House Bill 3166 requires each county board of education to establish standardized school safety mapping data before September 1, 2025. The bill also requires the data to be provided to the state board of education, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and local first response agencies.
House Bill 3179 prohibits the Public Service Commission (PSC) from ordering a utility to acquire a distressed or failing utility if the aggregate cost of necessary capital improvements for the distressed or failing utility exceeds the aggregate required contribution under the commission’s extension of mains rules for new customers and grant funds available from the Water Development Authority Distressed Utilities Account.
House Bill 3181 allows chief executives, law enforcement officers, and law enforcement officials to purchase their service handgun upon honorable separation from employment.
House Bill 3187 adds the identification of economic opportunities to the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence agenda and extends the Task Force’s sunset to July 1, 2027.
House Bill 3192 repeals obsolete, conflicting, and duplicative higher education provisions of code.
House Bill 3209 requires that beginning August 1, 2025, every county employ two school counselors for every 1000 students. It further specifies that counties may follow one counselor for every 400-450 elementary and middle school students and one counselor for every 250-300 high school students.
House Bill 3263 provides that every utility should have an approved outage notification system in place to notify customers of service disruptions.
House Bill 3272 requires a hearing to be scheduled five to ten days after the property owner files a petition for eviction. The bill also allows tenants to file and serve a written defense within five days of the eviction notice.
House Bill 3274 authorizes circuit courts to appoint court reporters or use electronic means to report testimony before the grand jury, in preceding before the judge of such court on vacation, and to aid the judge in any official duties.
House Bill 3275 allows the Supreme Court of Appeals to set the time for filing a notice of appeal, perfecting an appeal, and filing related documents with the Intermediate Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Appeals.
House Bill 3277 defines the term “Secretary” in the West Virginia Hospital Finance Authority Act. The code missed this when splitting the Department of Health and Human Resources into three agencies.
House Bill 3279 makes changes to the WVU and WVSU Boards of Governors. It requires a representative from the agriculture or forestry professions, and the WVU board must include representatives from WVU Tech and WVU Potomac. These added members are voting members. The bill also removes faculty, staff, and students from being voting members to nonvoting advisory members.
House Bill 3297 would create the Washington Center for Civics, Culture, and Statesmanship at WVU. The Center would disseminate information about classical Western history and culture. The bill sets goals and policies for the Center, which would be an independent academic unit of the university. Up to five tenure-track positions can be housed at the Center. The Center is charged with offering courses and developing certificates, minors, majors, and graduate-level degrees. The Center will be led by a director who reports to the president of the university, the provost, and the vice president for academic affairs. The initial appointment of the Director is at the discretion of the Governor. The qualifications for the Director are knowledge of Western tradition and the founding of America. The Director is given the power to administer the Center without the approval or agreement of the university’s president. An academic council for the center will be created with seven members. The Director of the West Virginia University Board of Governors and the Joint Committee on Government and Finance requires annual reporting.
House Bill 3313 allows a participating institution to partner with community and technical colleges outside of its designated consortia planning district region if the assigned facilitating community and technical college does not offer a program and does not develop that program within two years of a formal request by a participating institution. The bill adds Braxton County to the Southeastern region and makes Braxton County High School a participating institution.
House Bill 3336 eliminates the requirement for a four-and-a-half-inch casing for modern wells. The bill eliminates the removal of intermediate or surface casings for non-modern or older wells so long as other requirements are met.
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House Bill 3338 allows a judge to consider remote testimony when a child witness is needed.
House Bill 3342 establishes the Firearms Industry Nondiscrimination Act to prohibit discrimination against a firearm entity or firearm trade association.
