CHARLESTON – Saturday was the last day of the 60-day legislative session. The day’s highlights included the death of the medical cannabis bill and the passage of the foster care bill (both described in a separate story), the budget bill, and the insulin bill.
SB 150 is the budget bill. The Senate took up the House amendment, made some additional changes and returned it to the House for further concurrence.
The governor’s General Fund budget in the original bill was $4.585 billon. The House version went a bit lower at $4.579 billion but fully funded the plan to clear the IDD Waiver wait list of 1,000 people ($19 million) and the foster care bill ($16.8 million).
On the Senate floor, Finance chair Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, said the newest version takes advantage of the additional $20 million from the governor’s Friday budget update to fund foster care. The Senate’s revised figure was $4.574 billion.
When the House took it up, Finance chair Eric Householder, R-Berkeley, said “The priorities of the House have been maintained.” He referred to the IDD Waiver and foster care, along with the planned new Mountaineer ChalleNGe Academy in Montgomery.
Delegate John Doyle, D-Jefferson, commended the bill but criticized the process, citing the former customary practice of working out the budget following the regular session, with negotiations in various conference subcommittees.
“I would like to commend the Finance chairman for this product,” he said. And pledged his support. But he also advocated for a return to the former process. “We need a full, free and open budget conference.”
Delegate Isaac Sponaugle, D-Pendleton, previously voted against it because it included no money for preparing for the coronavirus. He pledged to switch to green this time because the revised budget contains $2 million for that.
Delegate Patrick McGeehan, R-Hancock, said that in 2010, the General Fund was $3.74 billion. But the state has been losing population since. “We have far fewer people to govern but a far larger government. … This is unsustainable.”
On Wednesday, the House passed the bill 95-5. This time the vote was 96-3 with one absent. It goes to the governor.
After the bill passed, Gov. Jim Justice made an unusual appearance on the House floor to offer his praise. “You have done incredible, that’s all there is to it.” The bill helps families and residents in a fiscally responsible way. “Our state’s ready to rock and roll. … I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart.”
HB 4543 is the insulin bill. The Senate increased the House copay cap for a 30-day supply of insulin from $25 to $100.
There are several types of insulin, including short-acting and long acting formulations, and some diabetics use more than one type. The cap covers the total of all prescriptions so the patient won’t be paying $100 per drug.
The bill specifies that nothing prevents the insurer from making the copay less than $100. Insurers must also cover equipment and supplies, including glucose monitors, syringes and infusion devices.
In response to a request from the West Virginia Independent Pharmacy Association, it says drug makers, wholesalers and pharmacy benefit managers may not recoup any lost revenue from the dispensing pharmacy or pharmacist.
The House concurred with the Senate amendment and it went to the governor.
Throughout the day, delegates who are leaving the House this year gave brief farewell speeches.
Delegate Linda Longstreth, D-Marion, is running for county commission and said her goodbye. “It’s been quite a ride good and bad,” she said. She appreciates she’s been able to serve for 16 years. “I wouldn’t trade this opportunity for anything in the world.”
She looks to see new, fresh minds to come into the House. “It’s time for a new generation.”
Delegate Mike Caputo, also D-Marion, is running to succeed Sen. Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, who is retiring.
“I never thought this day was coming,” Caputo said. He’s a coal miner raised in a coal family who’s served 24 years in the House. “I never dreamed I would ever be one of 100 representing the people of West Virginia. … It gets in your blood and you just come to love it.”
His mother got to see him file for office the first time but passed away and didn’t see him win by 10 votes, he said.
A fellow delegate advised him to always carry the membership book with him on his travels so he would always have a friend in reach if he ever needed help. He followed that advice, but said his colleagues are more than friends, they’re family.
He also mentioned last year’s incident when he had an angry reaction to a racist display set up outside the chamber. The doors were closed for prayer and Caputo forced them open. The door hit a House doorman who later sought medical attention.
“We all make mistakes, Caputo said. “You own it, you apologize and you try to pick up your life and move on.”
He thanked the 98 members who forgave him for it. Whether the math error was conscious or not, he left out one member.
Delegate Marshall Wilson, I-Berkeley, attempted unsuccessfully to have Caputo ejected from office after the incident. Wilson stood for the customary standing ovation that follows each speech, but didn’t applaud with the others. Caputo concluded his address, “It’s been the most humbling experience a boy from Rivesville, West Virginia, could ever receive.”
SCR 46 is a study resolution crafted to do the work of two safe drinking water bills that died.
The bills are called the Clean Drinking Water Act. Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, is lead sponsor of HB 4542. Sen. Bill Ihlenfeld, D-Ohio, picked up Hansen’s bill and introduced it in the Senate as SB 679.
Both bills deal with toxic manmade chemicals known as PFASs, which are found in various household products and cleaning supplies, in water-repellant fabric and firefighting foam. They are suspected of being carcinogenic. The chemicals don’t break down and remain in the environment and in the bodies of humans and animal.
West Virginia has two areas affected by PFAS. One is Wood County, where runoff from Dupont’s Washington Works plant put the chemical known as C8 into the water, leading to the class action suits in 2001 that are featured in the National Geographic documentary The Devil We Know, and the recent movie Dark Waters.
The other is in Martinsburg, where the presence of PFAS is apparently to firefighting foam used in training. The health impacts of that are being studied.
The bills have three parts. One, they require industrial sites that have used PFAS to disclose that to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Two, those facilities would have to monitor their discharges. Three, state agencies would use the data gathered to propose Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act thresholds.
The resolution requests the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Health and Human Resources cooperatively propose and initiate a public source-water supply study plan to sample PFAS substances for all community water systems in West Virginia, including schools and daycares that operate treatment systems regulated by the DHHR. The House and Senate both adopted the resolution.
HB 4275 is a Fire Commission rules bill that includes an update to the state’s adoption of the National Electric Code from the 2014 edition to the 2017 edition. Both editions require new construction to include ARC Fault Circuit Interrupters in all areas of a newly built home except the garage, an unfinished basement, a bathroom or the home’s exterior unless there’s a device in a room connected to the exterior that would require it.
The version of the bill that passed out of the House included an amendment put forth by the state Fire Commission and authored by the National Home Builders Association to limit AFCIs to bedrooms in the new construction of one- and two-family homes. The Senate struck that amendment to preserve the NEC code unchanged.
It went to conference committee in February. The compromise says that for any renovations that don’t increase the square footage of the home, AFCIs will be required only in bedrooms. For home additions that don’t require electrical service, no upgrades are required.
The practical effect of that: Renovations that increase the square footage will require AFCIs in the new addition but no upgrades in the rest of the house if the service is unaffected by the addition. New construction will require AFCIs throughout, as per current code with the stated exemptions.
The House adopted the conference report and re-passed the bill on Thursday. The Senate did the same on Saturday and sent it to the governor.
HB 4494 creates the Tobacco Use Cessation Initiative. As it came from the House, where it passed 90-10, the program would draw its funding from 25% of a prior year’s interest earnings from Rainy Day B, the Tobacco Settlement Medical Trust Fund.
The bill creates a Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Task Force under the Bureau for Public Health’s Division of Tobacco Prevention to recommend and monitor programs to be administered by the division. Senate Finance took out the funding mechanism to make the bill revenue neutral and kept the task force. The Senate passed that version 33-1 and sent it to the House for amendment concurrence. The House concurred with additional amendment and sent it back to the Senate.
HB 4159 is characterized as an economic development bill to promote the hard cider industry. It creates an Agriculture Development Fund and devotes tax revenue from the sale of hard cider to the fund to promote the industry. While hard cider is typically sold on the beer shelves, the bill characterizes it as wine and sets the tax level between wine and beer. A Senate amendment deals with out-of-state wine sellers. The House concurred and sent it to the governor.
HB 4524 makes the whole state “wet” – meaning permitting the sale of alcohol in stores for off-premises consumption – by July 1. It originated from a request by Snowshoe Resort, which is located in a dry community. Customers are frustrated because they can’t buy wine from local stores.
The Senate amended the bill regarding how localities can choose to remain dry. The House refused to concur and a conference committee settled on two methods: A county or municipality may issue an order for a local referendum by July 1 and hold the referendum in November; or the commission or council may simply vote by July 1 to stay dry.
Dry localities can choose to remain dry by two methods. One, the local government can issue an order, no later than July 1, for a referendum in November. Two, 5% of the voters can petition for a referendum. Under this method, an election can’t election can’t be more held than every two years.
The House adopted the conference report and passed the bill 5-24.
HB 4497 requires that an automated external defibrillator and a posted emergency action plan be present on school or event grounds during all extramural high school or middle school athletic events and practices. The law will be called the Alex Miller Law in memory of Alex Miller, a Roane County football player who collapsed and died during a school football game. The Senate passed it with amendment Saturday and returned it to the House for concurrence. The House concurred and sent it to the governor.
HB 4069 is the Student Religious Liberties Act. The bill says a school district must treat a student’s religious expression in the same manner it treats other forms of expression. Students may express their views in homework, artwork and other assignments without discrimination or penalty. Students may participate in religious activities and organize religious activities in the same manner as they would in nonreligious activities.
The House passed it 76-22 on Feb. 11. The Senate passed a trimmed-down version 33-1 on Saturday and returned it to the House for amendment concurrence. . The Senate refused to concur with the House amendment. The House voted in a show of hands to recede from its amendment and passed the bill 74-25, sending it to the governor.
HB 4161 makes it illegal to do scleral tattoos – tattoos on the while of the eye. The House passed it Feb. 5. Senate Health passed it Feb. 28 with amendment. The full Senate gave it its first reading the next day but waited until Saturday to pass it 27-0. Senate Health chair Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, said that scleral tattoos can lead to injuries, blindness and even cancer. It went back to the House for amendment concurrence.
In the House, Delegate Patrick McGeehan, R-Hancock, said, “Please, for the love of God, just vote this down. This is absurd.” Some agreed. It passed 61-39 and goes to the governor.
HB 4439 clarifies some confusion from a 2019 bill regarding severance tax rebates for increased coal production. This bill says that a company with more than one mine can claim the rebate only if its aggregate production total exceeds the baseline year’s. Some House Democrats said on the floor that the governor got involved and worked with the Senate to amend the bill to benefit his own business interests over a rival that made some investments eligible for rebates.
Supporters said the Senate amendment simply restores the intent of the 2019 House legislation. The Senate amendment prohibits a company from taking the credit if it reduces jobs at any of its sites.
Supporters and opponents said the sole beneficiary so far has been Arch Coal, which has had a dispute with the Tax Department over application of the credit. The House overwhelming agreed to accept the Senate amendment and re-passed the bill 78-19 and sent it to the governor.
HB 4354 is an under-the-radar bill that took an odd twist. It adds nabiximols to the permitted list of distributed and prescribed drugs. Nabiximols is a cannabis extract made into a mouth spray to alleviate multiple sclerosis symptoms. The House passed it 97-0 on Feb. 25. The Senate amended and passed it and sent it back to the House, which accepted the Senate amendment and re-passed it 99-0 at 2:10 p.m. Saturday.
But at 2:30, Delegate Tom Fast, R-Fayette, asked to reconsider the vote because he made a mistake. He wouldn’t answer questions on why he requested reconsideration but he is a longstanding opponent of medical cannabis. The House approved his request in a 55-44 roll-call vote, then re-passed the bill 87-12, with all the negative votes by Republicans.
HB 4560 enables shops that sell wine to deliver gifts baskets containing wine without the purchaser coming into the store. The purchaser may order the gift basket by phone or email or website. The Senate amended it to include a legal-age verification provision and passed it 33-1 on Friday. It went back to the House for amendment concurrence. The House concurred on Saturday but made an additional cleanup amendment and bounced it back to the Senate.
HB 4017 requires the state auditor to maintain a website for public access to information Division of Highways spending on road work. The House approved a Senate amendment and sent it to the governor.
SCR 4, the resolution to ask Congress to call a convention to consider a congressional term limits amendment was at teh top of the agenda but got moved to the foot of the list of bills in Rules.
HB 4083 requires the Parkways Authority to accept credit and debit cards by July 1, 2023, or as soon as possible. The House originally set the date as July 1, 2022, and objected to the Senate amendment. It goes to conference committee.
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