The Senate met on Tuesday and adopted Senate Resolutions 46, 47, and 48, memorializing the life of the Honorable Sarah Abigail (Mullennex) Minear, and passed 12 bills.
Senate Resolution 48 Memorializes the life of the Honorable Sarah Abigail (Mullennex) Minear.
The resolution states, “We pay tribute to the life and legacy of the Honorable Sarah Abigail (Mullennex) Minear, a woman whose contributions to the State of West Virginia will be felt by many generations to come, and whose spirit will resound throughout the hills of West Virginia forever.”
The Honorable Sarah Abigail (Mullennex) Minear was a wife, deacon, elder, community leader, philanthropist, former member of the West Virginia Senate, statesman, and a dedicated public servant.
Senate Bill 927 would clarify the authority of the Commissioner of Agriculture over bees.
The commissioner would be able to register, inspect, and regulate apiaries, bee equipment, and measure against honeybee pests. The commissioner would also inform beekeepers and anyone who keeps or manages bees and apiaries in West Virginia on beekeeping, while cooperating with other states and federal agencies.
The bill would also limit when legal actions can be brought against agriculture operations, protecting farms from nuisance claims if they comply with state and federal regulations and follow commonly accepted agriculture practices.
Senator Eric Tarr (R – Putnan, 04) proposed an amendment that would have rewritten the bill. The amendment would have created the West Virginia Apiary Act, giving the state Agriculture Commissioner authority to regulate beekeeping and control honeybee diseases to protect pollinators.
The amendment would also strengthen the “right-to-farm” protections by making it more difficult to sue agriculture operations for nuisance, especially if they have been operating lawfully for more than a year.
The Senator withdrew his amendment and requested laying the bill over one day; the request was rejected.
Opponents of the bill raised concerns about the wildlife in West Virginia being in the hands of one person and losing potential businesses due to one person having statewide authority to block a permit. They urged that this bill take away local control, impacting several communities.
Supporters of the bill expressed that the Commissioner of Agriculture has overseen several agricultural operations and farming in West Virginia and that there is existing language stating that the Commissioner of Agriculture does not have the authority to regulate everything, due to local laws not being able to conflict with state laws.
Following the discussion, the bill passed the full Senate and was sent to the House of Delegates for consideration.
Afternoon Meetings:
Finance at 3 p.m. in Room 451M
Judiciary at 3 p.m. in Room 208W
The Senate is in recess until 4:30 p.m.
