Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
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Completed Legislation (04/02/21-04/08/21)

Cheyenne DeBolt
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Completed Legislation (04/02/21-04/08/21)

House Bill 2267 establishes an optional bus operator in residence program for school districts.

House Bill 2918 makes the Family Drug Treatment Court permanent.

Senate Bill 335 creates WV Invest Grant Program for students at accredited community and technical college.

Senate Bill 387 continues the drug screening of applicates for TANF.

Senate Bill 392 creates a penalty for impersonating law-enforcement officer or official.

House Bill 2916 creates the Semi-quincentennial Commission for the celebration of 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America.

House Bill 2914 removes certain ex officio, voting members from the Archives and History Commission.

House Bill 2874 extends the current veteran’s business fee waivers to active duty military members and spouses.

Senate Bill 434 requires training for law-enforcement officers responsible for investigating crimes of sexual assault.

Senate Bill 634 requires training of law enforcement officer on how to respond to persons with autism spectrum disorder.

Transgender Athlete Bill Passes Senate

Christopher Marshall
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Transgender Athlete Bill Passes Senate

The Senate passed a bill on Thursday that would restrict the manner in which transgender athletes participate in sports. House Bill 3293 passed on an 18-15-1 vote.

Supporters of the legislation believe it will protect young female athletes from competing against stronger athletes who were born male, while also protecting the competitive integrity of women’s athletics.

Opponents of the bill view it as discriminatory and have concerns over how it will be received both in West Virginia and beyond. Some Senators fear the legislation will make businesses reluctant to locate and invest here, while others expressed concerns that it might create conflicts with the NCAA, making it unlikely West Virginia could host NCAA sanctioned events in the future.

The provision including college athletics is unique to the Senate version of the bill. The House version, which passed on March 25, applied only to middle school and high school-aged athletes. It required county school districts to confirm the sex of students at birth prior to their participation in single-sex sports. That confirmation would have taken place through submission of an original birth certificate or by a signed physician’s statement of the student’s “unaltered internal and external reproductive anatomy.”

The Senate changed the bill, dropping the requirement for proof of gender and replacing it with language saying “any student aggrieved by a violation” may bring an action against a county board or state institution of higher education.

The bill now heads back to the House of Delegates, where members can accept the Senate version or hold firm to their original version.

The Senate is adjourned until tomorrow, April 9, at 11 a.m.

House Passes History Curriculum Bill

Cheyenne DeBolt
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House Passes History Curriculum Bill

Fifteen bills passed the House today, including the following.

Senate Bill 335 makes Promise scholarships available to students who wish to pursue a vocational certificate or degree in a community and technical college.

Senate Bill 419 updates the state’s definition of “firearm” to match the federal definition.

Senate Bill 488 provides that convention and visitor’s bureau shall satisfy certain requirements to receive funding from hotel occupancy taxes.

Senate Bill 636 requires middle and high schools teach certain civics and history curriculum be taught. Curriculum required includes institutions and structure of American government, American political philosophy and history, ideologies,  and the treatment and contributions of historic minorities.

Senate Bill 671 requires the Office of EMS director be appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources.

Several bills on second were advanced to third with amendments pending.

Committees

Today

The House is in recess until 4 pm.

The House is adjourned until 10 am tomorrow, April 9.

The Rules Committee will meet at 9:45 am in Room 434M.

Senate Passes Income Tax Reduction, Budget

Christopher Marshall
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Senate Passes Income Tax Reduction, Budget

The Senate passed its version of the income tax reduction bill, as well as its budget, after a long debate on the floor Wednesday night.

House Bill 3300, which would reduce the personal income tax in West Virginia, was amended with a strike and insert amendment that made significant changes to the legislation.

The current version of this bill would cut the personal income tax by about $818 million,  beginning next year.

As a way to offset that loss of revenue, the current legislation would raise the sales tax in West Virginia from 6 to 8 percent. That 8 percent would also apply to soft drinks and the sale of prepared foods. The there is no grocery tax in this bill. The legislation retains the elimination of exemptions for a variety of professional services, including exemptions for broadcasting, print and outdoor advertising.

The bill uses tiered severance taxes, budget surplus funds, excess Rainy Day funds and other appropriations to create a S.A.F.E.R. fund that will be used to smooth out additional lowering of the personal income tax in future years. When the fund reaches $100 million in a given year, $50 million is released to further lower the personal income tax. According to the plan, each $50 million in that fund would correspond with a roughly 1.25 percent reduction in income tax rates.

The amended bill provides roughly $40 million in rebates for people making $35,000 a year or less.

The Senate also amended its budget into House Bill 2022 and passed the measure. This bill will be the vehicle the Legislature uses to work out a final general revenue budget in the coming days.

The Senate amended the roughly $4.56 billion 2021-22 budget to mostly restore earlier budget cuts to West Virginia University, Marshall University and West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

As passed, the bill would fund WVU at just over $95.5 million, about $1.5 million less than in the governor’s proposed budget.

Marshall would receive just over $46 million, about $700,000 less than the $46.76 in the governor’s plan.

The bill also restores over $3.75 million to public broadcasting.

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

The Senate is adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m.

House Passes Bill to Extend Drug Screening for TANF recipients

Cheyenne DeBolt
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House Passes Bill to Extend Drug Screening for TANF recipients

Today, the House concurred with the Senate on six bills.

House Bill 2093 allows West Virginia veterans to utilize the services of medical foster homes approved by the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs and exempts medical foster home caregivers from duplicative background examination requirements of the WV CARES program.

House Bill 3191 require employers to notify retirees if their subsequent employment will negatively impact the retiree’s retired status or benefit.

The House, also, passed six bills and one resolution.

Senate Joint Resolution 4 allows for the incorporation of churches or religious denominations.

Senate Bill 387 extends the program for drug screening of applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The program states that if a guardian test positive for a drug, a proxy-guardian can be assigned to the child. This is to allow the child to continue receiving benefits. The majority of TANF recipients are children. Any persons testing positive for drugs will be offered treatment. During the pilot program, only 4 percent of applicants tested positive.

After a lot of debate, Senate Bill 387 passed. Opponents stated that the pilot program was not successful enough to continue. Supporters of the bill stated that the program kept taxpayer money from being used illegally. The bill heads back to the Senate for consideration.

Action was postponed one day on SB 492, SB 502, SB 610, and SB 655.

The House is in recess until 5 pm.

The House reconvened at 5 pm to hear reports and messages. A few bills/resolutions were read for the first time.

Committee Meetings

Tomorrow

The House is adjourned until 10 am tomorrow, April 8.

Senate Completes 13 Bills, Pushes Budget and Income Tax to Evening

Christopher Marshall
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Senate Completes 13 Bills, Pushes Budget and Income Tax to Evening

The Senate delayed action until this evening on the budget bills as well as House Bill 3300, relating to reducing personal income tax rates generally, during a Wednesday morning floor session.

The Senate completed action on 13 other measures during today’ session.

The Senate is in recess until 5 p.m.

Audio and video streaming is available for all Senate meetings on the Legislature Live page.

Judiciary will meet at 1 p.m. in 208W.

Finance will meet at 1 p.m. in 451M.

House Passes Online License and ID Renewal for Address Changes

Cheyenne DeBolt
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House Passes Online License and ID Renewal for Address Changes

The House concurred with the Senate on seven bills today, including:

House Bill 2633 creates the 2021 Farm Bill and makes changes throughout the code.

House Bill 2763 provides a way for reporting cyber incidents and provides that an annual report be sent to the Joint Committee of the WV Legislature.

House Bill 2765 allows emergency management and operations vehicles operated by airports to use red flashing warning lights.

The House passed 27 bills to the Senate.

Senate Bill 307 provides that nonresident members of a reserve unit in WV qualify as residents for tuition rates.

Senate Bill 318 removes the requirement that the Treasurer publish the unclaimed property registry in newspapers.

Senate Bill 343 allows the DMV to renew or reissue driver’s licenses and ID cards online for address changes.

Senate Bill 651 allows county boards of education to hold a public hearing to discuss the publishing of financial statements on their website. If the county decides to post the information, they may quit printing the information in a local newspaper. If the county posts the information online and an individual requests a hard copy of the information, the board must send the hard copy. Currently, the financial information is only printed in local newspapers.

Senate Bill 713 clarifies that inmates who received good time on or before October 21, 2020, are entitled to the good time unless it is lost due to a disciplinary violation.

Committees

Today’s Meetings

Tomorrow’s Meetings

The House reconvened at 6:15 pm to accept reports and messages.

The House is adjourned until 11 am tomorrow, April 7.

Senate Completes Action on Seven Bills

Christopher Marshall
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Senate Completes Action on Seven Bills

The Senate completed legislative action on seven bills during a Tuesday morning floor session.

House Bill 2823 exempts buildings or structures utilized exclusively for agricultural purposes from the provisions of the state building code.

House Bill 2829 allows for the amortization of annual funding deficiencies for municipal police or firefighter pension and relief funds.

Senate Bill 439 allows the use or nonuse of safety belts as admissible evidence in civil actions.

Four of the bills completed were supplemental appropriations to various agencies.

The Senate is adjourned until tomorrow, April 7, at 10 a.m.

Audio and Video streaming are available for all committee meetings on our Legislature Live page.

Health and Human Resources will meet today at Noon in 451M.

Energy, Industry and Mining will meet today at Noon in 208W.

Education will meet at 1 p.m. in 451M.

Government Organization will meet at 1 p.m. in 208W.

Finance will meet at 2:30 p.m. in 451M.

Judiciary will meet at 2:30 p.m. in 208W.

 

Busy Monday for the Judiciary Committee

Cheyenne DeBolt
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Busy Monday for the Judiciary Committee

In the Judiciary Committee today, several bills were discussed. A few were rejected and a few were moved to tomorrow’s agenda. Senate Bill 537, Senate Bill 569, Senate Bill 658, and Senate Bill 657 are a few that advanced to the floor.

Senate Bill 537 modifies the definition of kidnapping to clarify that transportation is not necessary to be kidnapping. Holding another person for ransom, inflicting bodily harm, terrorizing a person or using another person has a shield or hostage, all fall under the definition of a kidnapping.

Senate Bill 569 establishes medical monitoring expenses and provides that an increased risk of disease is not a compensable bases for damages in any civil action. The bill requires that, when awarded, defendants pay medical monitoring expenses into a fund established by the court for that purpose and provides that any money remaining in the fund after medical monitoring be returned.

Senate Bill 658 requires the sheriff’s departments to participate and utilize Handle With Care Program for trauma-inflicted children.

Senate Bill 657 permits expressive activity on campus under certain conditions. The bill does allow state institutions of higher education to maintain and enforce reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions under certain parameters. It also requires state institutions of higher education to treat student organizations which are open to all students equally. The bill encourages state institutions of higher education to develop materials to educate the campus community on its policies relating to protected speech and expression activities and requires posting of policies on website. The bill allows a person or student organization who believes a violation of this article has occurred to bring an action for relief against the state institution of higher education.

The Judiciary Committee will meet tomorrow at 9 am.

House Passes Bill to Change Criteria for Natural Resource Commission

Cheyenne DeBolt
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House Passes Bill to Change Criteria for Natural Resource Commission

NatNToday, the House passed seven bills, concurred with the Senate on two bills and six resolutions, and postponed action on six pieces of legislation.

Senate Bill 359 requires law enforcement to attempted to contract landowner or lease when responding to an accident in which damage occurs to a fence that could contain livestock. The bill was amended on third reading to allow the officer responding to call dispatch so that they could notify for a quicker response.

Senate Bill 514 makes changes to the organization of the Natural Resources Commission. The bill changes the term lengths and states that the commissioners shall be appointed by the Governor. The bill passed 52 to 47.

Senate Bill 89 was vetoed by the Governor and sent back to the Legislature for changes to be made. Today, the House concurred with the Senates amendments to complete the legislation and send it back to the Governor. Senate Bill 89 allows licensure requirement exemptions for private kindergarten and preschool programs.

The House also concurred to complete House Bill 2253, which makes changes to the sentencing for forgery and other crimes related to lottery tickets.

The House concurred with the Senate and adopted House Concurrent Resolutions 12, 20, 26, 35, 38, and 62.

Action on Senate Joint Resolution 4, Senate Bill 392, Senate Bill 483, Senate Bill 496, Senate Bill 562, and Senate Bill 710 was postponed by one day.

The House is in recess until 6 pm tonight.

Today’s Meetings

Tomorrow’s Meetings

The House reconvened at 6:20 pm to receive reports.

The House is adjourned until 11 am.

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