The Senate has completed legislation on 14 bills and one resolution that will now be sent to the governor for enaction.
SB 187 would provide for confidentiality of medical records for patients’ physical, mental or emotional conditions.
SB 235 would provide that, after its initial registration, the annual registration fees of motorcycles are owed in the same month as the original registration to treat motorcycles the same as other motor vehicles.
SB 255 would reform the procedures for the appointment of county officials in the event of a vacancy.
SB 339 would create a legislative coalition to study and report to the Legislature on chronic pain management in the state.
SB 345 would allow hunting and trapping throughout the state on Sundays.
SB 360 would create a legislative coalition to study and report to the Legislature on diabetes in the state.
SB 402 would generally prohibit covenants from competing between physicians and hospitals.
SB 486 would change the rate of tax on eligible acute care hospitals for the 2018 fiscal year.
SB 490 would clarify the standard of liability for officers of a corporation.
SB 578 would establish a new fee structure for the furnishment of health care records, allow records to be furnished to a patient’s personal representative and establish a limit on the total fee allowable for the furnishment of a patient’s health care record.
SB 602 would create a uniform system of recording and indexing of fictitious names used by sole proprietors in this state.
SB 631 would clarify the process by which municipal governments may abate unsafe, unsanitary or dangerous dilapidated structures that are detrimental to the public safety or welfare.
HB 2619 would adopt the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Risk Management and Own Risk Solvency Assessment Model Act for implementation by West Virginia insurers so that they are better equipped to assess their financial condition and remain solvent.
HB 2948 would require certain state agencies to take final action on certain completed permit applications within thirty days if uncontested, or ninety days if contested, unless other timelines exist.
SCR 28 would request the Division of Highways to name a section of road from the Intersection of U. S. Route 219 and WV State Route 15 at Valley Head, West Virginia, south to the Pocahontas County line in Randolph County, the “U. S. Army SPC 4 Randall W. Arbogast Memorial Road.”
Of those bills sent back to the Senate for concurrence, the Senate refused the House’s amendments to SB 238, HB 2721 and HB 2722 because they interfered with the original intent. Subcommittees were formed to study how House Bills 2721 and 2722 could be better amended. All will be sent back to the House for concurrence.
The Senate also passed six amended bills to be sent back to the House for concurrence.
SB 240 would create the crime of distribution of nude and sexually explicit images when the person depicted has an expectation of privacy.
HB 2366 would require the selling of Jackie Withrow Hospital by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources.
HB 2428 would establish additional substance abuse treatment facilities.
HB 2546 would allow uniform costs to be deducted from an employee’s final paycheck if the uniform is not returned.
Judiciary Chair Charles Trump, R-Morgan, amended the bill on behalf of decisions made by the Senate Judiciary Committee to make several modifications relating to term definitions and provisions for “employer provided property.”
HB 2561 would provide flexibility for school systems in the use of school aid funds.
Majority Leader Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio, made a motion that the bill would be effective from passage, but the motion was rejected, since a two-thirds majority vote was not reached.
HB 2601 would provide a mechanism of correcting errors in payments to and from a municipal policemen’s or firemen’s pension fund and to provide a criminal offense for knowingly making a false statement in an attempt to defraud a municipal pension fund.
Of those bills on third reading, SB 476 was committed to the Senate Rules Committee and HB 2552 was laid over for one day.
A bill on second reading, HB 2887, was brought to the floor for amendments after its approval by the Senate Finance Committee this morning.
The bill would authorize Boards of Governors of institutions of higher education to develop retirement and incentive packages.
Finance Chair Mike Hall, R-Putnam, amended the bill on behalf of decisions made in the Senate Finance Committee to require PEIA to report back to the Joint Committee on Pensions and Retirement on the use of certain provisions in the bill.
The Senate is in recess until 2 p.m. this afternoon.
