During the House’s first Saturday Session, the House passed sixteen bills including House Bill 2567.
House Bill 2567 creates a misdemeanor criminal offense for trespassing into the dwelling of another person without another crime planned. The penalty for the misdemeanor is up to six months in jail and/or a fine of $1 to $500. The conviction of a second or subsequent offense would be a felony offense with a penalty of 1 to 5 years in prison and/or a fine of $1,000 to $5,000.
The bill also amends the code for trespassing in a dwelling or on the property of another person with a firearm or other dangerous weapon. The bill changes the offense to a felony with a penalty of one to ten years in prison and/or $5,000 to $10,000.
House Bill 3214 also passed today. It creates the “Road Optimization and Assessment Data (R.O.A.D.) Pilot Program to determine how to maintain roads and highways.
The DOH pilot program will use Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to access urban and rural paved roads in Monongalia and Preston Counties. The technologies will use GPS positioning and Geotagged positioning to indicate road geometry and curvature. A Laser measuring system with video will identify and measure cracks and payment distress including potholes, cracking, patching, cracking, shoulder issues, canopy brush, painted lines, and drainage issues. The data collected will create a baseline for road condition assessments.
The bill states the data capturing will take place at intervals for maintenance purposes. After year two, year four, and the termination of the pilot program, the DOH will report to the Legislative Oversight Commission on the Department of Transportation Accountability.
Five of the 25 bills on second reading were amended today. There were 34 bills on first reading.
The House is in recess until 5 p.m.
Committee Meetings, Today
- The Education Committee will meet at 2:45 p.m. in Room 432.
- The Government Organization Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 215E.
- The Finance Committee will meet at 3:30 p.m. in Room 410.
- The Rules Committee will meet at 4:45 p.m. behind the Chamber
The Committee on Energy and Manufacturing will hold a public hearing on Monday, Feb. 27 at 9 a.m. in the House Chamber on HB 3446 – Clarifying the powers and duties of the Public Service Commission as to electric generating facilities.
The Committee on Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 9 a.m. in the House Chamber on HB 3157 – Relating to clarifying the duties, functions, prohibitions, and restrictions applicable to the West Virginia Fusion Center.
The House reconvened at 5:45 p.m. to receive committee reports.
The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. Monday, February 27.
Committee Meetings, Monday, Feb. 27
- The Rules Committee will meet at 10:45 a.m. behind the House Chamber.
- The Committee on Government Organization will meet at 1 p.m. in Room 215E.
- The Judiciary Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in Room 410.
- The Education Committee will meet at 2 p.m. in Room 432.
