MORGANTOWN — The House and Senate honored WVU on Tuesday and passed bills to reduce drug costs, give the public a look at roadwork spending and protect rape victims, among others.
The Senate marked WVU Day with a resolution, SR 10, marking the day.
Sen. Ron Stollings, D-Boone, noted some highlights form the resolution: WVU is the state’s first and largest land grant university. It’s a major research intuition but priced below the national average, offering 370 majors.
He said, “It’s poised to help to help with our future economy, certainly our health system and our education system.”
WVU leaders joined with senators at the front of the chamber to receive the resolution and pose for pictures. WVU leaders also gathered with delegates at the other end of the Capitol to receive a citation for WVU Day.
Senate bill
SB 125 passed unanimously and goes to the House, Judiciary chair and lead sponsor Charles Trump, R-Morgan, said the bill enhances the state’s rape shield statute. In a sex offense prosecution, it prohibits a court to order a physical or gynecological exam of the victim/accuser and says that refusal doesn’t serve as basis to exclude evidence otherwise obtained, except where constitutionally required.
Trump said the bill is a response to a state Supreme Court case from 10 years ago, which allows a defendant to such an order. The victim is not a party in the case, he said, its state against defendant, and such an order is offensive.
These orders deter victims form reporting rapes, he said, and the exams, months or years after the physical trauma has healed, are useless.
Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, a co-sponsor, praised passage. “Once again we see West Virginia moving to the forefront in the nation of taking action to look out for our victims of rape.”
House bills
HB 4017 requires the state auditor to establish a searchable website for the public to see and track state spending on road jobs. It passed 99-0.
HB 4062 requires drug manufacturers to pass any compensation such as rebates or discounts now conveyed to middlemen, such as pharmacy benefit managers, directly to the patient via reduced copays or premium cuts. It passed 99-0.
HB 4130 sets up an expedited process for the state to bid out contracts arising out of states of emergency, to accelerate the pace of rehabbing and rebuilding affected homes. It passed 99-0.
HB 4108 stirred the only debate of the day, as Delegate Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, spent time criticizing the bill and his own party’s leadership for running it.McGeehan crossed leadership last year by criticizing Judiciary Committee leadership, and lost his Judiciary post and a committee chair in the process. He has only one committee assignment this session.
The bill allows various healthcare organizations that are exempt from certificate of need approval to also be free of the $1,000 fee to apply for the exemption.
Certificates of need (CONs are a regulatory process for specified proposed projects and services designed to contain healthcare costs and avoid duplication of services, according to the state Health Care Authority.
But McGeehan called the bill “laughable” because it pecks at the margins of the longstanding GOP platform point to do away with CONs. “Certificates of need are the greatest obstacle to healthcare investment in the state,: he said, and essentially outlaw competition.
“if you really want to see the healthcare industry improve, invest and provide a plethora of options to the citizens of the state,” he said. “We are denying options to the consumer.”
Undaunted, he added, “I really put this at the foot of leadership. Sometimes real leadership is too hard.”
That prompted an angry response from Majority Leader Amy Summers, R-Taylor. She’s lead sponsor of a bill to end CONs, but sees this bill as important. Exemptions are automatic, she said, so it’s wrong for the Health Care Authority to charge $1,000 for a company to apply to get the exemption.
“This is bureaucracy at its finest,” she said. “It’s a funding mechanism for the Health Care Authority.”
McGeehan did join everyone else from both parties to pass HB 4108 unanimoulsy.
All bills passed go to the Senate.
Fire code bill
HB 4275, a bill to update the Fire Commission’s rules for state fire code, was on second reading and amendment. Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer. D-Monongalia, and Steve Westfall, R-Jackson, have co-sponsored an amendment to remove a provision in the bill that would limit the use of Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters in new construction.
That proposed limitation has stirred controversy, with testimony at a Monday public hearing talking about the potential fire hazards if the limitation is passed.
Based on prior conversations off the floor, Summers, acting for leadership, moved to have consideration of the amendment held for a day. The sponsors didn’t challenge it and the bill remains on second reading on Wednesday.
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