The Senate Committee on the Judiciary met Wednesday afternoon, and discussed three bills on the agenda.
Senate Bill 440 relates to anti-hazing. The bill would modify the definition of “hazing” in the Anti-Hazing Law to address any type of organization whose members include students at any public or private institution of higher education. The bill was introduced because of the five fraternities at West Virginia University that disassociated themselves from the University in 2018. WVU responded by banning the five fraternities from the University for the next ten years.
Senate Bill 491 relates to a voter registration through the Division of Motor Vehicles. In 2016, a law required the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) update its systems to do automated voter registration. The effective date has been pushed back to July 1, 2019. The proposed bill would extend the deadline to July 1, 2020 so the DMV, Department of Transportation (DOT), and Secretary of State can update their systems entirely to comply with previous legislation.
House Bill 2459 would give the state of West Virginia the authority to opt out of a federal statue regarding the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). Federal law states people who have been convicted for a drug possession cannot receive SNAP benefits. West Virginia is one of only three states that comply with the 1996 federal statute.
The Committee approved all three bills, and were reported to the full Senate to be voted upon.
RA
