Friday, June 26, 2026
Friday, June 26, 2026
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Senate Passes 11 Bills

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The Senate convened today at 11 a.m.

S. B. 30 was passed unanimously with one member absent. The bill would allow hunters and trackers to use a leashed do to track and retrieve a wounded deer or bear. The hunter must have a valid hunting license.

S. B. 307 was passed unanimously. The bill would declare that fundraising by boot drive or bucket brigade on a road or highway by volunteer fire departments, school approved groups and service or charitable non-profit organizations are not considered a nuisance. The fundraising must be done during daylight hours and at a four-way intersection.

S. B. 549 was passed unanimously. It would create the felony charge for harassing or intimidating a public official, public employee, juror or a witness to prevent them from completing their job. Currently it is only a misdemeanor.

S. B. 112, S. B. 359, S. B. 467,  S. B. 491, S. B. 493, S. B. 501, S. B. 535 and S. B. 576 were all passed unanimously.

Bills on Second Reading:

Bills on First Reading:

The following bills were taken up for immediate consideration and read for the first time prior to the second committee reference:

The Senate is in recess until 5 p.m.

Committees meeting today:

Finance directly following the floor session in 451M

Government Organization directly following Finance meeting in 208W

Judiciary directly folowing Government Organization in 208W

Committees meeting on Sunday:

Judiciary at 5 p.m. 208W

 

Update 5:56 p.m.:

The Senate reconvened at 5 p.m.

The body recieved committee reports.

S. B. 563 was taken up for immediate consideration and read for the first time prior to its second committee reference.

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

Committees meeting today:

Judiciary at 5:45 p.m. 208W

Committees meeting on Sunday:

Judiciary at 5 p.m. 208W

Senate Meets to Receive Committee Reports

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The Senate convened today at 11 a.m.

S. B. 474 was passed 21-12 with one member absent. The bill would make certified payrol documents (name and address of the employer, identification of the payroll number and work week ending date, name of the project location, contract number, employees, employee work classifications and job titles, county and state of employee’s residence, days and hours worked, hourly rate or other compensation, withholdings and deductions, and net pay) considered “confidential and proprietary.” This would make the documents not a part of the public record and no longer part of the Freedom of Information Act.

S. B. 523 was passed 27-7. The bill determined that wind power projects are not pollution control faclities and are considered real property for the purpose of taxation.

S. B. 412, S. B. 522, S. B. 543 and S. B. 626 were all passed unanimously.

Bills on Second Reading:

Bills on First Reading:

The Senate is in recess until 5 p.m.

Committees meeting today:

Health and Human Resources at 1:35 p.m. 451M

Energy, Industry and Mining at 1:35 p.m. 208W

Government Organization at 2 p.m. 208W

Judiciary at 3 p.m. 208W

Finance at 3:30 p.m. 451M

Committees meeting tomorrow:

Transportation and Infrastructure at 9 a.m. 451M

 

Update 6:13 p.m.

The Senate reconvened at 5 p.m.

The body recieved committee reports.

The following bills were taken up for immediate consideration and read for the first time prior to being sent to their second committee reference:

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

Committees meeting today:

Workforce imediately following the floor session in 208W

Energy, Industry and Mining imediately following the floor session in 451M

Judiciary imediately following the Workforce Committee meeting in 208W

Committees meeting tomorrow:

Transportation and Infrastructure at 8:30 a.m. 451M

Judiciary at 9:30 a.m. 208W

Natural Resources at 10 a.m. 451M

HB 4625 Passes in House

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The House convened today at 11 a.m. to work on bills on the House Special Calendar.

These bills were approved by the House:

After hours of debate, H.B. 4625, relating to allocating a portion of any general revenue surplus accruing after a fiscal year to the Public Employees Insurance Agency Financial Stability Fund, passed the House unanimously.

Many Democratic members said they believe that more could be given to PEIA to help the state’s teachers, service personnel, and other public employees.

Republican members said the 20 percent portion that will be given to PEIA is the most reasonable solution for the state’s current crisis.

All House Bills will now be communicated to the Senate.

Committees meeting today:

Health and Human Resources will meet at 2:45 p.m. in 215E.

Finance will meet at 4 p.m. in 460M.

Judiciary will meet at 2 p.m. in 410M.

Rules will meet at 5:15 p.m. behind the Chamber.

Committees meeting tomorrow:

Judiciary will have a public hearing to discuss H. B. 2114 at 9 a.m. in the House Chamber. The Committee will meet directly after.

Government Organization will meet at 9 a.m. in 215E.

Update 7:25 p.m.

The Senate reconvened at 5:30 p.m.

Bills read a second time:

Bills read a first time:

The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. tomorrow.

House Reconvenes to Consider Legislation

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The House of Delegates re-convened on Wednesday night to take up a bill moved to the foot of bills earlier in the day.

House Bill 4625 – Relating to allocating a portion of any general revenue surplus accruing after a fiscal year to the Public Employees Insurance Agency Financial Stability Fund – was read a second time. House Minority Leader Tim Miley, D-Harrison, offered an amendment that was rejected.

House Majority Leader Daryl Cowles, R-Morgan, moved to suspend the consititional rules to read the bill a third time and put it up for passage. However, the motion failed.

The bill will be on third reading and up for passage Thursday.

The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. tomorrow.

Judiciary will meet immedaitely following Wednesday night’s session.              

A hearing on House Bill 4338 will be held tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. in the House chamber.

Committees meeting tomorrow:

Government Organization will meet at 9 a.m. tomorrow. 

Rules will meet at 10:45 a.m.

Finance will meet after the 8:30 a.m. meeting in 460M

House Education Moves HB 4223 to Finance

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House Education Committee met at 2 p.m. today to move H.B. 4223.

House Bill 4223, sponsored by Delegate Ruth Rowan, R-Hampshire, would develop a resource for use by parents to monitor and track deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s early language acquisition and expression, and developmental stages toward English literacy. The bill would require the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources through its agencies that serve children ages birth to three jointly select language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms.

Through this bill originally, DHHR would establish an advisory committee to advise the department about content, instruments and develop functions of the resources for appropriate use. The committee would be comprised of:

  • One parent of a child who is hard-of-hearing who uses the dual languages of American Sign Language and English
  • One parent of a child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing who uses assistive technology to communicate with spoken English
  • Two credentialed providers, early interventionists, speech pathologists, educators, or other service providers of deaf or hard-of-hearing children who are knowledgeable in the use of the dual languages of English and American Sign Languages
  • Two credentialed providers, early interventionists, speech pathologists, educators, or other service provider of deaf or hard-of-hearing children who are knowledgeable in the use of assistive technology to communicate with spoken English
  • One expert who researches or is knowledgeable in the research regarding language outcomes for deaf and hard-of-hearing children using American Sign Language or English
  • One expert who researches or is knowledgeable in the research regarding language outcomes for deaf and hard-of-hearing children using assistive technology to communicate with spoken English.

Delegate Michael Folk, R-Berkeley, offerred an amendment that would add a seventh requirement, at least one member must be a deaf adult. Folk expressed his concern of the importance of including a member of the deaf community to be a part of the advisory committee. He said that no one can understand the world in the way a deaf person can unless they are deaf, so there must be a representative on the committee. The amendment was adopted and the bill will now move to the Finance Committee for consideration.

House Moves Bills, In Recess Until 5:30 p.m.

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The House convened today at 11 a.m and passed five bills: H. B. 4011,  H. B. 4022,  H. B. 4079, H. B. 4478, and H. B. 4621.

House Bill 4011, requiring agencies, when submitting a new rule or changes, to also identify two existing rules that could be repealed, passed the House 84-14.

House Bill 4022, exempting the consumer sales and service tax and use tax for services for the repair, remodeling and maintenance of certain aircraft, passed the House 95-3.

House Bill 4079, promulgating administrative rules by various executive or administrative agencies of the state, passed the House 91-7 and was approved to become effective from passage.

House Bill 4478, authorizing public schools to distribute excess food to students, passed the House 97-1.

House Bill 4621, relating to removing reference to certain entities with respect to work, passed the House 97-0.

All of these bills will now be communicated to the Senate for consideration.

Bills on second reading:

Bills on first reading:

Committees meeting today:

Education will meet at 2 p.m. in 434M.

Finance will meet at 2 p.m. in 460M.

Judiciary will resume at 2 p.m. in 410M.

Rules will meet at 5:15 p.m. behind the Chamber.

The House is in recess until 5:30 p.m. today.

Senate Hears Committee Reports, Reads Bills for the First Time

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The Senate convened today at 11 a.m.

S. B. 477 was passed unanimously. The bill would “sunset” tax credts after being in place for five years, unless otherwise stated in statute.

Bills on Second Reading:

Bills on First Reading:

SCR 32, recognizing importance of industrial hemp, was taken up for immediate consideration and adopted by the body.

Also adopted by the body was S.R. 47 (Designating February 21, 2018, as WV Aviation Day), S.R. 48 (Celebrating 150th anniversary of Winfield), S.R. 49 (Designating March 11-17, 2018, as Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week), and S.R. 50 (Designating February 21, 2018, as WV Local Foods Day).

The Senate is in recess until tonight at 5 p.m.

Committees meeting today:

Education immediately following floor session in 451M.

Economic Development at 12:45 p.m. 208W

Health and Human Resources at 1:30 p.m. 451M

Agriculture and Rurual Development at 2 p.m. 208W

Pensions at 2 p.m. 451M

Judiciary at 3 p.m. 208W

Finance at 3:30 p.m. 451M

Committees meeting tomorrow:

Workforce at 9 a.m. 208W

Finance at 9:30 a.m. 451M

 

Update 7 p.m.:

The Senate reconvened at 5:30 p.m.

The body recieved committee reports and read bills for the first time before being recommitted to committee. 

Bills on First Reading:

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

Committees meeting today:

Education at 6:15 451M

Judiciary at 7 p.m. 208W

Teacher Pay Raise Completes Legislation

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The House reconvened today at 6:30 p.m. to complete legislation and read bills.

Senate Bill 267, increasing salaries of certain state employees, passed the House 59-37, after being amended in the Senate. The Senate amended the bill to offer a two percent salary increase for the first year, and a one percent increase for two years following. The bill also addresses salary increases for state personnel and state troopers.

Bills on second reading:

Bills on first reading:

Health and Human Resources Committee will resume their meeting at 8 a.m. in 215E.

Judiciary Committee will have a public hearing tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. regarding HB 4187 and will meet following the hearing at 9:30 a.m. in 410M.

Government Organization will meet tomrrow at 9 a.m. in 215E.

Finance Committee will meet tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in 460M.

House Rules will meet tomorrow at 10:45 a.m.

The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. tomorrow.

HB 4001 Passes House

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The House convened today at 11 a.m. to pass and work on bills on the House Special Calendar.

These bills included:

All of these bills passed the House and will now be communicated to the Senate for further consideration.

House Bill 4001, relating to eligibility and fraud requirements for public assistance, was the topic of debate during today’s floor session. Many delegates expressed their concern that the bill would take food away from people living in poverty that recieve SNAP benefits, while other delegates expressed their concern that the assistance program should have work requirements for able body individuals between the ages of 18-49 to prevent fraud. H. B. 4001 passed the House 78-19 after hours of debate.

House Rules will meet at 6:15 p.m.

Government Organization will meet tomorrow at 9 a.m. in 215E.

The House is in recess until 6:30 p.m.

Senate Passes Teacher Pay Raise

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The Senate convened today at 11 a.m.

The Senate recalled S.B. 398 from the House. The body reconsidered the bill and it passed 22-12.

S. B. 319 was passed unanimously. It would allow students who completed home schooling through high school to be eligible for the PROMISE scholarship without acquiring a GED.

S. B. 415 was passed 25-9. This would permit “sports betting”, wagering on the results of professional and collegiate sport or athletic events, motor races, and certain special events designated by the Lottery Commission, at existing casionos in the state. Any excess funds in the State Lottery Fund, after reaching $15 million, will be transfered tp the Public Employees Insurance Agency Financial Stability Fund to help stabalize PEIA and fund it for the future.

S. B. 451 was passed 33-1 and would permit sunday hunting on public lands. The bill would also legalize “noodling”, catching catfish barehanded, with the posession of a fishing license. The bill also contains other provisions relating to wildlife, hunting, and fishing.

S. B. 494 was passed 19-14 and would consider members of the State Teachers Retirement System absent while serving as officer with statewide professional association.

S. B. 406, S. B. 450, S. B. 475, S. B. 479, and S. B. 512, were all passed unanimously.

H. B. 4380, H. B. 4381, H. B. 4384 and H. B. 4386 were all passed unanimously and are now awaiting a signature fom the Governor.

The Senate is in recess until tonight at 4:30 p.m.

Committees meeting today:

Rules at 4 p.m. 451M

Committees meeting tomorrow:

Health and Human Resources at 9 a.m. 451M

Energy, Industry and Mining at 9 a.m. 208W

Sub Committee for S.B. 369 at 9 a.m. Judiciary Conference Room

Education at 10 a.m. 451M

Government Organization at 10 a.m. 208W

 

Update 7:03 p.m.:

The Senate reconvened at 6 p.m.

S.B 267, increasing salaries of certain state employees, was taken up for immediate consideration. The body amended the House amendment with a 21-12 vote. The proposed pay increase for state police officers, teachers and school service personel will now be a 2 percent raise for the first year and a 1 percent raisee for the subsequent two years.

The amended bill was then passed 27-6. It has been sent to the House to concur.

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

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