Day 44: With less than a week until 'crossover day,' the pace is increasing
Good morning and welcome back to 60 Days.
Today is February 23rd, 2023 — the 44th day of the West Virginia Legislature’s regular session.
This morning’s briefing is coming to you from your legislative listening posts in both Morgantown and Martinsburg.
We’re out of coffee jokes this morning, so grab a mug and let’s get started.
Gov. Jim Justice is pledging to approach the bill that splits the sprawling Department of Health and Human Resources into three agencies in what he said would be “a positive way.” He was asked about HB 2006 during a briefing just after the state Senate gave the bill final passage on Wednesday:
Senators voted 33-1 to send the bill to Governor Justice’s desk. The only “no” vote came from Senator Mike Caputo (D-Marion).
During his briefing, Gov. Justice said he just wants to make DHHR better. “I mean, if we can help more of our folks, you know, in regard to DHHR, that’s what we want to do. And we can do it better,” the governor said.
Last year, he vetoed a measure that would have split the agency in two. Gov. Justice then commissioned the million-dollar McChrystal Report that seems to have been shelved.
HB 2006 would create the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Health Facilities. Each would have its own cabinet-level secretary appointed by the governor.
Gov. Justice was also asked about SB 10, known as the “Campus Carry” bill, saying he won’t give a second thought to signing it. The House gave the measure final approval on Tuesday and sent it to Justice’s desk. It would allow those with concealed carry permits to carry firearms on public college and university campuses in the state.
The governor acknowledged that “campus carry” is controversial, but that he stands “rock solid” with the Second Amendment. He said the bill will likely only be with him for a matter seconds before he signs it.
“God forbid, but it may very well be that we’ve got somebody on that campus that has a firearm and something bad starts to happen and everything. It may save a bunch of lives,” Justice said siding with supporters who make the “good guy with a gun” argument.
Once Gov. Justice signs the bill, West Virginia will be the 12th states with “Campus Carry” on the books.
Looking ahead to this morning, the Senate Calendar seems rather spread out — with roughly the same number of bills on first, second and third reading. Here’s a look at some of the measures that caught our attention. Notably, three of them on the amendment stage (though no floor amendments are currently pending for any of them).
Com. Sub. for SB 268 - Relating to PEIA
Com Sub for SB 423 - Increasing salary for certain state employees
Com. Sub. for SB 617 - Relating to Intellectual and Development Disabilities Waiver Program Workforce Study
And another on first reading that’s quickly been catching attention:
SB 619 - Allowing teachers in public schools to teach intelligent design
For more on what’s scheduled for the floor session scheduled for 11 a.m., you can take a look at the full Senate Calendar.
Here is the Senate Committee schedule:
9 a.m. — Government Organization (208W)
Com. Sub. for SB 464: Authorizing locality pay to correctional officers working at facilities having critical staffing shortages
Com. Sub. for SB 634: Increasing value at which municipal property must be sold through public auction
Com. Sub. for SB 62: Establishing secondary location for racetrack video lottery terminals
Com. Sub. for SB 91: Creating Fire Service Recruitment and Retention Fund
Originating Bill 1: Authorizing DNR to issue lifetime nonresident hunting, fishing, and bear hunting licenses
Originating Bill 2: Requiring the state and its agencies to progress towards information technology modernization
Originating Bill 3: Ensuring that code properly reflects the department responsible for administration of certain programs
9 a.m. — Education (451M)
SB 422: Requiring public schools to publish curriculum online at beginning of each new school year
SB 688: Allowing BOE to hire retired teachers to assist with tutoring
SB 691: Using DHHR group home funds for cadet enrollment cost at Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy
HB 2005: Establishing the dual enrollment pilot program to be administered by the Higher Education Policy Commission and the Council for Community and Technical College Education in conjunction with the State Board of Education
HB 3218: Relating to requiring suicide prevention resources be printed on student identification cards
1 p.m. — Health and Human Resources (451M)
SB 476: Increasing number of managed care organizations in Mountain Health Trust
SB 521: Improving patient safety in medical cannabis program
SB 552: Relating to abortion
SB 610: Affordable Medicaid Buy-in Program
SB 650: Allowing physician assistants to own practice
SB 654: Requiring cooperation with child support enforcement as condition for public assistance
SB 679: Requiring Office of Inspector General to promulgate rules concerning location of forensic group homes
SB 684: Maintaining nursing board standards and accreditation
3 p.m. — Finance (451M)
Com. Sub. for HB 3308: Authorizing PSC consider and issue financing orders to certain utilities to permit the recovery of certain costs through securitization via consumer rate relief bonds
Com. Sub. for SB 440: Authorizing DOH pay current obligations from State Road Fund
3:20 p.m. — Judiciary (208W)
Com. Sub. for SB 572: Codifying common law cause of action on public nuisance
Com. Sub. for SB 660: Establishing aggravated felony offense of reckless driving resulting in death
Com. Sub. for SB 547: Increasing penalties for drug possession and updating list of offenses
Com. Sub. for SB 220: Kratom Consumer Protection Act
Com. Sub. for SB 681: Clarifying that juvenile competency determination process extends to status offenders
The House of Delegates is due to convene at 11 a.m. The full floor agenda is here. The following bills are on third reading, the passage stage:
H. B. 2827 - Make public charter schools eligible for Safe Schools Funds
Com. Sub. for H. B. 3337 - Prohibiting additional drug and alcohol treatment facilities and services in a certain county
H. B. 3340 - To revise the West Virginia Tax Increment Financing Act
H. B. 3353 - Relating to the limitations on the financial relationships with foreign entities that have values antithetical to those of the State of West Virginia
H. B. 3387 - Extending the moratorium on the authorization of new convention and visitors bureaus for an additional two years
H. B. 3391 - Establishing filing deadlines for appeals of property tax valuations and issues involving property tax classification and taxability to the West Virginia Office of Tax Appeals
H. B. 3431 - Eliminating the requirement that the apprenticeship training tax credit base be limited to wages paid to apprentices in the construction trades
The remainder of the floor docket can be found on the House Special Calendar.
Here’s the House committee schedule:
9:00 a.m. – the Committee on Banking and Insurance will meet in the Judiciary Committee meeting room, 410M
10:45 a.m. – the Committee on Rules will meet behind the Chamber
1 p.m. – the Committee on Energy and Manufacturing will meet in the Judiciary Committee meeting room, 410M
1 p.m. – the Committee on Technology and Infrastructure will meet in the Education Committee meeting room, 432M
3 p.m. – the Economic Development and Tourism Committee will meet in the Finance Committee meeting room, 460M
4 p.m. – the Committee on Finance will meet in the committee meeting room, 460M
The House Judiciary Committee is set to hold yet another public hearing — this one on what’s long been known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA. The hearing on HB 3042 is scheduled for tomorrow at 4 p.m.
Lawmakers on the House Judiciary panel advanced the measure in a meeting yesterday.
While the HB 3042’s short title doesn’t come right out and call it RFRA, similar legislation has been floating around the West Virginia statehouse for years. Just a few pages long, the measure would create a legal test for people or corporations claiming that a state or local law interferes with a “sincerely held” religious belief.
Opponents of the bill say it would legalize discrimination against the LGBTQ community, potentially in terms of housing or employment. LGBTQ rights advocates have made significant advancements in recent years on the municipal level to pass such protections based on sexual identity and gender expression, but those efforts would be flung into question under HB 3042.
And finally: Seeing as how we are both Sons of Marshall, we couldn’t possibly overlook the governor’s approval of HB 2412, according to the legislature’s record-keeping system online. That bill creates an annual remembrance day on November 14th — the day in 1970 when the plane carrying Marshall University’s football team and others from the Huntington community crashed, killing all 75 people on board. It remains the worst sports disaster in U.S. history.
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See you back here tomorrow morning.