Good: HB 4630 — to allow a tenant to recover the full amount of their security deposit if a landlord has failed a dwelling unit inspection on the property where the tenant is renting or leasing. Sponsored by three District 51 delegates, this bill seems tailor-made for Morgantown, but it will benefit the entire state, especially other college towns. Slumlords abound, and in places where rentals make up the majority of the housing market, there need to be more protections in place for renters.
Bad: HB 2364 — to allow armed teachers to act as School Protection Officers, the identities of whom only the school’s principal would know. Though this bill aims to protect students and staff in the event of a school shooting, HB 2364 addresses the wrong side of the problem and its critics raise valid points. Among lawmakers’ concerns were the requirement that SPOs only need a 24-hour training program and a concealed carry permit, as well as the potential dangers of responding officers not knowing who the SPO is and the insurance liability in case of accidental discharges. Instead of arming teachers in the event of a shooting, we should be focusing our efforts on preventing school shootings. Several education leaders spoke against the bill. As one said, “let’s let teachers teach, let’s let [School Resource Officers] take care of safety in the schools.”
Stupid: SB 710 — to require hospitals to reimburse the state if the hospital uses the National Guard to supplement staff if the hospital has employees on leave for refusing vaccination. Like all the other proposed legislation regarding COVID-19 vaccines, this bill seeks to punish entities enforcing public health measures while rewarding those who refuse to get vaccinated for reasons unjustifiable beyond pure selfishness. And like all the other bills, this one is stupid. At the very least, it is stupid because it penalizes our already overburdened health care system for enforcing a federal mandate and protecting patients.
Good: HB 4252 — the bill regarding insulin and device copay caps. We have already discussed this bill in detail previously, but we wanted to mention it again. It passed out of the House of Delegates, but it has been languishing in Senate Health and Human Resources ever since. One of our local senators, Mike Maroney, chairs that committee. You can call 304- 357-7902 or you can email him at mike.maroney@wvsenate.gov to let him know you’d like to see action taken on HB 4252.
Bad and Stupid: HB 4260 — to have all legal notices published to a central website instead of local newspapers. We addressed this in detail previously, but it’s still being considered, and we’d like to remind the public why it’s a bad idea. First and foremost, it is an issue of transparency. Our eagle-eyed readers have spotted some concerning things in legal ads before because legal ads in newspapers keep government activity in the public eye. Second, the West Virginia Press Association estimates most newspapers receive about 60% of their ad revenue from legal ads. This bill is stupid because last year, the Legislature passed SB 642, which instructs the State Auditor to create a website for legal ads and continue to publish them in newspapers. That website hasn’t even been created yet, but the Legislature is already trying to amend the law to cut newspapers out entirely.
Good: SB 181 — to fund the West Virginia division of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline with a once-a-month 11 cent fee for mobile phone users. Calls to the hotline have increased exponentially since the pandemic. West Virginia has the eighth highest suicide rate in the nation, and suicide is the second leading cause of death for West Virginians ages 10 to 34. $1.32 a year is a small price to pay to give people in crisis the support and resources they need to keep going.
