The Senate passed 15 bills in its morning session including Senate Bill 373, which would make changes to the Promise Scholarship. The annual award for the Promise would now be equal to but unable to exceed the cost of tuition, or $4,750.
Senate Bill 297 passed and would create the Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolio Act that would require 25 percent of all electric energy sold in West Virginia to be generated from renewable and alternative energy by the year 2025.
West Virginians will have more options when it comes to their license plates. The Senate passed Senate Bill 78, which would provide vehicle owners with a number of new specialty license plates from which they may choose to use on their vehicles. Some of the new license plates would include the phrases “In God We Trust” or “Friends of Coal,” among several other options.
Students from the first grade class at Saint Agnes School led the Senate in the pledge of allegiance. They also sang, “God Bless the U.S.A.”
Update – 1:30 p.m.
The Senate passed 31 bills in its afternoon session. Senate Bill 435 would establish the Learn and Earn Cooperative Education Program, a cooperative education program that would provide financial benefits to full-time students enrolled in community or technical colleges.
Senate Bill 485 would require all children entering a public school, whether it be in kindergarten or first grade, to provide adequate proof of having undergone a dental examination by a licensed dentist.
Senate Bill 641 would require the operators of vehicles carrying solid waste and deposit solid waste in a commercial landfill or transfer station to declare, in writing and under oath, to provide the name of the county and state of origin of the solid waste being deposited.
Update – 5:30 p.m.
The Senate closed the day with a third session in which 22 bills were passed.
Senate Bill 740 would make third-time offenders of obscene, harassing and threatening communications via the internet be fined no more than $5,000 or confined in a regional jail for no more than two years, or both. For Web sites or newsgroups, it would also consider untrue statements about another person that are false and encourage others to ridicule or perpetuate the untruth about that person to be considered obscene, harassing and threatening.
Senate Bill 338 would increase the number of circuit court judges in the seventeenth judicial circuit in Monongalia County from two to three.
Senate Bill 667 would prohibit unlawful panhandling or solicitation. It would be considered a misdemeanor with increasing fines upon each subsequent conviction. Fire departments would be exempted when soliciting for donations.
The following committees will meet tomorrow:
Energy, Industry and Mining – 9:30 a.m. – 208W
Judiciary – 10:00 a.m. – 208W
Finance – 3:00 p.m. – 451M
Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability (LOCEA) – 5:00 p.m. – 451M
The Senate will reconvene tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.
