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House Health Passes DHHR Rule Bundle

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The House Health and Human Resources Committee considered three pieces of legislation Tuesday, one of which was a rules bundle.

Notated as Senate Bill 175 on the agenda, Bundle 5 includes nine bills pertinent to legislative rule-making within the Department of Health and Human Services.

The bundle includes:

·         Senate Bill 168, relating to the regulation of behavioral health facilities

·         Senate Bill 169, relating to the regulation of living facilities residencies

·         Senate Bill 170, relating to statutory updates to food establishments

·         Senate Bill 171, relating to regulation of food manufacturing facilities

·         Senate Bill 172, adding requirements for newborn screenings

·         Senate Bill 173, relating to medication assisted treatment

·         Senate Bill 174, relating to pain management clinic licensure

·         Senate Bill 175, relating to the drug control policy

·         Senate Bill 176, relating to Health Care Authority and cooperative agreement approval

The Health and Human Resources Committee passed the bills within the bundle one by one unanimously.

Delegate Margaret Staggers, D-Fayette, proposed an amendment to Senate Bill 172 that would allow contraceptives to be distributed to those patients in need. The amendment passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 168, Senate Bill 169, Senate Bill 170, Senate Bill 171, Senate Bill 172, Senate Bill 173, Senate Bill 174, Senate Bill 175, and Senate Bill 176 were advanced to the House Judiciary Committee for second reference as a bundle.

House Bill 3132 was also considered on this day. This bill would provide that medical providers serving no more than 30 patients would not need to comply with certain legislative rules and only attest to services being provided. House Bill 3132 would also mandate that licensed behavioral health centers providing office-based medication-assisted treatment are exempt from the separate registration process for other office-based medication-assisted treatment programs, and instead only have to attest to their services.

Delegate Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, spoke of the importance of House Bill 3132’s passage for rural West Virginia communities.

“We keep hearing from rural doctors that they simply cannot comply with all of the rules for drug treatment centers,” Rohrbach said. “This bill is an attempt to make it easier on these doctors so they can treat their people. They just want to take care of their people.”

House Bill 3132 was unanimously passed by the House Health and Human Resources Committee and advanced to the House floor with the recommendation that it should pass.

House Bill 2079 was also passed by the committee on this day.

House Bill 2079 would increase the maximum number of cannabis grower, processor and dispensary permits. The bill would also remove the requirements that licenses be limited in regions of the state.

The bill would increase the maximum number of state cannabis growers and processors from 10 to 50. It would increase the increase the maximum number of cannabis dispensers to 165 in the state.

After lengthy discussion concerning the merits of medicinal marijuana, the House Health and Human Resources Committee ultimately advanced House Bill 2079 to the House Judiciary Committee for a second reference.

Senate EIM Committee Sends Originating Bill to the Senate Floor

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The Senate Committee on Energy, Industry & Mining met Tuesday afternoon to continue discussion over Originating Bill 2 from last the meeting.

The proposed legislation would amend current West Virginia code to provide permitting fees for horizontal oil and gas well drilling in the state. Permit fees would go through the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Proceeds from the fees would be cut in half; one half would go to additional staffing for permits at the DEP with a hard cap of $ one million, and the other half would go to funding for plugging orphan wells.

One of the presenters provided information about how the proposed bill would impact the state’s efforts in plugging orphan wells.

Currently, there are 4,000 plus orphan wells in West Virginia, and that number is expected to exceed 10,000 the next 30 years. It costs between $40,000 – $100,000 to plug just one well.

Funding from this bill could range from $2.7 to $4.7 million per year, which would provide enough funding to plug 40 – 70 wells per year. If this legislation becomes law, it would take anywhere between 67 -107 years to fill all of the orphan wells in West Virginia.

After questioning counsel and other speakers, the Committee voted to approve the originating bill. It will be reported to the full Senate to be voted on.

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House Finance Advances Cybersecurity Bill

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The House Finance Committee convened at 9 a.m. this Tuesday, February 19 in 460-M to consider legislation. The committee advanced four bills to the House floor by the end of this committee meeting, one of which being a bill to establish a Cybersecurity Office in the state of West Virginia.

House Bill 2452 would establish a cyber security framework within certain state agencies. This bill would allow the West Virginia Office of Technology to establish a Cybersecurity Office within their department to facilitate a software program to strengthen the cyber security checks within state agency devices. This bill would be applied to all state agencies except for institutions of higher education, the county board of education, the WV Legislature, and the WV Judiciary. Agencies would be subject to cyber security risk assessment, adherence to enterprise standards, and plans of action in the event of a cyber-attack.

Joshua Spence, the Chief Technology Officer for the West Virginia Office of Technology, was present to answer questions the committee had pertaining to the legislation.

Spence stated that House Bill 2452 would require an upfront cost of $4.2 million in order to hire consultants and purchase the necessary software, but the cost of the agencies addressing the threats to their devices must be absorbed by the agencies. The Cybersecurity Office would be required to report activity to the WV Legislature.

“The threat is here now,” Spence said. “We have the department; this just gives us more functionality.”

House Bill 2452 was unanimously passed by the House Finance Committee, and was advanced to the House floor with the recommendation that it should pass.

Another bill that was passed by the committee was a bill that would allow the WV Lottery Commission to create satellite locations for wagering. House Bill 2901 would allow a licensed racetrack to establish a secondary location for racetrack video lottery terminals and racetrack table games at a location within the county as approved by the lottery commission.

A concern that was raised within the committee was the lack of language in the bill that put restrictions on the Lottery Commission. There are no provisions included in House Bill 2901 that would limit the commission in terms of placing a satellite location near a school or a church.

Doug Buffington, Assistant Lottery Director of the WV Lottery Commission, addressed the concerns of several of these delegates.

“I believe that if this bill were to pass, the Commission would put these terminals in locations that would be best for everybody,” Buffington said. “We’d be sure to listen to the input of all stakeholders.”

After lengthy discussion, the House Finance Committee voted in affirmation for House Bill 2901. They voted to advance it to the House floor with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2829 was also passed on this day, a bill that would terminate the state severance tax on the extraction of limestone and sandstone starting in 2021. The bill comes with a fiscal note of $1.2 million, but because of the Division of Highways being the largest purchaser of limestone and sandstone in the state, a lot of that cost would be directly funneled back into the state.

The bill was passed unanimously by the committee, and advanced to the House floor with the recommendation that it do pass.

House Bill 2807 was also advanced to the House floor this day. This bill would provide a reducing modification to the West Virginia adjusted gross income of a shareholder of a Subchapter S corporation engaged in banking business in WV.

The House Finance Committee is in recess until 3:30 p.m. today. They will meet in 460-M again to continue consideration of the posted agenda.

Senate Rejects Levy Rate Bill

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Legislation, which relates to the effects on levy rate when appraisal results in tax increase, was rejected by the Senate, 11 a.m. Feb. 19.  

Following discussion of Senate Bill 618, the legislation was rejected as a result of a tie in voting. Of the six pieces of legislation that were brought before the body, 618 was the only bill to be rejected.  

Senate Bills 19, 117, 147 and 617 were unanimously voted out of the body while Senate Bill 333, which would exempt automobiles 25 years or older from a citizen’s personal property taxes, narrowly passed following debate.  

Of the 14 bills on second reading, Senate Bill 512, which would regulate pawnbrokers, and House Bill 2666, which would provide a supplemental appropriation to the Department of Veterans’ Assistance, received amendments while Senate Bill 635 and House Bill 2324 were laid over.  

Members also designated Feb. 19, 2019 as Nurses Policy Day through the passage of Senate Resolution 51.  

When reviewing unfinished business, Sen. Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, moved to report Senate Concurrent Resolution 38, which would urge support from CSX for the New River Train, to the Committee on Rules. According to the Senator, his intention to move the bill was to allow for the bill to be reviewed prior to a visit from CSX representatives later in the week.  

The following committees will meet today: 

  • The Senate Committee for Health and Human Resources will meet at 1p.m in 451M.  
  • The Senate Committee for Energy, industry and Mining will meet at 1 p.m. in 208W.  
  • The Senate Committee for Government Organization will meet at 2 p.m. in 208W.  
  • The Senate Education Committee will meet at 2 p.m. in 451M.  
  • The Senate Finance Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in 451M.  
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet at 3 p.m. in 208W.  

The following committees will meet tomorrow: 

  • The Senate Committee for Transportation and Infrastructure will meet at 9 a.m. in 451M.  
  • The Senate Committee for Government Organization will meet at 9:30 a.m. in 208W. 

Judiciary Committee Passes Adult Drug Court Bill

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The Judiciary Committee met today to discuss a bill relating to the Adult Drug Court Participation Fund.

House Bill 3057 updates the language of the Adult Drug Court Participation Fund and establishes how the money in the fund is to be used. Currently, expenditures from the Drug Court Participation Fund are not authorized from collections but are to be made in accordance with appropriation.

This was a strike and insert which the committee voted on to become the bill. The committee adopted the strike-and-insert and reported the bill to the floor.

The committee also took up House Bill 3018, which relates to the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency’s reimbursement of air-ambulance providers. The bill sets forth the amount that PEIA will reimburse air ambulance providers for the transportation of individuals covered by its plans. Currently, West Virginia code sets the reimbursement rates for air ambulance services at the Medicare rate. The committee advanced the bill to the House floor.

The committee also took up House Bill 2699, which relates to municipal annexation by minor boundary adjustment. Some delegates expressed confusion on the bill and asked many questions. The committee tabled the bill for these reasons.

The committee advanced House Bill 2540, which prohibits the waste of game animals, game birds or game fish. New code in the bill makes it unlawful for any person to cause through carelessness, neglect or otherwise to let any edible portion of any big game or game fish to go to waste needlessly. The bill also provides that it is unlawful for any person to take any big game and detach or remove from the carcass the head, hide, antlers, tusks, paws, claws, gallbladder, teeth, beards, or spurs only and leave the carcass to waste. The bill will be reported to the House.

The committee rejected House Bill 2646, which would provide a safe harbor for employers to correct underpayment or nonpayment of wages and benefits due to separated employees, this bill was rejected by the committee. After multiple amendments were made and delegates had expressed their concerns and stances the committee rejected the bill.

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Senate Passes Strike and Insert Amendment for Senate Bill 451

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The Senate reconvened at 3 p.m. to receive the House Amendments to Senate Bill 451, which introduces comprehensive education reform for West Virginia.

The Senate then moved to strike the entire House amendment and insert a new amendment to the omnibus education reform bill. The proposed amendment brings back much of the original language that was in the Senate version of the bill with a few changes. Some of the proposed changes include:

  • Removes non-severability clause
  • Creates a hard cap of no more than seven charter schools throughout the state
    • No more than two per year can be created
    • Requires at least one of the seven schools primarily serve an at-risk population
    • Charter schools will not sunset
  • Limits education savings accounts (ESA) to no more than 1,000
    • Only students with special needs or victims of bullying are eligible for ESAs
    • Funds for ESA accounts to include $3,200 per account
  • Modifies language allowing counties to base RIF decisions on more than seniority except:
  • Lists the qualifications and lists seniority first
  • Adds House’s language requiring a reduction in force of personnel whose last performance evaluation was less than satisfactory before considering other criteria
  • Adds classroom aides and other service personnel as being eligible for the $250 tax credit
  • Removes language explicitly requiring pay to be withheld for a work stoppage or strike
  • Strikes the House amendment of requiring every school to have one resource officer
  • Increases annual leave for school employees from three to fou4
  • Drops the House amendment of $1,000 bonus for teachers back to $500

For more information about the differences between the Senate introduced, House amended, and Senate proposed amendment, click here.

UPDATE:

The Senate reconvened at 6 p.m. to finish discussion over the proposed strike and insert amendment. After a long debate across both sides of the aisle, the strike and insert amendment passed by a vote of 18 to 16. Senate Bill 451 will be reported back to the House of Delegates tomorrow.

The Senate is adjourned until tomorrow at 11 a.m.

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House Finance Considers Four Senate Bills

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The House Finance Committee met Monday to consider four bills including three Senate supplemental appropriation bills, which were advanced to the House floor.

Senate Bill 444 would increase supplemental appropriations to the Department of Health and Human (DHHR) Resources Laboratory Services Fund by $885,554. It would also increase the supplemental appropriations to the DHHR’s West Virginia Birth-to-Three Fund by $885,554.

A slight technical amendment was passed through the House Finance committee, and the bill was advanced to the House floor.

Senate Bill 443 was another supplemental appropriations bill that was advanced by the committee. This bill would apply to federal block grants in terms of how the state of West Virginia uses them for DHHR’s provided mental health services, childcare, and other miscellaneous items.

Senate Bill 442 was another supplemental appropriations bill that involves the West Virginia Department of Revenue. This bill would allow the Insurance Commissioner to utilize federal block grant money. Senate Bill 442 was also advanced to the House floor.

Senate Bill 13 would restore $11 million to the purse funds for racetrack horses in the racing industry. This bill would restore money that was taken from the purse funds by the state in 2005 to help fund needed worker’s compensation cases.

Phil Reale of the Charles Town Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association spoke in favor of the bill.

“This bill would put money back that would unwind this injustice to these folks who have provided $11 million to the state longer than any other industry,” Reale said.

Senate Bill 13 ultimately passed through the committee with a slight technical amendment.

The House Finance Committee will convene again at 9 a.m. tomorrow in 460-M.

Organ Donation Bill Reported to the Full Senate

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Members of the Natural Resources Committee reviewed Senate Bill 613, Monday.  

Following discussion of the legislation, which would require the Department of Natural Resources to include the election of organ donation on hunting licenses, members voted to report the bill to the full Senate.  

President of the Center for Organ Recovery and Education, Susan Stuart, came before the committee to answer questions concerning the bill and to explain the application process to committee members.  

Currently there are 115,000 people in the United States who are waiting for an organ transplant. Of those, 20 people die every day.  

According to Stuart, is passed, this legislation would allow for the state to adequately assist those who need an organ transplant. When compared to the national average, West Virginia is 20 percent lower than the national designation rate for lifesaving organs. 

Senate Bill 517, which allows an owner or lessee to sell crop damage was also reported to the full Senate while Senate Bill 572, which prohibits a county assessor from reclassifying managed timberland property, was laid over due to a lack of time. 

Senate Passes Court of Appeals Bill

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The Senate met Monday morning to vote on eight different bills that were on third reading, which included Senate Bill 266.

The proposed legislation would create the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals. It would just be one court of appeals instead of the proposed two in past years. The panel would consist of three judges, and the court would have appellate jurisdiction over the following decisions:

  • Final orders or decisions of a circuit court in a civil case
  • Final orders or decisions of a family court
  • Final orders or decisions of an administrative agency, currently appealable to the circuit court of Kanawha County
  • Final orders or decisions of the Workers’ Compensation Board of Review
  • Final orders and decisions in guardianship and conservatorship cases.

The court would have no original jurisdiction and is expressly without appellate jurisdiction over:

  • Any criminal matter
  • Any juvenile proceeding
  • Decisions or orders in child abuse and neglect decisions
  • Mental hygiene orders or decisions
  • Interlocutory appeals
  • Decisions or orders in cases involving challenges to election practices
  • Decisions or orders of the Public Service Commission
  • Certified questions from circuit or federal courts
  • Extraordinary remedies

The bill narrowly passes the Senate by a vote of 17 -16, and will be reported to the House.

The Senate also passed House Bill 2481, which would permit the retail selling on Sundays from 1 p.m. to midnight.

The following bills were also passed by the Senate:

Senate bills 637 to 663 were also introduced.

The Senate is in recess until 2:30 p.m.

The following committees will meet today:

Natural Resources at 1:30 p.m. in 208W

Banking at 2 p.m. in 451M

Finance at 3 p.m. in 451M

The following committees will meet tomorrow:

Transportation at 10 a.m. in 451M

Military at 10 a.m. in 208W

Health at 1 p.m. in 451M

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House of Delegates Convenes to Pass Three Bills, Memorialize a Former Delegate

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The House of Delegates convened at 11 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 18 for the 41st day of the regular legislative session. On this day, the House passed three bills on third reading and adopted a resolution to memorialize Mary Pearl Compton, a former Delegate.

The late Mary Pearl Compton was honored by the reading of House Resolution 15. This resolution was adopted and presented to Compton’s family. Compton was a former member of the House of Delegates, a teacher in Monroe and Greenbrier counties, and an active community member. She was honored for being an advocate for her community, as well as a dedicated public servant.

Three bills on third reading were passed on this day in the House. House Bill 2768 was passed unanimously. This bill would make technical changes to the 2018 Opioid Reduction Act passed by the WV Legislature last year, as well as address inconsistencies with how therapy services in the state administer Schedule II opioid drugs. The bill would also ensure compliance with federal code.

House Bill 2834 was also passed in the House on this day. This bill would modernize the minimum spacing provisions for the drilling of state horizontal deep wells. The bill would impose limitations for what the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission can do as far as regulation of these horizontal oil and gas wells.

“We really want to maximize the recovery of natural oil and gas in the state,” Delegate Bill Anderson, R-Wood said.

House Bill 2849 would define the scope in which a nuclear pharmacy technician can operate. It defines the nuclear pharmacy technician’s certificate and specifies the duties each category of pharmacy technician is permitted to perform under supervision of a licensed pharmacist. This bill was also passed and advanced.

Senate Bill 377 was on second reading on this day, a bill that was postponed for two previous floor sessions.

A highly discussed amendment proposed by Delegate Chad Lovejoy, D-Cabell, ultimately failed on this day after heavy debate. The amendment would have required non-profit shelter shops serving severely disabled West Virginians to be paid minimum wage.

The Judiciary Committee amendment that served to clean up the language of Senate Bill 377 was passed, and the bill was advanced as amended.

All other bills on second reading, House Bill 2449, House Bill 2542, and House Bill 2947 were advanced without amendment.

The House of Delegates is in recess until 4 p.m. today, Monday, February 18.

 

House Committees Meeting After Floor Session Today:

  • The House Committee on Finance will meet at 2 p.m. in 460-M.
  • The House Committee on the Judiciary will meet at 2:30 p.m. in 418-M to continue their posted agenda.
  • The House Committee on Education will meet at 2:30 p.m. in 434-M to continue their posted agenda.

House Committees Meeting Before Floor Session Tomorrow:

  • The House Committee on Finance will meet at 9 a.m. tomorrow in 460-M.
  • The House Committee on Education will meet at 9 a.m. tomorrow in 434-M.
  • The House Committee on the Judiciary will meet at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow in 418-M.

 

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