From the Well | February 8, 2023

Centrally situated between the chambers of the House of Delegates and Senate,

The Well is where information is often shared, alliances are formed, and deals are made.

86th West Virginia Legislature

February 8, 2023

Hours later, the Senate passed the tax proposal, Senate Bill 424, in bipartisan fashion, 33-0. To do so, Senators suspended constitutional rules requiring bills to be read and considered three consecutive days.

“In the Senate, we get things done,” Senate President Craig Blair said after a morning news conference at the Capitol.

It was the latest move in the back-and-forth discussion among the Governor, Delegates, and Senators over tax reform.

Governor Jim Justice’s initial response was receptive.

“I think it’s wonderful the Senate has come up with their plan. It’s got a lot of really, really good points,” Governor Justice said.

“You’ll never hear from me that the plan put forward is ‘dead on arrival’ or sarcastic things.”

The Governor said it needs to be examined more thoroughly.

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Counsel said representatives of the state Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) raised concerns that the volume increase was not quite high enough to cover some of the wines the agency is seeing.

The committee substitute increased the alcohol content to 15.5% because ABC has been ticketing many wines being sold and distributed that were 15.3% or 15.4% alcohol by volume.

Delegate Tom Fast of Fayette County opposed the committee substitute, saying people are breaking the law and getting ticketed, and the Committee’s response is to increase the alcohol content of wine.

“So what happens when they start selling 16% wine?” asked Fast.

ABC had no representative at the committee meeting, and Counsel said he had no additional information.

Delegate Fast reminded the Committee that a bill just passed the House Judiciary Committee that would make a car crash that killed a pregnant woman and her unborn baby count as two cases of manslaughter, not one.

He added, “Establishments are selling wine above the legal alcohol limit. Now they want the law changed, not enforced. What’s next?”

One Delegate spoke in opposition, stating that 25% of the car crashes that kill 40,000 people a year are because of intoxication.

Delegate Mike Pushkin of Kanawha County said more stringent DUI laws passed in the past several years have worked.

“We’re decreasing the number of drunk drivers in West Virginia,” he said.

The three would be the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Health Facilities. The House Finance Committee voted to advance the bill Wednesday afternoon following about an hour of discussion.

“This bill is about three years in the works,” said Delegate Matthew Rohrbach of Cabell County.

House Bill 2006 rearranges of department that have been within DHHR. And the bill in the House significantly empowers the Office of Inspector General in the newly established health department.

Administrative offices, such as payroll, continue to be shared.

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Counsel said the State Police requested the bill to better facilitate law enforcement working together across jurisdictional boundaries. It affects all state criminal justice agencies.

The bill was second-referenced to the Judiciary Committee.

Bill broadens scope of mutual-aid agreements

The House Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security Committee passed a bill on Wednesday that already passed the Senate.

Committee substitute for Senate Bill 298 clarifies that local emergency services can enter into mutual-aid agreements for reciprocal aid in bordering counties of other states.

The emergency aid would be for day-to-day support for fire and emergency medical service calls. The aid would not have to be based on a state or federally declared emergency.

The bill was second-referenced to the House Judiciary Committee.

Legislation designates State Police lab for DUI testing

The House of Delegates Committee on Veterans and Homeland Security passed House Bill 3152, which makes the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory the certifying entity for secondary chemical tests relating to driving while intoxicated (DWI), replacing the Bureau for Public Health for testing.

The bill also strikes a reference to the drug propoxyphene and use of urine analysis.

Erin Feazell, a toxicologist for the State Police Forensic Lab, said state code currently says the Bureau for Public Health approves testing, but the State Police provides all of the research.

“We are the decision-makers,” she said.

Delegates had questions about why propoxyphene and urine analysis were being stricken from the statute.

Ms. Feazell said propoxyphene, better known as Darvon, no longer is manufactured and that urine analysis is not an acceptable because urine is a waste product. She added that urine analysis has been removed in other parts of the code, but it was an oversight that it was still in the section.

The bill was second-referenced to Judiciary.

House Bill 2630 will allow county government entities known as county councils to refer to themselves as county commissions. The West Virginia Constitution provides a way for county commissions to reform themselves into a different type of tribunal for business transactions required by the county commission.

Just one county has a reformed tribunal referred to as a county council.

The bill does not modify the form or membership of the council, but it simply authorizes it to call itself a commission.

The committee recommended the bill for passage by the full House, but the bill first must be considered by the Committee on Government Organization.

Bill syncs city, county elections 

House Bill 2782 requires municipal elections to be held concurrently with regularly scheduled primary or general elections.

Currently, the state has more than 200 municipalities, 105 of which have elections during 2023. The Secretary of State’s General Counsel, Donald “Deak” Kersey, told the Committee that the bill as introduced might be unconstitutional because it would result in municipal elective officials extending the terms of their offices.

Additionally, in some cases, municipalities have precincts that do not line up with county precincts. Consequently, the adoption of the bill will require municipal charter changes.

To avoid constitutional concerns, the Committee adopted an amendment to make the bill effective July 2026. After amending the bill, the Committee voted to recommend it for passage. However, the bill must first go to the Committee on Government Organization.

Bill prohibits cities from duplicating fees

House Bill 2842 repeals §8-13-4, a law that authorizes municipalities to require a municipal license or tax for which any reason a state license is required so long as the license does not exceed the amount of the state license.

Susan Economou, Deputy Executive Director of the West Virginia Municipal League, told the Committee that passage of the bill would prohibit municipalities from not only being unable to require professional licenses for persons doing business in the municipality but also would prohibit a municipal business license.

She indicated that the inability to require a business license is likely to put a municipality’s citizens at risk from unscrupulous and potentially dangerous actors.

Despite her concerns, the Committee recommended the bill for passage. The bill has a second reference to the Committee on Government Organization.

Bill gives cities authority to establish refreshment areas

The Committee recommended passage of House Bill 2985, which authorizes municipalities to establish outdoor refreshment areas for the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

A municipality with a population of more than 50,000 may have up to six outdoor refreshment areas encompassing 640 contiguous acres. A municipality with a population of 50,000 or less may have up to three outdoor refreshment areas encompassing 320 contiguous acres.

Approval of an application requires an affirmative vote of a majority of the governing body of the municipality.

Applicants for a permit to designate a refreshment area must have a Class A license liquor license. The applicant must be approved by the municipality and receive an outdoor refreshment area designation by the Commissioner of the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission. The Commissioner may not charge a fee for the issuance of the designation.

In other business, the Committee rejected a proposed amendment requiring a $1,000 annual fee for permit holders. The bill has a second reference to the Judiciary Committee.

House Bill 3068 establishes the West Virginia STEM Scholarship Act, which provides debt forgiveness for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic (STEM) teachers. The maximum debt forgiveness is $10,000.

STEM teachers qualify for $5,000 in scholarship funds by teaching in a public-school STEM position for five years Teachers holding STEM specialization for 10 years are eligible for up to $10,000 in debt relief or an additional $5,000 if a five-year option were taken after five years of initial employment.

Delegate Dave Foggin, a Wood County physics teacher, argued HB3068 favors STEM teachers over teachers of other disciplines or veteran teachers who have no higher education debt.

“If you want to attract more teachers, give them more money,” he said.

House Bill 3084 makes statutory “clean-ups” in the state’s 2019 public charter schools legislation, increasing from 90 percent to 99 percent the allowance of money, based on school-funding calculations, for charter students.

The bill allows charter students to “participate on the same basis as other public-school students in “non-charter” schools’ extracurricular activities in the same attendance area as the charter school.

The bill allows charter schools to sponsor after-school programs without being regulated as childcare facilities.

HB3084 establishes “a framework and procedures for interactions between public charter schools and county boards of education to facilitate cooperation for shared services, training, and information and to ensure the prompt transfer of student records, including IEPs…” to maximize student learning. The Committee extended that interaction to also include “non-public” schools.

House Bill 3098 requires the state Department of Education to design a “single, comprehensive statewide student assessment program aligned to the core curricular content” in West Virginia academic standards with a focus on literacy and numeracy fluency.

Results of the End of Year (EOY) Assessment would be provided to the U.S. Department of Education, although informal assessments would be conducted three times per year.

HB3098 states West Virginia’s standardized testing doesn’t accurately measure students’ “grade-level performance, learning gains, academic progress, or college readiness.”

House Bill 3113 requires high school students’ completion of a one-credit personal finance course for high school graduation.

House Bill 3224 allows West Virginia Junior College to accept PROMISE scholarship recipients.

35th Day — February 14: Last day to introduce bills in the House. House Rule 91a does not apply to originating or supplementary appropriation bills, and does not apply to Senate or House resolutions or concurrent resolutions.

41st Day — February 20: Last day to introduce bills in the Senate. Senate Rule 14 does not apply to originating or supplementary appropriation bills and does not apply to Senate or House resolutions or concurrent resolutions.

47th Day — February 26: Bills due out of committees in house of origin to ensure three full days for readings.

50th Day — March 1: Last day to consider bill on third reading in house of origin. Does not include budget or supplementary appropriation bills.

60th Day —  March 11: Adjournment at midnight.