The Judiciary Committee met this morning.
Markup & Passage
House Bill 2360 clarifies crimes against law-enforcement officers to include chief executives and pre-certified law-enforcement officers.
House Bill 2434, the Stop Squatters Act, provides a limited alternative remedy to remove unauthorized persons from residential and commercial real properties. The bill allows for the removal by law enforcement and establishes a criminal offense and penalties.
House Bill 2437 removes knowingly distributing fentanyl. The bill provides an enhanced penalty for fentanyl distribution regardless of an individual’s knowledge of whether it is fentanyl or not.
House Bill 2511 allows for alcoholic beverages to be dispensed in areas where bingo is being conducted on the premises of Veteran Service Organizations. Â
Committee Hearing
House Bill 2441 removes eligibility for unemployment when an individual in a safety-sensitive job fails a drug test and is fired.
House Bill 2653 changes membership requirements for the West Virginia Law Institute.
House Bill 2683 prohibits ranked choice voting in West Virginia. The bill defines rank choice voting as a method for casting votes in which voters rank candidates for an office in order of preference. Then a tabulation occurs in rounds, with the candidate with at least support drops from each round and then reallocating the votes to the second-choice candidate.
Rank-choice voting is not taking place in WV. Some are concerned with the uncertainty of rank-choice voting because there are several variations of it.
House Bill 2702 allows the Governor to appoint an interim state official for the 20 days it can take for the nomination process of a new official.
House Bill 2709 permits a voter who has moved within the same county to vote in a new precinct without casting a provisional ballot.
