The Senate has advanced 18 bills from second reading this evening to be put to a vote in tomorrow’s session.
SB 60 would provide for eligibility and fraud requirements for public assistance by requiring the Department of Health and Human Resources to implement work requirements for applicants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Senator Ed Gaunch, R-Kanawha, amended the bill to strike out certain stores that were originally prohibited from accepting electronic benefit transfer card transactions.
Senator Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, also amended the bill to clarify and correct some of the bill’s language.
Senator Douglas Facemire, D-Braxton, proposed an amendment that was rejected to strike out a certain subsection of the bill related to all assets of the members of a SNAP applicant’s household.
SB 217 would increase the number of limited video lottery machines allowed at retail locations. The bill was reported to the floor with the recommendation that it pass.
SB 281 would increase the number of limited video lottery machines that a retailer may have from five to seven, increase the number of limited video lottery terminals certain tax exempt organizations may have and require the Lottery Commission to conduct a bid for permits held by current permit holders expiring June 30, 2021 prior to September 1, 2017.
SB 376 would add persons who have been adjudicated as a juvenile delinquent for conduct related to qualifying offenses to comply with the registration requirements of the Sex Offender Registration Act.
SB 401 would permit a county board of education to base its employment decisions, transfers, reassignments, reductions in the number of professional personnel, reductions in classroom teaching positions and reductions in the workforce on an individual’s qualifications.
Senator Ed Gaunch, R-Kanawha, amended the bill to make mostly technical corrections to the bill that he had not addressed earlier with the bill’s drafting.
SB 416 would eliminate the cap on the size of projects constructed by the Division of Highways and to remove the sunset date.
SB 417 would remove the financial limitations on how many design build projects may be undertaken by the Division of Highways.
Senator Mike Hall, R-Putnam, amended the bill to make a minor technical correction.
SB 421 would increase from $200 million to $500 million the amount the Division of Highways is allowed to use to apply for Federal Grant Anticipation Notes to be reimbursed from the funds made available to West Virginia from the federal government’s Highway Fund for West Virginia.
SB 578 would establish a new fee structure for the furnishment of health care records by allowing records to be furnished to a patient’s personal representative and establishing a limit on the total fee allowable for the furnishment of a patient’s health care record.
SB 601 would adjust limits on consumer loans in West Virginia for which certain finance charges may be imposed.
SB 621 would provide that at any point after a county board of education provides written notice to the state board that it is considering or in the process of closing or consolidating a school or schools, any revision or supplementation to certain rules is not applicable to the school closing or consolidation project described in the county board’s notification to the state board.
SB 630 would establish the Accessibility and Equity in Public Education Enhancement Act to allow a county board or a multicounty consortium to create a virtual instruction program for one or more schools serving any composition of grades K-12 by adopting a policy creating the program and contracting with virtual school providers.
SB 634 would create an exemption for the Department of Health and Human Resources from having to go through the requirements of the Division of Purchasing when entering into agreements with West Virginia University or Marshall University for the provision of services, which will encourage collaboration and cost-saving between the Universities and Department of Health and Human Resources.
Senator Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, made an amendment to the bill to include the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in the provisions of the bill.
SB 647 would repeal a section of the Code which imposes an additional county excise tax on the privilege of transferring real property for the purposes of funding farmland preservation, and replace the same by amending the Code to add a subsection which provides for an additional county excise tax on the privilege of transferring real property for the purposes of funding the county farmland preservation program and the operations, programs and activities of the local economic development corporation or authority.
SB 686 would exempt facilities providing direct patient care that are managed, directed, controlled and governed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources from the otherwise required oversight and review by the Purchasing Division of the Department of Administration, as well as require the Legislative Auditor to audit purchasing made by such facilities and report the findings to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.
HB 2506 would allow permit limits to be calculated using design flows recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Act for human health; specifically, the use of the harmonic mean flow. It would also allow for mixing zone overlapping while retaining the application of water quality criteria that are developed for protection of drinking water.
Senators Ronald Miller and Mike Romano moved to amend the bill to bring the bill in line with surrounding states and address the needs of civilians who presented before the Senate Judiciary Committee in regards to overlapping mixing zones. Both were rejected on the grounds that the amendments were unnecessary and simply limited the provisions of the bill that had already been agreed upon by several parties involved.
HB 2774 would allow aircraft and aircraft parts to be taxed at the same rate as aircraft property.
HB 2868 would clarify that presumed abandoned property in the form of amounts owed by an insurer on a life or endowment insurance policy or an annuity that has matured or terminated, and obligations related thereto, are guided by the policies, requirements and interpretations of the Insurance Commissioner.
Senator Charles Trump, R-Morgan, amended the bill on behalf of the Senate Judiciary Committee to clarify the chronological orders of when and how certain groups or organizations mentioned in the bill are supposed to take action toward their provided responsibilities.
Of those bills on second reading, SB 484 was requested to lie over for one day. The bill would eliminate the exemption from sales tax for certain sales of materials acquired for use in state highway projects.
All bills on first reading were advanced to second reading.
Committee Meetings Tomorrow
Judiciary: 9 a.m. in 208W
Finance: 9:30 a.m. in 451M
Education: 2 p.m. in 451M
*Transportation and Infrastructure will not be meeting.
The Senate is adjourned until 11 a.m. tomorrow.
