Day 17: Food dye bill could clear the House today

The West Virginia ... Weakly Legislative Daybook for February 28, 2025

Feb 28, 2025

Today is Friday, February 28, 2025 — the 17th day of the West Virginia Legislature’s regular session.

Today is Independent Living Day at the Capitol.

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9:00 a.m. — House Finance holds its final budget hearing of the week, finishing up with the Departments of Health and Health Facilities hearing that started yesterday.
9:00 a.m. — H.B. 2683 is among the bills on House Judiciary’s agenda. The GOP bill prohibits rank choice voting, a method of vote counting that supporters say would give a wider array of candidates a chance to win elections. Rank choice voting is not used in West Virginia, but it is in other states and WV Democrats say municipalities should be allowed to experiment with it.
9:45 a.m. — A bill that would ban camping in outdoor spaces has appeared on a committee agenda for the first time this session. House Judiciary’s Legal Services Subcommittee is to hold a hearing on H.B. 2382. The bill would make camping, sleeping or storing property on public land a misdemeanor. Following last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing bans on outdoor camping, dozens of cities around the country have implemented them, including Wheeling and Clarksburg. Critics say such bans criminalize homelessness.

(CORRECTION: The original post included Morgantown as implementing a camping ban, but there was a successful petition drive to put the issue to voters. Morgantown’s ban is on hold until city elections in April)

10:00 a.m. — Gov. Morrisey holds a press conference. If you have a mind, you can stream it on the Governor’s Facebook, X, or YouTube pages.
10:00 a.m. — Senators start their floor session an hour early because … it’s Friday. Guess they’re more motivated to get their weekend started. Anyway, a several bills on the Senate Floor Calendar stand out:
- Gov. Morrisey’s “defining men and women” bill, S.B. 456, is on second reading, the amendment stage — meaning chances are that it will come up for a vote on passage on Monday. Opponents say it restricts the rights of transgender people.
- Multiple election-related measures make their floor debut today. They’re getting a first reading having been advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday.
  - S. B. 484 - Relating to disclosures and penalties associated with use of synthetic media and artificial intelligence
  - S. B. 486 - Clarifying eligibility requirements to vote in WV elections
  - S. B. 488 - Clarifying definition of electioneering
  - S. B. 489 - Relating to election law violation complaints and procedures
  - S. B. 490 - The state Senate’s version of the measure prohibiting rank choice voting in elections in West Virginia.
11:00 a.m. The House starts its floor session at the usual time with several bills we’ve been watching on the docket.
- The House’s food dye bill gets an up or down vote. H.B. 2354 is on third reading. It would ban synthetic dyes from the food you buy at the grocery store. They are linked to negative impacts in children.
- Not sure if this is on purpose or merely a coincidence, but H. B. 2006 is running in tandem with the Senate’s version of the “defining men and women” bill. As in the upper chamber, it’s also on second reading in the House today with a vote on passage likely on Monday.
- H. B. 2400 is on second reading as well. It would prohibit the delivery of unsolicited absentee ballot applications to any person who has not specifically requested one from the county clerk. No one asked me, but it seems like this would be hard to enforce. The forms are readily available on the WV Secretary of State’s website.
- The House bill addressing school discipline, H. B. 2515, is on track for a potential vote on Monday. It’s on second reading and is similar to a bill that died on Final Night last year.

No Senate committees are meeting today, but a few more House panels are meeting in the afternoon. Find the full House committee schedule here.

Finally, in case you’re wondering whatever happened to the resolution renaming Spruce Knob for President Trump, HCR 33 remains parked in House Rules.

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