The Senate has passed nine bills to be sent to the House for further consideration.
SB 186 would adjust the date upon which children become eligible for certain school programs and school attendance requirements to prior to July 1 from prior to September 1.
Senator John Unger, D-Berkeley, made a motion to have the bill referred to the Senate Rules Committee to determine the necessity of moving the date in comparison to the possible repercussions of not allowing children from troubled homes to enter the safer environment of school sooner. The motion was rejected.
SB 192 would exempt licensed surveyors from liability for defamation or slander of title when performing their professional duties, except in the case of malicious intent.
SB 413 would limit the number of alternate proposals in bidding for government construction projects and set forth procedures for consideration of alternate bids.
SB 471 would make the definition of wildlife consistent with the existing definition of wildlife contained in WV Code §20-1-2.
SB 474 would exempt the list of names, addresses and contact information for hunting license holders from public disclosure with certain exceptions.
SB 495 would create greater efficiency in the operation of the West Virginia State Athletic Commission and to provide it the flexibility to respond to the needs of the fight industry. The bill updates and clarifies the sections of the code related to licenses of contestants and provides for a yearly fee for amateur contestants.
SB 531 would permit the annual renewal date for apiary certificates of registration to be June 30 beginning in 2018.
SB 536 would authorize the tracking of wounded or injured deer or bear with leashed dogs.
SB 575 would limit nuisance actions against shooting ranges for noises. The bill prohibits ordinances regulating to shooting ranges that are more stringent than such ordinances in effect at the time a shooting range was constructed or planned.
Members of the Senate also adopted SR 38 to recognize Karen Donathan for winning the Award for Teaching Excellence in Computer Science and SR 39 to designate today as Innovation and Entrepreneurship Day at the Capitol.
Senate Bills 621-630 were introduced.
Senate Bills 255, 444 and 522 and House Bill 2678 were advanced from second reading. Senate Bills 443 and 524 were requested to lie over one day in second reading.
Of those bills advanced, Senator Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, proposed an amendment to SB 255 to change the provision stating that one appointed to a vacancy must be of the former legislator’s most recent party affiliation to instead require that an appointee be of the former legislator’s party affiliation when that legislator was elected to the position. Palumbo said, otherwise, the bill simply “invites corruption” into the legislature in the case that the law were to be abused. His amendment was rejected on a 19-14 vote.
Committee Meetings Today
Health and Human Resources: 1:45 p.m. in 451M
Judiciary: 2:45 p.m. in 208W
Finance: 2:45 p.m. in 451M
Government Organization: 3:30 p.m. (or after Judiciary adjourns) in 208W
Committee Meetings Tomorrow
Transportation and Infrastructure: 2:30 p.m. in 451M
*Education is expected to meet on Saturday at a time yet to be determined.
The Senate is adjourned until 11 a.m. tomorrow and will also convene at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 18.
