Page 220 – Wrap Up

Senate Finance Approves Governor Justice’s Budget Bill

Senate Committee

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April 3, 2017

The Senate Finance Committee has approved the committee substitute for Governor Justice’s proposed budget bill to go to the floor with the recommendation that it pass.

The bill, SB 199, passed with a vote of 9-7 split across the party line.

The first version of the bill originally would have made around $26.6 million in cuts to ten state agencies, create about $450 million in tax increases and raise teacher’s salaries by 2 percent.

Republican leadership in the Senate worked alongside Senate Finance Committee counsel to create a committee substitute for the bill that incorporates the provisions of passed Senate Bills 362, 437 and 484.

The resulting committee substitute most notably removes the 2 percent pay raise for teachers, makes an additional, across-the-board 15.1% cut to higher education institutions, eliminates $43.8 million worth of certain DHHR programs, removes the funding increase for the Division of Tourism, eliminates $60.8 million from the State Road Fund and removes the $105.5 million “Save Our State” appropriation to the West Virginia Development Office, among other revisions.

As of now, Governor Justice and the House have not seen the committee substitute for the governor’s budget.

Budget policy analyst Michael Cook presented the committee substitute.

“The bill had to be tailored to the actual revenues we have to work with,” Cook said.

DHHR Deputy Secretary Jeremiah Samples said he was not pleased with the cuts made, but would have to confer with governor’s office before taking any official position on the bill or making any recommendations.

Matt Turner, executive vice chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission, said the HEPC has a “significant concern” with cuts to colleges and universities and said those institutions would most likely have to resort to cutting certain online services.

Senator Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, said cuts to both health programs and higher education would ultimately prove to be “a tremendous burden on the people of our state.”

Senator John Unger, D-Berkeley, was concerned that most of the subcommittee recommendations were not included in the bill, but Finance Chair Mike Hall, R-Putnam, said the bill was essentially consisting half of subcommittee recommendations and half of decisions made by the Republican caucus in the Senate.

Hall said the House is working on their budget suggestions in a similar way.

Unger said he believed the committee was simply ignoring the minority’s vote and input on the bill.

Senator Ron Stollings, D-Boone, said the proposed budget would add cost to next year’s budget, because of the damage it could do to citizens who rely on certain government programs to survive that are being cut.

Stollings said tax increases are the only way to truly guarantee a more balanced budget for the coming years, instead of one-time and continuous cuts.

Senate Majority Leader Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio, said the citizens of West Virginia “cannot bear any more taxes,” which he said are a large part of the reason the state has been losing population.

Senator Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, said the budget would do nothing to help the real problem the state has with providing jobs and economic development.

“This is the worst budget I will ever vote on,” Plymale said.

Senate Minority Leader Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, said he agreed with his minority party’s sentiments and that he is “disheartened” by the actions of the committee in ignoring the inevitable consequences of the bill.

“This is probably the most cruel budget I’ve ever seen,” said Prezioso. “This is just abominable.”

Ferns, however, said the committee was simply doing its duty to the citizens of the state who “demand it from us to show fiscal restraint in our budget.”

“This is hands-down one of the most difficult decisions we’ll ever face,” said Ferns, “But this is the most difficult budget situation our state has ever faced.”

The committee is expected to meet tomorrow at 3 p.m. in room 451M.

Senate Judiciary Committee Reports House Bill 2546

Senate Committee

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April 3, 2017

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The Senate Committee on Judiciary met today to discuss five House bills.

House Bill 2585 would creating a felony crime of conducting financial transactions involving proceeds of criminal activity. The punishments for these crimes would be tiered monetarily and each transaction would be deemed a separate offense. There was a strike and insert amendment.

Senator Miller (D-Greenbrier) once again warned the committee of adding jail time offenses because West Virginia will soon have to build new jails.

The bill was reported to the Senate with the recommendation that it pass as amended.

House Bill 2675 relates to primary elections and nominating procedures. By changing a number of sections of code, ballot races would be reordered so that nonpartisan races and partisan races would be reorganized. This would make it so that county surveyors and those in non-partisan elections in the judicial branch would have their races with others in their county.

Senator Woelfel (D-Cabell) moved to amend the bill so that a “none of these candidates” option is available for the Presidential election on the ballot so that voters can express their distaste for either candidate.

Senator Smith (R-Tucker) questioned council about what would happen if someone changed their name to “none of these candidates”. They said it has happened before in Indiana but there are contingencies in place to prevent too much confusion.

Council cited that in 1901 there was a case that declared it unlawful to cast a vote for someone who wasn’t a qualified candidate but could not confirm that the decision was grounded in the constitution or the way that code read at the time.

The bill was laid over to tomorrow’s agenda after the germaneness of the amendment was in question.

House Bill 3030 relates to appeals as a matter of right in the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The bill would make sure that all appeals would be granted the right to hearing by the Judicial branch. There was a strike and insert amendment. The bill was reported to the Senate with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2546 would allow replacement costs of employer provided property to be deducted from an employee’s final paycheck if the property is not returned. The purpose of this bill is to address employees that gain employer provided property and don’t return it. This would make an agreement between the employer and the employee so that the employer can have their things returned to them otherwise they will receive a reimbursement taken out from the employee’s final pay check. The employer would only receive the amount of money for the item’s current value and not value at the time the property was given.

Senator Romano (D-Harrison) moved to amend the amendment to make it more clear how the depreciation of the item’s value would work under the bill. The amendment to the amendment was adopted. The amendment was also adopted.

The bill was reported to the Senate with the recommendation that it pass as amended.

House Bill 2857 would create the West Virginia Safer Workplaces Act. The article created would be limited to the private sector. The bill would allow employers to test employees for drugs and alcohol, says how samples should be collected, provides that employers pay for the tests and transportation to the tests, it must be carried out through a written policy, and discipline from the findings of the test.

Senator Romano moved to amend the bill so no employee can be fired from taking legally prescribed drugs so long as the employee is using it as prescribed. The amendment was rejected.

The bill was laid over until the next meeting with amendments pending.

South Charleston Development Bill Approved in Senate Finance

Senate Committee

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April 3, 2017

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The Senate Finance Committee has approved two bills to be reported to the floor with the recommendation that they pass.

HB 2709 would authorize the City of South Charleston to levy a special district excise tax for the benefit of the South Charleston Park Place Economic Opportunity Development District.

The bill had been laid over from the committee’s 9:30 a.m. meeting.

South Charleston City Manager Rick Atkinson was available to answer questions from the committee about the city’s pending economic development projects.

HB 2601 would provide a mechanism of correcting errors in payments to and from a municipal policemen’s or firemen’s pension fund and to provide a criminal offense for knowingly making a false statement in an attempt to defraud a municipal pension fund.

The bill was previously reported out of Senate Pensions with an amendment and the recommendation that it pass.

The committee will recess until 3 p.m., where they will consider Governor Justice’s budget bill, SB 199.

Medical Marijuana Bill to be Discussed in House Afternoon Floor Session

House Floor Session

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April 3, 2017

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The House of Delegates Convened today.

Majority Leader Daryl Cowles (R-Morgan) addressed the House to explain what would be happening today regarding SB 386. He explained that the bill would be moved to the foot of the calendar and the House would recess at that time and Caucus. He said there are two strike and inserts, which would be explained when House reconvened.

He also moved to advance HB 2801 and HB 3103 to be read for the first time. Then moved to suspend the rules to read a second time and take them up for passage. They both passed.

HB 2801 is a supplemental appropriation bill to expire funds from the Revenue Shortfall Reserve Funds to balance FY17.

HB 3103 would a supplemental appropriation bill to expire funds from the Revenue Shortfall Reserve Funds to balance FY17 for the Department of Health and Human Resources.

There were 12 bills on third reading; 11 passed and action was postponed one day on SB 239.

SB 172 would eliminate the salary for members of the West Virginia Water Development Board. The bill passed 96-3.

SB 173 would create a new category in code under vehicles for autocycles. It sets exemptions for them. Autocycles only require a valid driver’s license to operate. Safety equipment is different for autocycles; no helmet is required because it would be more dangerous to have a helmet on in the enclosed vehicle. The bill passed 94-5.

SB 230 would require all law-enforcement agencies in this state to certify qualified law-enforcement officers to carry concealed firearms nationwide as provided by the federal Law-Enforcement Officers Safety Act; It would also provide authority necessary to give prosecuting attorneys and assistant prosecuting attorneys the option to carry firearms for self-defense pursuant to that federal act upon completion of required training and annual background check and to require law-enforcement agencies to provide qualified retired law-enforcement officers the opportunity to be certified to carry concealed firearms nationwide. The bill passed 98-1.

SB 554 would create the crime of false swearing in a legislative proceeding and penalties for violators. It would make it a misdemeanor with a fine no more than $1,000 and no more than one year in jail.

There were 30 bills on second reading and action was delayed on SB 4, SB 412, SB 499, and SB 561.

SB 186 would change date upon which children become eligible for certain school programs and school attendance requirements. It changes the requirement for Kindergarten to age five prior to July 1. It changes requirement for Pre-K to age four before July 1. It changes the age for compulsory attendance begins to those who are six before July 1, of each year.

SB 588 would create a stable funding source for each county assessor to maintain and update paper and digital tax maps and would promote the sale and distribution of the paper and digital tax maps for the benefit of the public.

Committee Meetings Today

Finance: 15 minutes after evening floor session in 460M

Judiciary: 15 minutes after evening floor session in 410M

Education: 15 minutes after evening floor session in 434M

Roads and Transportation: Cancelled for now, time TBD

Committee Meetings Tomorrow

Health and Human Resources: 9 a.m. in 215E

Education: 9:30 a.m. in 434M

Judiciary: 10 a.m. in 410M

Energy: 2 p.m. in 410M

The House is in recess until 3 p.m.

Senate Government Organization Committee Reports Four Bills to Senate Floor

Senate Committee

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April 3, 2017

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The Senate Committee on Government Organization met today to report four bills to the full Senate.

House Bill 2691 would allow a person who is qualified by training to be a barber and a cosmetologist to elect to practice solely as a barber. The bill would let barber’s continuing education to only take recertification classes to be a barber and not also cosmetology. This would make it so that those who have a license for both being a barber and a cosmetologist can forgo the cosmetology part of their license and become solely a barber.

A representative from the Board of Barbers explained that after 20 years, barbers continuing education becomes less strenuous. Cosmetologists have a more strenuous continuing education however and those who only practice being a barber won’t want to take more of the continuing education classes.

The bill was reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2725 would restrict the authority of the Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists to regulate the use of commonly available, retail beauty products. The bill was rejected.

House Bill 2348 would eliminate any requirement that class hours of students be consecutive. This would allow schools that don’t have a block schedule have more flexibility for students to take their training and not earn double credits.

Senator Palumbo (D-Kanawha) said the bill had ambiguous language and the bill may not even be needed since the problem the bill was meant to address has already been solved in the rules.

The bill was reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2631 relates to time standards for disposition of complaint proceedings. A status report must be sent within 6 months and the complaint must be addressed within a year of the notification. The bill was reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2833 would specify the contents and categories of information for inclusion in annual reports. The purpose of the bill is to add specific categories of information to be reported by Chapter 30 boards to the Governor. The bill was reported to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2515 would create the West Virginia Monument and Memorial Protection Act of 2017. The bill was laid over until another meeting but first sent to a subcommittee chaired by Senator Sypolt (R-Preston). The subcommittee also includes Senator Boso (R-Nicholas) and Senator Woelfel (D-Cabell).

Senate Completes Legislation on Unemployment Benefits Disqualifications Bill

Senate Floor Session

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April 3, 2017

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The Senate has completed legislation on seven bills that will now be sent to the governor for approval.

SB 206 would expand the definition of kidnapping to including taking or gaining custody of, confining or concealing another person by force or threat of force; or by duress, fraud, deceit misrepresentation or enticement.

SB 214 would adopt the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act to preserve and protect certain legal material in official electronic records that may be unavailable in physical form.

SB 222 would disqualify an individual from receiving benefits for any week, or portion of a week, in which he or she left or lost his or her job as a result of a strike.

SB 225 would permit magistrates to conduct a proceeding for a temporary emergency protective order dealing with a temporary custody order entered by a family court.

SB 261 would increase the salary or wages of a judgment debtor, that may be exempt from execution by a judgment creditor, who is an employee of state, a state agency, or any political subdivision of the state, from 30 to 50 times the federal minimum hourly wage (then in effect).

SB 445 would include children conceived as a result of a sexual assault in the definition of “abused child.”

SB 634 would create an exemption for the Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) from having to go through the requirements of the Division of Purchasing when entering into agreements with West Virginia University or Marshall University for the provision of services, to encourage collaboration and cost-saving between the Universities and the DHHR.

Of those bills sent from the House to the Senate for concurrence, Majority Leader Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio, made a title amendment to SB 151 and sent the bill back to the House for concurrence, the House amendments to SB 419 were rejected and sent back to the House and HB 2447 was referred to a sub-committee to for review before concurrence or rejection of the House amendments.

The Senate also passed a bill that would authorize the issuance of special “In God We Trust” motor vehicle registration plates.

The bill, HB 2180, will now be sent to the House for consideration.

Members of the Senate also adopted HCR 26 to urge Congress to name the NASA IV & V Facility in Fairmont after West Virginia mathematician Katherine Coleman Johnson, HCR 94 to make August 26th of each year “Katherine Johnson Day” and SR 66 to honor Katherine Johnson for receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Senate Bills 304, 476 and 694 and House Bills 2188, 2364, 2404, 2479, 2509, 2518, 2519, 2522, 2526, 2586, 2653, 2706, 2731, 2739, 2796, 2856 and 2948 were advanced from second reading.

Of those bills, eight were amended.

Senator Charles Trump, R-Morgan, amended HB 2364 to make minor language changes.

Senator Trump also made amendments to House Bills 2404, 2479, 2509, 2526 and 2731 on behalf of decisions made by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for which he serves as Chair.

Senator Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, made an amendment to HB 2739 related to allowing the DHHR to maximize the number of qualified group emergency medical transportation service providers eligible to receive a certain supplemental reimbursement.

Senator Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, amended HB 2948 to incorporate the provisions of related bill SB 419 into the bill.

All bills on first reading were unanimously advanced to second reading.

Committee Meetings Today

Government Organization: 1 p.m. in 208W

Finance: 2 p.m. in 451M

Judiciary: 2:30 p.m. in 208W

Committee Meetings Tomorrow

Transportation and Infrastructure: 10 a.m. in 208W

Government Organization: 2 p.m. in 208W

Education: 2 p.m. in 451M

The Senate is in recess until 4 p.m. this evening.

Senate Finance Reports Court of Claims Bill This Morning

Senate Committee

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April 3, 2017

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The Senate Finance Committee met this morning to report four bills.

House Bill 2603 relates to municipal policemen or firemen pension and relief funds that are funded at one hundred and twenty-five percent or more. The bill was reported to the floor with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2805 would find and declare certain claims against the state and its agencies to be moral obligations of the state. $1,885,000 was found by the subcommittee on the bill to be the moral obligation of the State to pay to the certain cases that the Court of Claims found to be legitimate. The bill was reported to the floor as amended with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2961 relates generally to charitable bingo games and charitable raffles. The bill was reported to the floor with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 3048 relates to the collection of Tier II fees for chemical inventories. The bill was reported to the floor with the recommendation that it pass.

House Bill 2709 would authorize the City of South Charleston to levy a special district excise tax. The bill was moved to the beginning of the agenda in the meeting this afternoon.

House Passes Bill to End WV Greyhound Breading Development Fund 56-44

House Floor Session

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April 1, 2017

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The House of Delegates convened at 9 a.m. and passed 12 bills today.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2447 would rename the Court of Claims as the state Claims Commission and rename the judges as commissioners. It would provide authority to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance for the hiring of a clerk, chief deputy clerk, and deputy clerks; and establish a shortened procedure for certain road condition claims. The House concurred with the Senate amendments and passed the bill 63-36.

Com. Sub. for S. B. 206 would expand the definition of kidnapping to including taking or gaining custody of, confining or concealing another person by force or threat of force. The bill passed 99-0.

S. B. 222 would provide that an individual is disqualified for benefits for any week, or portion of a week, in which he or she left or lost his or her job as a result of a strike. The bill would clarify that a lockout is not a strike and it would establish the circumstances when a worker is determined to leave or lose employment by reason of a lockout. The bill provides that contractor employees who perform the work of a striking worker is not to be determined to have permanently replaced a striking worker. The bill passed 57-42.

S. B. 256 would prohibit school personnel who have engaged in sexual misconduct with students or minors from being assisted to find new employment without having that misconduct reported to the appropriate authorities and investigated. This bill would punish those helping to cover up these acts. The bill passed 99-0.

Com. Sub. for S. B. 437 would discontinue the West Virginia Racing Commission special account known as the West Virginia Greyhound Breeding Development Fund. It would transfer and redirect all moneys from this fund to the Excess Lottery Revenue Fund. This legislation provoked a long discussion, especially from those in the Northern Panhandle.

Finance Chair Eric Nelson (R-Kanawha) gave some background on the industry. He said that Dog Racing was authorized in West Virginia in 1975; first in Wheeling and then in Cross Lanes. Dog Racing declined in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1994, the legislature passed legislation to allow for video lottery at the race tracks. He said in the past few years there has been a decline again. He stated that 39 states have banned racing.

Delegate Joe Canestraro (D-Marshall) said he’s heard over and over how they have to “right-sized government. He said, “All this body has done is cut the low hanging fruit.” He said passage of this legislation will effect police and firemen pension funding. He stated that this fund is not a subsidy. “Tax money does not go into this fund, its funded by the gamblers,” he said. He reminded everyone that 1700 people would lose their jobs with the passage of this legislation.

Delegate Phillip Diserio (D-Brooke) said he doesn’t have a race track in his district, but he’s always considered himself lucky because he has one to the North and one to the South of him. He said when the steel jobs left his district, the people of his district at least had job opportunity at the race tracks in the surrounding counties. He named several dog kennels and farms in the area. He said “These are jobs for these people. I’ve heard a lot about living within your means. Let’s let these people live within their means. Let’s not throw them into the ranks of unemployment and welfare.”

Delegate Erikka Storch (R-Ohio) stood to oppose the bill, because her district will be directly affected by the passage. She wanted to point out how other districts could be affected, so she listed the location of several dog kennels throughout the state. There are kennels and breeders in many counties. She stated that Wheeling Gaming is the 5^th largest employer in Ohio County and they will be affected by this passage. She reminded everyone that West Virginia does gambling differently than most states because breeders had a distrust for the Charleston Owner and the state had to get involved. After that, the state treated all the racetracks the same.

Nelson yielded to questions from Delegate Pat McGeehan (R-Hancock). McGeehan asked how much money would go from this special revenue to the general revenue. Nelson answered $13.6 million. McGeehan asked how much Wheeling Island pays in taxes a year. Nelson said he didn’t know and McGeehan stated it was just over $50 million.

The bill passed the House 56-44.

The House is in recess until 1:30 p.m.

At 2 p.m., the House convened briefly to receive committee reports, amend legislation on 2^nd reading and read bills for first time.

Committee Meetings Today

Finance: 30 minutes after session in 460M

Judiciary: 3 p.m. in 410M

Health and Human Resources: immediately after session 215E

Committee Meetings Monday April 3

Judiciary: 9 a.m. in 410M

Finance: 10 a.m. in 460M

Rules: 10:45 a.m. behind House Chamber

Roads and Transportation: 1 p.m. in 215E

Education: 2:30 p.m. in 434M

Monday there will be three public hearings. At 8 a.m., there will be a public hearing in the House Chamber on SB 637. At 9 a.m., there will be a public hearing in the House Chamber on SB 576. At 10 a.m., there will be a public hearing on SB 60.

The House is adjourned until 11 a.m. on Monday.

Senate Passes Bill to Prohibit Production, Manufacture or Possession of Fentanyl

Senate Floor Session

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April 1, 2017

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The Senate met today and passed nine bills.

House Bill 2329 would prohibit the production, manufacture or possession of fentanyl.

Senator Trump (R-Morgan) said the bill would in no way alter how physicians would currently administer the drug. He also stated that the Judiciary Committee’s amendment would make it so physicians cannot misrepresent schedule one drugs in their prescription of them.

Senator Miller (D-Greenbrier) said, “I am in favor of the bill, but we need to take a look at the criminal penalties we have been passing, otherwise we will be building new jails and that will cost the state a lot of money.”

House Bill 2679 relates to the possession of firearms in parks and park facilities.

Senator Trump said the bill makes it clear that county parks have no right to infringe on constitutional rights.

House Bill 2878 would increase the amount of authorized Federal Grant Anticipation Notes for which the Division of Highways may apply for.

The Senate concurred with House amendments to SB 36, SB 233, SB 247, SB 248, SB 347 and SB 455.

On second reading was House Bill 2180, a bill to authorize the issuance of special “In God We Trust” motor vehicle registration plates.

On first reading were 37 bills.

Senate Concurrent Resolution 39 was adopted naming the US Army PFC Kelva H. Justice Memorial Road.

The following committees meet:

Education at 10:45 a.m. in 451M.

Government Organization at 10:45 a.m. in 208W.

Finance on Monday at 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. in 451M.

Judiciary on Monday at 9:30 a.m. in 208W.

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

In the House

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April 1, 2017

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As of 4 p.m., Friday, March 24, 2017, the 52nd day of the regular session of the 83rd Legislature, 1108 bills have been introduced in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Of those, bills 103 have passed this week in the House and have been sent to the Senate for consideration. Among those:

Com. Sub. for S. B. 36 would allow school nurses to possess and administer opioid antagonists at school. The bill has passed in the House and the bill will be sent back to the Senate.

S. B. 41 would extend the total number of years that a person may be subject to a period of probation to seven years. The bill passed in the House and will be sent back to the Senate.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2195 would require county boards of education to implement comprehensive drug awareness and prevention programs for all student in grades K through 12. The bill is pending in Senate Education.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2363 would require that a state employee with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) have a yearly medical evaluation certification. The bill is pending in Senate Government Organization.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2428 would establish more substance abuse treatment services in the state. It would also create the Ryan Brown Addiction Prevention and Recovery Fund. The bill is pending in Senate Health and Human Resources.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2708 would allow persons with developmental disabilities to receive a base hunting license after receiving an onsite training. The bill also would authorize person with developmental disabilities to lawfully hunt while accompanied and directly supervised by a licensed hunter. The bill has been sent to the Senate for more consideration.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 3080 would institute a “Celebrate Freedom Week” and require the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and other founding documents to be taught during the week. The bill is now pending in Senate Education.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2002 would modify the law requiring parental notification of abortion laws performed on minors, who are not emancipated.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2453 would expand the list of persons the Commissioner of Agriculture may license to grow or cultivate industrial hemp. The bill is pending in Senate Agriculture and Rural Development.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2520 would prohibit the use of tanning beds or other devices by minors (those under the age of 18). The bill is pending in Senate Health and Human Resources.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2711 would eliminate the Regional Education Service Agencies (RESA) and funding by July 1, 2017. It would eliminate the office of Education Performance Audits. It would establish the County Superintendents’ Advisory Council; it would also provide authority for county school systems to share services. The bill is pending in Senate Education

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2771 would provide for teaching certificates for teachers whose spouses are married to a member of the Armed Forces who is on active duty stationed in this state. The bill is currently pending in the Senate Education Committee.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2930 would allow a Powerball winner to be anonymous if they elect to be anonymous.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 3102 would permit the Secretary of DHHR to sell Hopemont Hospital and its assets. The bills would ensure the transfer of patients and the construction of a replacement facility. The bill is pending in Senate Health and Human Resources.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2763 would require the approval by the Council for Community and Technical College Education of acquisitions, bequests, donations, construction of new buildings, repairs, renovations or lease payments over the lifetime of the lease which exceed $1 million, if made or accepted by the institution’s research corporation or an affiliated foundation. The bill is pending in Senate Education.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2799 would prohibit the superintendent of schools from requiring a student appear before him or her for the minor to receive a work permit. This bill is to keep from students being removed from school in order to receive a permit. The bill is currently pending in Senate Education.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2966 would create the West Virginia Sentencing Commission, as a standing sub-committee pf the Governor’s committee on crime, delinquency, and correction. The bill is currently pending in Senate Judiciary.

Com. Sub. for H. B. 3028 would create the Office of Drug Control Policy under the director of the Secretary of DHHR and require that office develop a strategic plan. The department would coordinate information, resources, programs, and funds. The bill puts in code public health and education initiatives and pilot programs to prevent and treat substance abuse. The bill would also transfer the responsibility for the Controlled Substance Monitoring Program to this office. This bill is currently pending in Senate Health and Human Resources.

Postponed

Com. Sub. for S. B. 437 would discontinue the West Virginia Racing Commission special account known as the West Virginia Greyhound Breeding Development Fund and transfer all moneys in the West Virginia Greyhound Breeding Development Fund to the state Excess Lottery Revenue Fund for appropriation by the Legislature. Action was postponed on this bill one day. It is on third reading in the House.

Rejected

H. B. 3088 would remove teacher-pupil ratio requirements for grade six classes, and require the West Virginia Board of Education to collect and report class size information and number of pupils per teacher for grade six classes to the Legislative Oversight Committee on Education Accountability. The bill was rejected in the House. Com. Sub. for H. B. 2816 would eliminate the new film tax credits. It would also eliminate the exemption from consumer sales and service tax. It also would increase the rate of barrel tax on nonintoxicating beer. This bill was rejected by the House.