As of 4 p.m., Wednesday, February 12, 2003, the 36th day of the 2003 Regular Legislative Session, 985 bills have been introduced in the House of Delegates. Of those, the following16 bills were passed by the House this week, including five Sunset Bills and will now go to the Senate for its consideration.
House Bill 2008 would provide good-faith background checks for law-enforcement personnel. This bill would provide employer immunity from civil liability for disclosing accurate and truthful information about former employees. Any information forwarded or provided to another employer, about a former law-enforcement employee, would be considered to be provided in good faith.
House Bill 2190 would permit certain farm vehicles to use the highways between sunset and sunrise. These vehicles cannot travel further than 25 miles between land tracts.
House Bill 2239 would require foreign collection agencies to obtain a certificate of authority from the Secretary of State. This bill would remove the term “licensee” from the definitions and replaced the term’s usage with “certificate of registration”, and would require that along with a business franchise registration, a collection agency must also acquire a certificate of registration from the Secretary of State’s office.
House Bill 2266 would include the State Fire Marshal and full-time fire marshals within the definition of criminal justice enforcement personnel for the purpose of authorizing the State Fire Marshal and full-time fire marshals to cooperate with and assist other law-enforcement agencies.
House Bill 2268 would name teachers and substitute teachers as professional educators and would address the critical
need and shortage thereof. This bill proposes changes in the Underwood Smith Teacher Scholarship to help address areas of critical need and shortage. The Underwood Smith program is designed to entice outstanding high school students to pursue teaching careers in the state.
House Bill 2281 would raise the allowable earnings limit of higher education faculty who retired under the severance plan. This bill would increase the amount of money that an employee, who is granted retirement and separation incentives provided under a higher education severance plan, may earn through contract employment with an institution of higher learning.
House Bill 2383 would require the state Department of Education to submit a comprehensive teacher certification plan to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability (LOCEA) for adopting prior to July 1, 2003. If the plan is not adopted by LOCEA, beginning January 1, 2005, each county would be responsible for certifying any teacher employed in that county and for determining the standards and qualifications necessary for certification.
House Bill 2669 relates to hazardous waste management. The bill sunsets the annual certification payment for facilities that manage hazardous waste based on the fiscal year for the next three years and terminates the hazardous waste management annual certification fee and the Hazardous Waste Management Fee Fund on June 30, 2006.
House Bill 2705 relates to the supervision of adult offenders and authorizes a compact for the supervision of adult offenders. It would have the state of West Virginia become a member of a new interstate compact, the Interstate Compact for the Supervision of Adult Offenders, which is being proposed to update and replace a previous interstate compact, the Interstate Compact For the Supervision of Parolees and Probationers, originally adopted in 1937.
House Bill 2763 would allow auxiliary roof mounted lighting only when it comes as original equipment and for use only when the vehicle is off-road. These lights must be off and covered while the vehicle is on the highway.
House Bill 2802 would provide for a legal description in deeds creating an easement or right-of-way. The bill would require the description to be either in metes and bounds or by reference to an attached plat, by specification of the centerline of the easement or right-of-way, by station and offset, or by a plat or drawing which may not require a survey.
Sunset bills passed by the House
House Bill 2864 would continue the Office of Explosives and Blasting until July 1, 2004.
House Bill 2879 would continue the West Virginia Commission on Holocaust Education until July 1, 2009.
House Bill 2888 would continue the Board of Osteopathy July 1, 2006.
House Bill 2889 would continue the Board of Examiners of Psychologists until July 1, 2012.
House Bill 2916 would continue the State Geological and Economic Survey until July 1, 2007.
A sampling of bills introduced in the House
House Bill 2958 would require credit card issuers to provide adequate disclosure to consumers when soliciting credit card applications
House Bill 2893 would clarify that magistrates shall accept payment of fines and costs on a payment plan from an offender.
House Bill 2959 would prohibit health care providers from accepting gifts worth more than $25 from a pharmaceutical company.
House Bill 2960 would change the name of Fairmont State College to Fairmont State University.
House Bill 2920 would increase certain benefits to dependents of a state trooper killed in the line of duty.
House Bill 2917 would require the DMV to design and issue special registration plates for use by Democratic Executive Committee Members.
