As of 4 p.m., Friday, March 31, 2017, the 52nd day of the regular session of the 83rd Legislature, 693 bills have been introduced in the West Virginia Senate. Of those bills, 79 have passed this week and have been sent to the House for further consideration. The Senate has also completed legislation on ten bills. Among those:
House Bill 2506 allows 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.
House Bill 2774 allows aircraft and aircraft parts to be taxed at the same rate as aircraft property.
House Bill 2811 clarifies that tanks having a capacity of 210 barrels or less that contain oil or brine water are not regulated under this bill.
House Bill 2001 modifies the ethics and purchasing laws to provide more transparency in government.
House Bill 2459 would clarify certain requirements of the Certificate of Need process.
House Bill 2486 would provide that when a party’s health condition is at issue in a civil action, medical records and releases for medical information may be requested and required without court order.
House Bill 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.
House Bill 2721 would remove the cost limitation on projects completed by the Division of Highways.
House Bill 2722 would eliminate the financial limitations on utilizing the design-build program for highway construction.
House Bill 3106 relates to increasing the number of limited video lottery terminals.
Bills Passed by the Senate
Senate Bill 38 would create a tax credit for new businesses locating on post-mine sites for the first five years after locating to the site.
Senate Bill 40 would require protocols for responding to after-school injuries or emergencies to be included in school crisis response plans.
Senate Bill 57 would continue providing a personal income tax adjustment to the gross income of certain retirees receiving pensions from defined pension plans that terminated and are being paid a reduced maximum benefit guarantee.
Senate Bill 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).
Senate Bill 69 would create the sexual assault survivors’ bill of rights regarding medical forensic examinations, sexual assault evidence collection kits and other similar topics.
Senate Bill 74 would allow fire departments to charge fees for service calls.
Senate Bill 167 would allow law enforcement to obtain DNA samples, taken by buccal swab rather than drawing blood, from arrestees for certain criminal offenses. The bill also expands DNA sample collection to all those convicted of a felony offense.
Senate Bill 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.
Senate Bill 210 would provide for the fair distribution of costs for county development by authorizing the assessment and collection of fees to offset the cost of development, including industrial development, within affected counties.
Senate Bill 238 would increase the tax credits allowed for rehabilitation of certified historic structures.
Senate Bill 282 would direct the Office of Administrative Hearings to amend and promulgate a current legislative rule relating to its Appeal Procedures.
Senate Bill 286 would address factors to be considered in making a determination as to a grant of visitation to a grandparent.
Senate Bill 294 would create the Community Sustainability Investment Pilot Program as a matching grant program to foster the development of creative communities in West Virginia.
Senate Bill 316 would require individuals receiving unemployment compensation to seek out seasonal employment.
Senate Bill 333 would require certain licensed facilities to access the controlled substances monitoring database.
Senate Bill 343 would prohibit transportation network company drivers from soliciting rides or occupying designated cab stands and require such drivers to register annually with the local county commission at the commission’s discretion or face criminal penalties.
Senate Bill 369 would permit surface owners to purchase the mineral interests that lay below the property when the mineral interest becomes subject to a tax lien.
Senate Bill 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.
Senate Bill 380 would create a two-year pilot program permitting recreational vehicles on designated roads and trails in Cabwaylingo State Forest after purchase of special permits. The bill also provides for designation of campgrounds and tent sites to be used by the ATV and ORV users.
Senate Bill 386 would authorize medical cannabis in West Virginia.
Senate Bill 388 would identify additional persons who may possess firearms on school property in parking areas.
Senate Bill 399 would prohibit political subdivisions from enacting local ordinances regulating benefits employers provided to their employees.
Senate Bill 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.
Senate Bill 402 would generally prohibit covenants not to compete between physicians and hospitals.
Senate Bill 406 would amend the way savings derived from the filling of generic drugs are distributed.
Senate Bill 409 would modify exemptions to the consumer sales and service tax and repeal the personal income tax.
Senate Bill 412 would provide that reporting certified payroll information for persons employed under the West Virginia Jobs Act is not required, but that other information as to persons employed may be submitted.
Senate Bill 428 would provide the conditions under which a pharmacist may partially fill a prescription, and the limitations on subsequently filling the remaining portion of that prescription.
Senate Bill 433 would permit counties to increase the excise tax on the privilege of transferring real property.
Senate Bill 437 would discontinue the West Virginia Racing Commission special account known as the West Virginia Greyhound Breeding Development Fund and transfer all moneys in the Fund to the state Excess Lottery Revenue Fund for appropriation by the Legislature.
Senate Bill 446 would authorize the Governor to issue executive orders to furlough state employees. It would give the Governor the authority to declare a fiscal emergency.
Senate Bill 453 would add the classification and base salaries of certain civilian employees of the WV State Police Forensic Laboratory.
Senate Bill 465 relates to medical professional liability and would require a medical malpractice claim against a physician to be signed by a different physician of the same field of study.
Senate Bill 469 would prohibit waste of game animals, birds or fish.
Senate Bill 477 would increase the State Road Fund by increasing Division of Motor Vehicle (DMV) administrative fees and motor fuel excise taxes, including titling, registration, driver licensing, identification card issuance and abstract fees. Every five years, the DMV fees will increase based on the U.S. Department of Labor Consumer Price Index.
Senate Bill 482 would grant authority to the Parkways Authority to issue revenue bonds and refunding bonds for the purpose of financing parkway projects within the state constructed or improved by the Department of Transportation or the authority or refunding bonds issued in connection with any parkway project, as well as clarify notice and public meeting requirements and procedures for fixing or increasing tolls or fees.
Senate Bill 484 would eliminate the exemption from sales tax for certain sales of materials acquired for use in state highway projects, as well as increases the sales and service tax and use tax rates by one-half cent from 6% to 6.5% to help stabilize the state budget.
Senate Bill 493 would provide an increase in compensation for conservation officers.
Senate Bill 501 would create a Minority Economic Development Advisory Team to assist the Director of the Economic Development Authority in developing and implementing a procedure to address employment and economic development problems of minority populations of West Virginia.
Senate Bill 507 would permit pharmacists to inform customers about lower cost alternatives to prescribed drugs and limit the ability of pharmacists and pharmacy benefit managers to charge retail prices for drugs in excess of the price paid for the drugs by said pharmacists or pharmacy benefit managers.
Senate Bill 515 would modify the manner that notice of parole hearings and the release of parolees may be made.
Senate Bill 521 would authorize Public Defender Services to approve vouchers of attorneys who represent indigent criminal defendants, create conflict public defender corporations, contract for legal services and require contemporaneous time records.
Senate Bill 526 would mandate insurance coverage for medical foods for amino acid-based formulas.
Senate Bill 534 would create incentives for local governments to consolidate in an effort to save money on local services.
Senate Bill 539 would make significant revisions to the law regulating election financing by modifying provisions relating to receipts and expenditures in elections, electioneering communications, reporting requirements and financial statements, among other modifications.
Senate Bill 562 would reform the liability of municipalities and county commissions for civil actions brought by reason of a slip and fall injury due to defect or disrepair of municipal or county owned property.
Senate Bill 563 would amend the requirements for contracts that allow for balloon payments, require proof of mailing of notices to debtors that consumers are represented by legal counsel and prohibit class action lawsuits under the Consumer Credit and Protection Act.
Senate Bill 566 would provide payment to certain claimants who provided commodities and/or services to the state, but who were not paid because the agency reached its budget limit.
Senate Bill 576 would provide an exception to waste for certain oil and gas development and encourage the efficient and economic development of oil and gas resources by providing that a lawful use of mineral property that has been consented to by two thirds of the mineral interest owners is permissible, is not waste, and is not a trespass.
Senate Bill 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.
Senate Bill 586 would change the annual fees for custom slaughters, custom processors or distributors to triennial fees.
Senate Bill 588 would create a stable funding source for each county assessor to maintain and update paper and digital tax maps, promote the sale and distribution of the paper and digital tax maps for the benefit of the public and override any nonconformity between the language of the statute and the associated legislative rule.
Senate Bill 601 would adjust limits on consumer loans in West Virginia for which certain finance charges may be imposed.
Senate Bill 602 would create a uniform system of recording and indexing of fictitious names used by sole proprietors in this state.
Senate Bill 606 would exclude seasonal amusement park workers from the definition of “employee.”
Senate Bill 609 would generally create additional flexibility for school systems in the use of school aid funds.
Senate Bill 614 would provide loan insurance for commercial loans used for the expansion of broadband service to unserved or underserved areas.
Senate Bill 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.
Senate Bill 622 would allow the Tax Commissioner or his designee to withdraw a lien or issue a certificate of release of lien upon certain determinations.
Senate Bill 628 would provide funding for the Statewide Interoperable Radio Network through additional court costs to be imposed in criminal cases.
Senate Bill 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.
Senate Bill 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.
Senate Bill 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.
Senate Bill 636 would authorize the State Fire Commission to establish a pilot project program to address problems facing volunteer fire departments.
Senate Bill 637 would permit certain private club licensees that operate tourist destination and resort facilities to obtain one private resort license for the sale of alcoholic liquors throughout the licensed premises whether inside a building or outside in public view, and would further to permit 17-year-old patrons to enter the licensed premises unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian at private resorts, subject to certain conditions, and certain private clubs with designated nonalcohol areas.
Senate Bill 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.
Senate Bill 656 would create the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act to allow ACT or the College Board to only receive payment or other consideration for certain information if they secure the affirmative written consent of the parent or student, given in response to clear and conspicuous notice, solely for providing the student access to employment, educational scholarships or financial aid and post-secondary educational opportunities.
Senate Bill 658 would establish a procedure whereby mobile and manufactured homes may be retitled provided certain conditions are met.
Senate Bill 664 would remove the current $200,000 limitation on the amount collected by the county via the hotel occupancy tax that may be used for medical care and emergency services.
Senate Bill 667 would limit the authority of the Attorney General to disclose certain information provided by the Tax Commissioner unless it is subject to a protective order or agreement restricting the use of the disclosed information to the proceeding, arbitration or litigation.
Senate Bill 671 would reestablish the West Virginia Anatomical Board.
Senate Bill 685 would create a one-day special license for charitable events to sell non-intoxicating beer.
Senate Bill 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.
Senate Bill 687 would make several modifications to law generally relating to coal mining, coal mine safety and environmental protection.
Senate Bill 688 would correct technical errors in current law related to solid waste management.
Senate Bill 689 would create a small claim payment system within the Division of Highways to investigate and pay limited types of claims for damage to vehicles caused by road conditions.
Senate Bill 690 would authorize the Superintendent of the West Virginia State Police to charge fees for certain use of the facilities under his or her direction.
Senate Bill 691 would define “off-highway vehicle” and “off-road vehicle,” as well as create a digital road map that may be searched by road and vehicle type.
Senate Bill 693 would create the West Virginia Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act to setting forth a procedure for disclosing digital assets and electronic communications after an individual has deceased.
