As of 4 p.m., Wednesday, February 25, 2009, the 15th day of the 79th Legislature’s 1st Regular Session, 384 bills have been introduced in the Senate:
Senate Bill 294 would provide additional protection for incapacitated and elderly persons by increasing penalties, which consist of being sentenced to one to five years in prison or being fined $500 to $5,000 to those persons found guilty of neglect of an incapacitated or elderly person, or one who knowingly permits another to neglect said adult.
Senate Bill 296 would require the State Board of Education to create a school drug safety program. The bill would require the program to include drug testing of individuals prior to being hired, transferred or promoted to positions within a school and include random drug testing of all individuals employed in a school.
Senate Bill 300 would authorize counties and municipalities to enter into performance-based contracts with qualified providers of energy-conservation measures for the purpose of significantly reducing energy operating costs of agency owned buildings. Current law only allows the state and its agencies to do this.
Senate Bill 303 would exempt the retirement benefits of certain annuitants under the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) from state income tax. Any member of the STRS who elected on or before March 6, 1972, to participate the full extent of their salary in the State Teachers Retirement System would be exempt from the payment of state income tax to the extent of the State Teachers Retirement benefits received.
Senate Bill 307 would create the Maternal Screening Act. This bill would establish an advisory council on maternal risk assessment within the Office of Maternal, Child and Family Health. The Department of Health and Human Resources would have rule-making authority to develop a uniform maternal risk screening tool to serve as an alert to medical care providers of the need for greater evaluation and assessment of high-risk pregnancies.
Senate Bill 312 would require medical facilities to be free of tobacco smoke by codifying a smoking ban through law and posting requirements upon the medical facilities. The bill would also set forth penalties that if found guilty, a person would be fined between $50 and $500 for each separate offense.
Senate Bill 313 would expand the number of hours a “part-time” state employee can work in a temporary position each year. The bill would change the maximum amount one could work from 90 days to 1,000 hours.
Senate Bill 316 would authorize that net settlement proceeds held for a minor may be invested in a Smart 529 college savings plan.
Senate Bill 317 would increase penalties under current law when someone who is driving under the influence causes bodily injury or serious bodily injury. The bill would require those persons found guilty be confined in a state correctional facility for three to 15 years and fined up to $5,000, whereas current law has those persons serving two to 10 years and being fined between $1,000 and $3,000.
Senate Bill 322 would exempt life insurance policies with a death benefit of $25,000 or less from assignment by Medicaid recipients to the Department of Health and Human Resources.
Senate Bill 323 would exclude disability income for service related injuries received by a veteran from the United States Department of Veterans’ Affairs from any calculation used to determine spousal support. Under this bill, disability income received by a veteran from the United States Department of Veterans’ Affairs for service related injuries would not be considered as property.
Senate Bill 325 would create the West Virginia Energy Efficient Buildings Program to concentrate on energy demand-side management in private and public buildings, generating energy savings and promotes the more efficient use of the state’s natural resources. The bill would require annual reports to be provided to the Legislature.
Senate Bill 328 would create the West Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank. The purpose of the bank is to provide loans and other financial assistance to government units for transportation infrastructure.
Senate Bill 335 would authorize the Commissioner of the Division of Culture and History to distribute fairs and festivals funding. The division would be able to assist in the promotion and operation of fairs and festivals entitled to aid when funds are available and to expend those funds for the support and development of fairs and festivals.
Senate Bill 337 would increase the time for a member of the State Teachers Retirement System to make retirement contributions for credited service, during periods of temporary total disability with a worker’s compensation injury, from two to three years. It would also provide for an additional retroactive period of two years from the effective date of the amendment.
Senate Bill 343 would substitute the definition of pain with the definition currently in use by the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathy that is the definition adopted by the Federation of State Medical Boards in model policy. The bill would strike the term intractable from being used to define pain and change the working definition to read that “pain” is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage.
