House Bill 2123 prohibits cameras in the bedrooms or bathrooms of foster homes. The bill allows for a few exceptions. Baby monitors are allowed when age-appropriate or the child has a medical diagnosis of severe physical disabilities or behavior, cognitive, or psychological disorders. Medical equipment with or without cameras is allowed for a child who has a medical diagnosis of severe physical disabilities or behavior, cognitive, or psychological disorders. Any exempted equipment must be in clear view, not hidden.
House Bill 2129 creates the Parents Bill of Rights, which prohibits the state and state entities from infringing on a parent’s fundamental right to direct a child’s upbringing, education, health care, and mental health.
House Bill 2152 requires state agencies to pay vendor invoices within 45 days of a legitimate payment claim. If the agency fails to pay the claim within the requisite 45 days, it must report that failure to the State Auditor. Additionally, any vendor or grantee who does not receive payment within the requisite 45 days may report that violation to the State Auditor. The State Auditor is required to publish a bad actor list that is updated at least monthly.
House Bill 2157 requires that the Commissioner of the Division of Motor Vehicles allow the purchase online of one-movement stickers, which will enable the transportation of a vehicle over public roads without registration. The sticker is valid for 96 hours from the time of issuance. As to the online sticker, the fee may be remitted to the division electronically, and the division may provide the sticker in an electronic format. The bill adds that a one-movement sticker may not be used as evidence of vehicle ownership.
House Bill 2164 requires the Director of the Division of Protective Services, along with the Law Enforcement Professional Standards Subcommittee of the Governor’s Committee on Crime, Delinquency and Correction, to establish minimum recommendations for training for employment, job-entry, and in-service training curricula, and provide written certification, for school safety officers. The bill allows public and private schools to employ school safety officers. SSOs are former law enforcement officers who maintain order and discipline, prevent crime, investigate violations of the policies, and reasonably detain any individual committing an offense that constitutes a breach of the peace. The bill does not give SSO arresting authority. They are expected to undergo training and are authorized to carry a firearm. The bill also includes the WV Guardian Program, which allows former law enforcement to contract independently with county boards of education to provide safety/security on school grounds.
House Bill 2165 allows disabled veterans and veterans who received the Purple Heart to park free at metered parking spaces in any municipality in the state. To be eligible, the appropriate designation must appear on the person’s registration plate, demonstrating that the person is a disabled veteran or awarded the Purple Heart.
House Bill 2167 allows public charter schools to charge “less than full-time” tuition as part-time Hope Scholarship enrollment and participation in activities. When a student withdraws from a public charter school and enrolls in a public school district or another public charter school, home school, private school, etc., the receiving school tracks the student for all purposes. The school the child withdrew from must notify the attendance director. The bill requires teachers to receive training to be a proctor for assessments.
House Bill 2172 adds a certified athletic trainer to the Board of Physical Therapy, bringing the board to an even number. In a tie, the chair will vote a second time.
House Bill 2217 increases the penalties for conspiracy to commit certain crimes. Any person who conspires to commit a felony crime against a person or a felony where the victim is a child faces imprisonment in a corrections facility for three to 15 years. The bill clarifies felony crimes of kidnapping, arson, and sexual assault.
House Bill 2222 is a “Rules Bundle.” It authorizes the Department of Administration to create 10 rules relating to the Department as a whole or the following divisions: the Information Services & Communications Division, the Finance Division, the Office of Technology, and Public Defender Services.
House Bill 2233 is a rule bundle for the Department of Environmental Protection, creating nine rules.
House Bill 2267 is a rules bundle for the Department of Revenue. The rules in the bundle affect the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission, the Insurance Commission, the Lottery Commission, and the Tax Commission.
House Bill 2331 is a rules bundle. It authorizes the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety, and Training to create legislative rules for training EMT-Miners and certifying EMT-M instructors. The bill also extends various sunset dates for the Division of Natural Resources.
House Bill 2344 includes maintenance vehicles in the “slow down and move over” rule. When a maintenance or stationary vehicle is on the shoulder of the road, drivers should slow down and move to the left on multilane roads.
House Bill 2347 permits the Supreme Court of Appeals to create mental hygiene regions and restructure the involuntary commitment process.
House Bill 2351 increases the compensation for panel attorneys to $90 for in-court work and $70 for out-of-court work.
House Bill 2354 bans the following additives and dyes from food sold in West Virginia: butylated hydroxyanisole, propylparaben, Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2, Green No. 3, Red No. 3, Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, and Yellow No. 6. The amendment requires schools to stop providing lunches with these additives beginning in August of 2025. Schools may sell products with these additives only if the event is not on school property and at least 30 minutes after dismissal.
House Bill 2358 requires autopsies to be conducted within 72 hours of the request being received by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The bill also requires a report to be submitted within 24 hours of autopsy completion.
House Bill 2360 clarifies that crimes against law enforcement officers included pre-certified officers, those still in training, and chief executives such as sheriffs. The Senate amended the bill to add any person hired, elected, appointed, or otherwise authorized to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, or investigation of the criminal laws of this state.
House Bill 2387 repeals the class A1 Pistol stamp for hunting.
House Bill 2397 prevents immediate family members from acting in a fiduciary capacity for the same governmental authority.
House Bill 2399 changes the managed timberland certification requirements to every five years for tax assessment purposes and grants the Division of Forestry rulemaking authority.
House Bill 2402 requires parents and guardians to have access to the child’s health records unless otherwise ordered by a court.
House Bill 2411 adds a computer science requirement for graduation for high school students in West Virginia.
House Bill 2434, the Stop Squatters Act, provides a remedy for removing unauthorized persons from residential and commercial real estate. The bill establishes offenses and penalties for intentional property damage by a person in unlawful possession, providing false documents to convey real property, or attempting to sell or rent without title.
House Bill 2441 makes anyone who fails a drug test ineligible for unemployment benefits. The individual would remain disqualified until they have worked at least 30 days in another covered employment position.
House Bill 2444 limits the records that the West Virginia Lottery Commission can examine to those directly related to the limited lottery business under the permittee’s control. Currently, the permittee is required to provide all accounts, bank accounts, financial statements, and records in the permittee’s possession, regardless of whether they are related to the LVL business.
House Bill 2451 allows the use of a residential dwelling for a home-based business, a business that manufactures, provides, or sells goods or services and is owned and operated by the owner or tenant of a residential dwelling. The bill also creates the Small Business Protection Act.
House Bill 2479 reduces the minimum number of members of county development authorities from twelve to seven. The bill’s purpose is to make it easier to attain a quorum for counties and municipalities with smaller populations.
House Bill 2484 provides paid municipal fire departments must provide a probationary period of one year to all appointees. This bill clarifies a code conflict where one section said one year and another said six months.
