The West Virginia Legislature passed 18 bills Monday, including bills dedicating money to secondary road maintenance and legislation to help the state’s medical cannabis program.
The Legislature resumed its special session to fix bills that were vetoed by Gov. Jim Justice. The governor had 33 bills on his amended call. Both chambers adjourned until further call of the House Speaker and Senate president.
Three bills that completed legislation – House Bill 119, Senate Bill 1016, and Senate Bill 1019 — would direct an additional $88.5 million to improve state roads, with a significant amount going toward secondary road maintenance.
The Legislature also passed Senate Bill 1037, which would allow for vertical integration in the state’s medical cannabis program. The bill allows people or businesses to hold grower, processor and dispensary permits instead of limiting them to just one. The bill additionally said patient certificates may not be issued until July 1.
A list of completed legislation can be found here.
The House created four separate education committees comprised of 25 members each. Nine bills, including the proposed teacher and service personnel pay raise bill, were assigned to these select committees. These bills were:
- House Bill 134-increasing the annual salaries of public school teachers and school service personnel, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education D
- House Bill 135– increasing the amount that a faculty senate of a public school may allocate to a classroom, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education A
- House Bill 136– authorizing a study of student loan payments tax credits and a loan forgiveness program for teachers, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education B
- House Bill 138-restoring local public school flexibility, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education D
- House Bill 139-authorizing a competitive grant program to implement vocational-technical education programs, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education A
- House Bill 140-providing a bonus for teachers willing to teach in certain critical needs areas, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education A
- House Bill 141-relating to school calendar and testing, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education D
- House Bill 142– relating to modifications to the school aid formula, which was referred to the Select Committee on Education A
- House Bill 143– increasing the basic foundation allowance to the county for professional student support personnel, which was referred to Select Committee on Education A
A motion to take up for immediate consideration Senate Bill 1029, which would provide a pay raise for teachers and school service personnel, failed and the bill was sent to the Senate Education Committee. Six other education bills were referred to the Senate Education Committee:
- Senate Bill 1030– increasing basic foundation allowance for county professional student support personnel
- Senate Bill 1031– authorizing competitive grant program for vocational-technical education programs in middle schools
- Senate Bill 1032– restoring local public school flexibility
- Senate Bill 1033– modifying school aid formula
- Senate Bill 1034– relating to studies of certain issues affecting public education
- Senate Bill 1035– relating generally to high-quality education
A motion to suspend the constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three separate days failed for House Bill 113, which would establish tax incentives for new businesses in opportunity zones. This bill was read a first time.
Bills advanced to second reading in the House were:
- Senate Bill 1015– supplemental appropriation to Secretary of State, General Administrative Fees Account
- Senate Bill 1017– supplemental appropriation to Department of Arts, Culture, and History, Educational Broadcasting Authority
- Senate Bill 1020– supplementing and amending Chapter 31, Acts of the Legislature, 2019, known as Budget Bill
- Senate Bill 1021-decreasing existing appropriation and adding appropriation to Department of Veterans’ Assistance
- Senate Bill 1023– supplementing, amending, increasing, and adding items of appropriations to Attorney General, Consolidated Federal Fund
- Senate Bill 1024– supplemental appropriation to Department of Agriculture Capital Improvements Fund
- Senate Bill 1025– supplemental appropriation to DHHR, Division of Human Services for fiscal year ending June 30, 2019
- Senate Bill 1027– adding new items and increasing existing items to various accounts
- Senate Bill 1038– supplemental appropriation to the DHHR Division of Health’s Central Office
