As of 3 p.m. on Friday, February 22nd, the House of Delegates has introduced 1,134 bills. Of those bills, 143 have been passed.
House Bill 2768 was passed unanimously. This bill would make technical changes to the 2018 Opioid Reduction Act passed by the WV Legislature last year, as well as address inconsistencies with how therapy services in the state administer Schedule II opioid drugs. The bill would also ensure compliance with federal code.
House Bill 2834 was also passed in the House on this day. This bill would modernize the minimum spacing provisions for the drilling of state horizontal deep wells. The bill would impose limitations for what the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission can do as far as regulation of these horizontal oil and gas wells.
House Bill 2849 would define the scope in which a nuclear pharmacy technician can operate. It defines the nuclear pharmacy technician’s certificate and specifies the duties each category of pharmacy technician is permitted to perform under supervision of a licensed pharmacist. This bill was also passed and advanced.
House Bill 2486 would remove barriers to employment for individuals with criminal records who seek licensure or certification in an occupation. This bill could be used to help West Virginians seek employment, providing that their criminal conviction is not directly relevant to the job that they are seeking licensure for, and that the criminal conviction is not sexual or violent in nature.
House Bill 2975 was also passed on this day. This bill would update current statute to include employees and contract employees of a day report center to those prohibited from engaging in sexual acts with prisoners, those persons under their supervision. Currently, correctional officers and guards are prohibited from engaging in sexual acts with prisoners or subordinates. This bill would just add day report center employees to that list.
House Bill 2730 would issue a pay raise to the state police, WV K-12 school teachers, and WV school personnel starting this fiscal year. The raise would be five percent more than the aggregate salary of these state employees.
Senate Bill 444 would increase supplemental appropriations to the Department of Health and Human (DHHR) Resources Laboratory Services Fund by $885,554. It would also increase the supplemental appropriations to the DHHR’s West Virginia Birth-to-Three Fund by $885,554.
Senate Bill 443 would apply to federal block grants in terms of how the state of West Virginia uses them for DHHR’s provided mental health services, childcare, and other miscellaneous items.
Senate Bill 442 was another supplemental appropriations bill that involves the WV Department of Revenue. This bill would allow the Insurance Commissioner to utilize federal block grant money.
Senate Bill 13 would restore $11 million to the purse funds for racetrack horses in the racing industry. This bill would restore money that was taken from the purse funds by the state in 2005 to help fund needed worker’s compensation cases.
House Bill 2532 would grant West Virginians renewing their drivers’ licenses or vehicle registrations the ability to make a contribution in the amount of $3, $5 or $10 to the West Virginia Farm Bureau, the West Virginia 4 H Program, or the West Virginia Future Farmers of America Education Foundation.
House Bill 2540 would make it unlawful for any person through carelessness, neglect or otherwise to let any edible portion of any big game or game fish to go to waste needlessly. The bill also provides for penalties and gives the Division of Natural Resources the authority to enforce this law.
House Bill 2541 was also passed this day. This bill updates safety measures for public K-12 schools in West Virginia. House Bill 2541 would to require county boards to implement a safety plan for public schools, containing the following requirements: visible room numbers on the outside of the building, provide updated school floor plans to local first responders and law enforcement, and provide active shooter and first aid training to teachers and students.
House Bill 2807 would provide a reducing modification to the West Virginia adjusted gross income of a shareholder of a Subchapter S corporation engaged in banking business in WV.
House Bill 2829 would terminate the state severance tax on the extraction of limestone and sandstone starting in 2021. The bill comes with a fiscal note of $1.2 million, but because of the Division of Highways being the largest purchaser of limestone and sandstone in the state, a lot of that cost would be directly funneled back into the state.
House Bill 2901 would allow a licensed racetrack to establish a secondary location for racetrack video lottery terminals and racetrack table games at a location within the county as approved by the lottery commission.
House Bill 2934 would authorize licensing in the state for interactive wagering. Casinos in the state would be allowed to create applications to allow individuals to wager digitally on a mobile device or desktop. There would be a 15% privilege tax on these games.
Bills Being Considered in the House
House Bill 2452 would establish a cyber security framework within certain state agencies. This bill would allow the West Virginia Office of Technology to establish a Cybersecurity Office within their department to facilitate a software program to strengthen the cyber security checks within state agency devices. This bill would be applied to all state agencies except for institutions of higher education, the county board of education, the WV Legislature, and the WV Judiciary. Agencies would be subject to cyber security risk assessment, adherence to enterprise standards, and plans of action in the event of a cyber-attack.
House Bill 3132 would provide that medical providers serving no more than 30 patients would not need to comply with certain legislative rules and only attest to services being provided. House Bill 3132 would also mandate that licensed behavioral health centers providing office-based medication-assisted treatment are exempt from the separate registration process for other office-based medication-assisted treatment programs, and instead only have to attest to their services.
House Bill 2079 would increase the maximum number of cannabis grower, processor and dispensary permits. The bill would also remove the requirements that licenses be limited in regions of the state. The bill would increase the maximum number of state cannabis growers and processors from 10 to 50. It would increase the increase the maximum number of cannabis dispensers to 165 in the state.
House Bill 2433 would mandate that schools in the state of West Virginia would start no earlier than Labor Day and end no later than Memorial Day.
Senate Bill 1 would increase access to state community and technical schools by providing financial aid and payment tuition for West Virginia individuals who qualify. The bill would require the WV Chamber of Commerce to research underserved fields in the state that need more employees in order to ensure that the state’s community and technical schools have applicable programs. The bill would also create the WV Grant Program and create the WV Invests Fund.
House Bill 2397 would increase the ratio for licensed psychologists to students in a given WV classroom. The bill would increase the ratio of these licensed professionals by 2021 to be 1 psychologist to every 500 students.
House Bill 2853 would require the Library Commission to establish the West Virginia Program for Open Education Resources to encourage and facilitate the use of open education resource materials in both higher education and public schools.
House Bill 3127 would allow homeschooled and private school students to participate in public school extracurricular activities that are within their district.
