As of 4 p.m., Friday, March 24, 2017, the 48th day of the regular session of the 83rd Legislature, 1106 bills have been introduced in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Of those, bills 22 have passed this week and have been sent to the Senate for consideration. Among those: Completed
Senate Bill 127 would authorize the Insurance Commissioner to issue a legislative rule relating to Adoption of a Valuation Manual. This bill was passed by the House and the Senate.
Senate Bill 302 is a supplemental appropriation and it would supplement, amend, and increase appropriation for the Division of Human Service in the Department of Health and Human Resources for the designated spending unit for expenditure during the fiscal year 2017. The bill has been approved by the House and the Senate. It is currently awaiting the Governor’s signature.
Senate Bill 306 would supplement, amend, and increase an item of appropriation in the aforesaid account for the designated spending unit for expenditure during the fiscal year 2017. The bill has passed the House and the Senate.
Bills Passed from the House
House Bill 2519 would require the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources to enter into a compact to ensure payment for health care services provided to other states’ Medicaid participants. This bill was passed in the House and sent to the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2808 would provide assisted outpatient treatment to individuals suffering from mental illness to prevent them from harming themselves or others, as well as to prevent the costs of inpatient involuntary hospitalization and costs of incarceration due to untreated mental illness. This bill was passed in the House and sent to the Senate for further consideration.
House Bill 2857 would create the West Virginia Safer Workplaces Act. It allows employers to test employees and prospective employees for drugs and alcohol. The drug testing must be done during work time and the employer must pay for the testing. If a test is failed, a second test shall be administered. If both come back with positive results, then discipline actions may be taken. The goal of this legislation is to make the workplace safe for all employees. This bill was passed in the House and sent to the Senate for further consideration.
House Bill 3009 would grant the Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification access to the Controlled Substances Monitoring Program database for regulatory purposes. The bill was passed in the House and sent to the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 3061 would encourage a limited cohort of schools to implement mastery-based education through the Innovation In Education program. The Department of Education is given a range of duties from the identification of barriers and potential solutions to developing an incubator process to support schools awarded an Innovation In Schools/Mastery-Based grant. The schools must meet the same requirements and accountability as other Innovation In Education schools. This bill was passed in the House and sent to the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 3089 would provide a transition to the county board of education level of the process for review and adoption of instructional resources required to be used in the schools under the jurisdiction of the county board. This bill was passed in the House and sent to the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2827 would update the all payor claims database. This bill was passed in the House and sent to the Senate. It is now in Senate Health and Human Resources.
House Bill 2840 would reorganize the departments, agencies and commissions within the executive branch of state government. This bill was passed in the House and is currently in Senate Government Organization.
House Bill 2856 would declare public policy and legislative intent for improving the marketing, quality and frequency of passenger rail service of the Cardinal Passenger Train. This bill was passed in the House and is now in Senate Finance.
House Bill 2402 would create a special procedure for a person in possession of an abandoned antique vehicle to apply for and receive title to the vehicle and to create a procedure for the DMV to search for the owner of the vehicle to provide notice of an application for the title to the vehicle. The bill was passed in the House and is now being reviewed in Senate Government Organization.
House Bill 2471 would require that on and after January 1, 2018, insurance coverage for breast cancer screening be provided by the Public Employees Insurance Agency, accident and sickness insurance providers, group accident and sickness insurance providers, health care corporations, and health maintenance organizations. This bill was passed in the House and in some being reviewed in Senate Banking and Insurance.
House Bill 2637 would extend the time a retired teacher could work as a substitute teacher post-retirement limit in areas of critical need and shortage to June 30, 2020. The bill also adds speech pathologists and school nurses under these provisions. The bill was passed in the House and is now being considered in Senate Education.
House Bill 2738 would provide more flexibility in the employee transfer process. It would remove the April 1 deadline for notifying the employee that he or she is being considered for a transfer. It would require a statement of reason for the transfer. The bill was passed in the House and is now being considered in Senate Education.
House Bill 2767 would authorize the Secretary of State to transmit electronic versions of undeliverable mail to the circuit clerks of the state to minimize agency costs and streamline processes for the state. The bill was passed in the House and is now being reviewed in Senate Government Organization.
House Bill 2797 would clarify that there is statutory immunity for government agencies and officials from actions of third-parties using documents or records of governmental agencies for unlawful acts. The bill passed in the House and is being considered in Senate Judiciary.
House Bill 2798 would clarify provisions relating to candidates unaffiliated with a political party as it relates to certificates of announcement, preventing potential candidates registered as members of a political party from using the provisions of the section to seek candidacy for office. The bill passed in the House and is being considered in Senate Judiciary.
House Bill 3030 would clarify that appeals to the Supreme Court are a matter of right and that every party has an opportunity to be heard. The bill passed in the House and is being considered in Senate Judiciary.
House Bill 2833 would describe specific categories of information that must be included in the annual report of each professional licensing authority established in Chapter 30 of the West Virginia Code. This bill has passed in the House and is now pending in Senate Government Organization.
House Bill 2898 would authorize the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to request and obtain criminal background information about prospective employees of the Legislature. The bill passed in the House and is being considered in Senate Judiciary.
House Bill 2916 would authorize supervising entities to authorize reserve deputies, ambulance crew members, firefighters, rescue squad members and emergency service personnel to carry firearms. It specifies the training required for them to be eligible to carry a firearm and allows them to be reimbursed for the cost of the training. The bill passed in the House and is being considered in Senate Judiciary.
House Bill 2180 would authorize the issuing of special “In God We Trust” license plates for a $10 fee, as well as special “Friends of Coal” license plates. The bill passed the House and now will go to the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2208 would allow counties and municipalities to establish a joint airport hazard comprehensive plan for the purpose of satisfying requirements of federal aviation law, protecting the public safety or preventing hazardous conditions. This is to help with safety with takeoff and landing. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2366 would require the selling of Jackie Withrow Hospital by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources. Currently, the state owns seven long-term care facilities. The Department of Corrections uses part of the building. Delegate Nelson said this bill allows the Secretary of DHHR to look into selling the facility and most importantly, where to relocate the residents. Delegate Bates stood to educate the House about Jackie Withrow. She was a member of the House of Delegates and the first woman to chair the Health and Human Resources Committee. If passed and the hospital is closed, there is a special revenue account to be known as the “Jackie Withrow Long Term Care Facility Development Fund.” The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2475 would require the Auditor and other state, county, district or municipal officers to certify to the Tax Commissioner the identity of payees prior to issuance of payments, and authorize the Tax Commissioner to identify those payees who are not in good standing with the Tax Department and to require the Auditor or issuing officer to forward to the Tax Commissioner the lesser of the amount of tax interest and penalty owed or the remaining amount of payment. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2494 would provide that statewide school report cards are only to be made available to custodial parents and guardians of students upon request instead of automatically being sent to the parents and guardians. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2524 would improve the focus on school-level continuous improvement processes led by the principal. The instruction must include the standards for high quality schools, the school accreditation process and strategic planning for continuous improvement. In the bill, school systems are given the flexibility to establish their own systems of support and supervision of beginning principals and the current state mandated programs and processes are eliminated. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2679 would prohibit county park commissions from prohibiting firearms in their facilities and to clarify that a firearm may be carried by a person for self-defense in state parks, state forests and state recreational areas managed by the Department of Natural Resources. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2702 would excuse students from school for a family member’s illness provided an in depth excuse is provided by a doctor with a reason of why the student needs to be home with the family member. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2709 would authorize the City of South Charleston to levy a special district excise tax for the benefit of the South Charleston Park Place Economic Opportunity Development District. This would allow for a road expansion and development opportunities for an 80-acre pond and tech park. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2734 would authorize a method for the collection and remittance of property taxes related to dealer’s heavy equipment inventory. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2774 would allow aircraft and aircraft parts to be taxed at the same rate as aircraft property. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 2805 would declare certain claims against the state to be moral obligations of the state and to authorize payments therefor from the following funds: General Revenue Fund: $ 624,388.72, State Road Fund: $828,710.52, and Special Revenue Funds: $ 458,733.53 for a total of $1,911,832.77. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
House Bill 3093 would establish Broadband Enhancement and Expansion Policies. The bill would authorize the establishment of cooperative associations for the purpose of obtaining internet services. The bill passed in the House and will now got the Senate for more consideration.
Rejected
House Bill 2828 would have decreased the number of strikes a defendant has in a criminal proceeding from six to four from a panel of potential jurors and increased the number of strikes the prosecution has from two to four. The bill was rejected in the House 40-56.
