads to Governor Jim Justice’s desk.

UPDATE:

The Senate made its way through the remainder of its daily calendar during its evening floor session.

The body suspended the constitutional rules requiring a bill be read on three separate days to pass six bills Monday night, including House Bill 4406, which establishes the the West Virginia Military Hall of Fame.

The Senate is adjourned until tomorrow, March 8, at 11 a.m.

Morning Meetings:

Judiciary at 9 a.m. in 208W.

Transportation and Infrastructure at 10 a.m. in 451M.

 

Several Appropriation Bills Complete in House

Today starts the last week of the 2022 Legislative Session.

Several supplement and appropriation bills completed legislative action in the House.

Senate Bill 526 appropriates $500,000 from General Revenue to the Department of Commerce – Office of the Secretary.

Senate Bill 531 increases the annual salaries of the WV State Police, public school teachers, and school service personnel.

Senate Bill 626 appropriates $8,519,000 from the State Road Fund to DOT, DMV.

Senate Bill 627 appropriates $21,200,000 from the State Road Fund to the DOT, DOH.

Senate Bill 636 increases the appropriation to the Department of Revenue, Office of Tax Appeals by $74,816.

Senate Bill 637 increases the appropriation to the Governor’s Civil Contingent Fund by 15,000,000.

Both budget bills – Senate Bill 250 and House Bill 4023 – were advanced to third reading with amendments pending.

The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 8, 2022.

Committees – Today

The Judiciary Committee will meet at 2:30 p.m. in Room 410.

The Education Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 434.

The Finance Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 460.

The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 215E.

Committees – Tuesday, March 8, 2022

The Finance Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 460.

The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 215E.

The Judiciary Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. in Room 410.

The Rules Committee will meet at 10:45 a.m.

The Education Committee will meet an hour after the floor session in Room 434.

Public Hearings

The Finance Committee will host a public hearing on Monday, March 7, 2022 at 6 p.m. on Senate Bill 1 – Creating Mining Mutual Insurance Company.

 

House Gov. Org. Advances Four Bills in Saturday Meetings

The Committee on Government Organization met this morning, advancing four bills.

Senate Bill 172 increases the compensation of elected county officials. The bill advances.

Senate Bill 253 designates the Secretary of State as the state’s liaison to the U.S. Census Bureau for purposes of redistricting phases for the federal decennial census. The bill requires county commissions to submit information to the Secretary of State relating to precinct updates. The bill advances to the floor.

Senate Bill 492 authorizes the use of nonrenewal of vehicle registration provisions shall be effective whenever a reciprocal enforcement agreement is entered into by the West Virginia Parkways Authority, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, and any state sharing a common border with the state. The bill advances.

Senate Bill 698 expands the number of members on the Governor’s Veterans Council from 9 to 11 members. The bill also amends the criteria on how members are selected. The bill advances.

Both Budget Bills Advance to Second Reading in House

The House briefly convened Saturday morning, passing two bills.

Senate Bill 524 places the State Library Commission and the National Coal Heritage Area Commission under the Department of Arts, Culture, and History.

Senate Bill 650 removes the requirement of seven or more royalty owners for utilization n by an operator for the lawful use and development by cotenants.

Both Senate Bill 250 and House Bill 4023, budget bills, were read for the first time. The bills will be in the floor amendment stage on Monday.

Thirteen bills were on second reading, and one was amended.

Senate Bill 531 updates the salaries for State Police officers. The amendment changed the pay increase from $2,550 to $10,000.

The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. Monday, March 7, 2022.

Committees – Today

The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 11 a.m. in Room 215E.

The Finance Committee will meet at 11:15 a.m. in Room 460.

The Education Committee will meet at 11:30 a.m. in Room 434.

Committees – Monday, March 7, 2022

The Judiciary Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 410.

The Education Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 434.

The Rules Committee will meet at 10:45 a.m.

The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 215E.

Public Hearings

The Committee on Education will host a public hearing Monday, March 7, 2022 at 8 a.m. on Senate Bill 498 – Creating Anti-Racism Act of 2022.

The Committee on Energy and Manufacturing will host a public hearing on Monday, March 7, 2022 at 9 a.m. on Senate Bill 694 – Relating to oil and gas conservation.

The Finance Committee will host a public hearing on Monday, March 7, 2022 at 6 p.m. on Senate Bill 1 – Creating Mining Mutual Insurance Company.

Convention of States Resolution Focus of House Floor Session

The House adopted six resolutions and passed eight bills today.

House Concurrent Resolution 31 calls for a convention of states to propose amendments to the constitution relating to fiscal restraints of the federal government, limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the terms of office for its official and for members of Congress.

The resolution generated a long debate. Proponents of the resolutions believe the federal government has gone too far fiscally and no longer represents the ideals of the people. They feel the only way to create changes is to call an article 5 convention to make amendments to the constitution of the United States.

The opponents fear the convention could take place in secrecy, which could lead to a complete re-write of the constitution, as it did when the Constitution was ratified from the Articles of Confederation. They also fear representation of each state would not be equal and West Virginia, being a smaller state, could negatively affected.

Both sides are uncertain that a convention would get 38 states to ratify the constitution.

Senate Bill 448 clarifies that the Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee is responsible to develop, update, and implement policies, as well as revoke, suspend, or modify uses of the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network.

Senate Bill 537 provides for civilian firefighters and civilian security guards assistance for the WV National Guard under specific circumstances.

Senate Bill 598 authorizes programs to assist at-risk veterans through partnerships with service organizations, government agencies, military organizations, or private entities engaged with their local veterans’ communities to connect veterans and their families with exciting resources to combat suicide.

The House is adjourned until 10 a.m. Saturday, March 5, 2022.

Committees – Today

The Judiciary Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. in Room 410.

Committees – Saturday, March 5, 2022

The Judiciary Committee will meet at 8:30 a.m. in Room 410.

The Education Committee will meet at 8:30 a.m. in Room 434.

The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 9 a.m. in Room 215E.

The Rules Committee will meet at 9:45 a.m.

Public Hearings

The Committee on Energy and Manufacturing will host a public hearing on Monday, March 7, 2022 at 9 a.m. on Senate Bill 694 – Relating to oil and gas conservation.

House Education Considers Senate Bill 704

House Education met this morning to consider Senate Bill 704.

Senate Bill 704 creates a new section of code. It requires each classroom teacher to comply with any request by a parent, grandparents, or guardian to inspect any instructional material and books om the classroom, that are available to students to read. The bill requires the teacher to demonstrate how the supplementary instructional material relates to the content standards adopted by the State BOE. The bill requires the classroom teacher to include any book or books students will be required to read on a class syllabus. The bill requires the syllabus to be available to the parent, grandparent, or guardian upon request. If a teacher does not comply with this section, then the parent, grandparent, or guardian may file a complaint to the county superintendent. And then the state superintendent if the complaint is not resolved in the county in seven days.

The bill brought several questions before the committee for both the State BOE and committee counsel. Below are answers to some of the questions asked.

Parents, grandparents, or guardians would have to schedule a meeting to inspect materials. Parents, grandparents, and guardians can only review instructional materials for their child, not another child, who may have different materials. Public education materials can already be provided at the request of guardians. Teachers have been posting the resource items on some learning management systems.

The board representative stated the bill codifies at the state level federal law.

The bill is reactive in the sense that the parent must request to see the materials for a syllabus to be sent to them.

The board will record the number of complaints and report the number to the state superintendent each year. Complaints could be curriculum does not align to standards or teachers failed to comply with providing material. If the complaints are founded, they could be part of the review.

The bill does not have a timeframe for the syllabus to be amended if it would change from the beginning of the year.

Syllabi are currently only required in advanced placement courses. A syllabus is not defined in the bill. Therefore, a syllabus could just be a list of books and materials used during the course.

The board representative was not aware of any teacher or parent who had requested this bill.

During the amendment stage, the word “grandparent” was replaced with “custodian.”

An amendment was offered to give 10 days for a county superintendent to resolve a complaint. The amendment was rejected. An amendment changes the word “may” to “shall” to require a parent/custodian to schedule a teacher if he/she has a complaint. The amendment was rejected.

The committee adjourned for session. The bill will be back on the agenda during the next meeting.