The House of Delegates and Senate each met briefly today to commence the extended budget floor session.
The Conference Committee for Senate Bill 160 will be held tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in room 451M.
West Virginia Legislature Begins Work on Budget Session
Legislature Begins Extended Budget Session
Both bodies convened shortly after midnight to begin the 2012 extended budget session.
Budget conferees will meet at 4 p.m. Monday in Room 451M.
The House will reconvene at 5 p.m. Monday and the Senate will reconvene at 6 p.m.
Regular Session Adjourns
Eight bills completed legislation in the last Senate meeting of the regular session. Another eight bills were passed. Among completed legislation is Senate Bill 211, related to texting, cell phone use and driving as well as Senate Bill 437, the Governor’s substance abuse legislation.
Senate Resolution 61 recognized retiring Sen. Karen Facemyer and
Senate Resolution 62 recognized retiring Sen. Dan Foster.
The regular session concluded at midnight and the extended budget session will begin Monday.
Senate budget conferees will meet at 4 p.m. Monday in 451M.
The Senate is adjourned until 6 p.m. Monday.
House Adjourns Regular Session, Passes Texting and Substance Abuse Bills
The House completed bills before the adjournment at midnight. After several lengthy floor sessions, 12 bills completed legislation in this evening’s last floor session of the 80th West Virginia Legislature’s 2012 Regular Session.
Among bills completed on the final night were Senate Bill 437, which relates generally to substance abuse; Senate Bill 211, which will create traffic offenses for texting or using handheld wireless communication devices while driving; and House Bill 2740, which would make covenants that restrict the installation or use of solar energy systems unenforceable.
Bills passed during tonight’s floor session also include: House Bill 4101, which would authorize teacher-in-residence programs for certain prospective teachers in lieu of student teaching; House Bill 2278, which would authorize the use of additional mediums for use in archiving government records; and House Bill 4053, which relates to abduction, kidnapping and human trafficking.
The House ended the Regular Session at midnight.
House Races to Meet 9 p.m. Conference Committee Deadline
Twelve more bills completed legislation when the House met once more for today’s session. Among those completed, House Bill 4068 will value antique motor vehicles at their salvage value for the purposes of personal property tax, House Bill 4422 is in relation to crane operator certification, and House Bill 4601 will authorize the West Virginia National Guard to participate in a federal asset forfeiture or sharing program.
The three bills that passed the House were House Bill 4648, which would implement a domestic violence court pilot project, House Bill 4239, which would increase the membership of the West Virginia Board of Osteopathy, and Senate Bill 437, which relates to substance abuse.
Senate Bill 51, which would deny certain spousal support upon DNA evidence of adultery and House Bill 4053, which relates to abduction, kidnapping and human trafficking were among the nine bills sent to conference committees, whose reports must have been filed by 9 p.m.
The House is in recess until 10:30 p.m. today.
Senate Completes Legislative Action on Fourteen Bills
The Senate reconvened to take up House messages. The Senate concurred with the House on 14 bills, thus completing legislative action. One of the bills that completed is Senate Bill 55, which would extend the expiration date for certain diesel-powered motor vehicle idling restrictions.
The Senate refused to concur with the House on 13 bills and appointed conference committees to discuss the bills. One bill that was placed in a conference committee is Senate Bill 371, which would provide school system under declared state of emergency participate as innovation zone pilot project.
The following conference committees will meet today:
Senate Bill 371 6:00 p.m. – 451M
Senate Bill 418 7:45 p.m. – Rear of House Chamber
House Bill 4105 7:45 p.m. – 434M
The Senate is in recess until 6:30 p.m.
UPDATE: The Senate completed legislative action on 16 bills and passed 2 others. Among completed legislation is Senate Bill 615, which conforms the WV Water Pollution Control Act with the federal Clean Water Act and Senate Bill 661, which relates to data sharing among state education providers.
Conference committees are currently meeting to address Senate Bill 211, Senate Bill 212, Senate Bill 418, Senate Bill 501, Senate Bill 597; House Bill 2278, House Bill 4053 and House Bill 4396.
The Senate is in recess until 8:30 p.m.
UPDATE: The Senate reconvened to complete legislative action on five bills. These bills included House Bill 4522, Senate Bill 161, Senate Bill 477, Senate Bill 618, and Senate Bill 678.
The Senate is in recess until 10:00 p.m.
Last Day of Session Progresses with the Completion of 16 Bills
The House reconvened this afternoon to complete legislative action on several measures.
During the second session of the day, 16 bills were completed. Among these bills were Senate Bill 611, which will develope special community-based pilot demonstration projects to improve at-risk youth outcomes; Senate Bill 563, which would clarify Chief Technology Officer’s responsibility prior to transfer or retirement of certain equipment; and House Bill 4605, which will provide a premarital education option to applicants for marriage licenses.
Seventeen bills were also read on third reading and passed with amendments during the second session. A sampling of these bills include: Senate Bill 611, which would establish DEP procedures for biological components compliance of narrative water quality standards; Senate Bill 603, which would establish entities for operation of morale, welfare and recreation military facilities; and Senate Bill 597, which would require installation of carbon monoxide detectors in certain facilities.
The House is in recess untill 7:30 p.m.
Senate Begins its Final Day of the Regular Session
The session began with retiring Senator John Pat Fanning presiding over the Senate floor.
Seventeen bills were read for a third time in the morning floor session with 14 completing legislative action. Among completed legislation is House Bill 3174, which relates to liquor and beer sampling events and House Bill 4072, which will eliminate the requirement for county boards of education to meet on the first Monday of July.
House Bill 2740 was moved from the Senate calendar to the Rules Committee calendar.
Retiring Senator Dan Foster took President Kessler’s position behind the podium to end the session.
The Conference Committee for HB4648 will meet at 2:30 p.m. in the rear of the House Chamber.
The Senate is in recess until 3 p.m. this afternoon.
House Begins Final Day of Regular Session
The last day of session began with the House of Delegates’ intense focus on completing legislation as they only have until the stroke of midnight to pass bills. So far in today’s session, 13 bills have completed legislation. A sampling of the bills completed were Senate Bill 336 which will eliminate the mortgage lender license exemption available to bank subsidiaries, Senate Bill 477 will restrict the possession of wild and exotic animals, and Senate Bill 547 which relates to criminal conviction expungement.
There were 25 bills that passed in the House and will now be referred to the Senate for consideration later today including senate Bill 149 which would relate to disposition of forfeited or abandoned firearms in state custody and Senate Bill 36 would relate to the disclosure of requirements for certain public construction contracts.
The House is in recess until 2 p.m. today.
Texting Bill Passes In House
During today’s morning floor session, the House passed Senate Bill 211 which would make both talking and texting on a cell phone while operating a vehicle a primary offense. The bill has been communicated to the Senate for further consideration. In addition, Senate Bill 110, Senate Bill 408, Senate Bill 507, and Senate Bill 588 also passed on third reading.
There were 12 bills that completed legislation including Senate Bill 156 which would allow the Corrections Commissioner to use excess funds to offset operational costs, and Senate Bill 424 which would exempt certain barbers from continuing education requirements.
Of the bills advanced to third reading, Senate Bill 118 would terminate a resident’s lease upon their death, and House Bill 353 is in relation to the possession of firearms.
The House is in recess until 2 p.m. today.
Update:
The House Budget Bill passed during the afternoon floor session in addition to six other bills that completed legislation. Among those was House Bill 4103, which would consolidate government services and the enforcement of laws pertaining to the motor carrier industry, House Bill 4433 would modify the criteria for awarding high school diplomas to certain veterans, and House Bill 4489 would strengthen the authority of the West Virginia Municipal Pensions Oversight Board.
A special presentation called “Ghosts of This House” was shown at the conclusion of today’s session to pay tribute to the members of the House who are no longer with us.
The House is adjourned until 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.