MORGANTOWN – Here is a look at some of the other bill action that took place on the House and Senate floors on Thursday.
House action
SB 493 as amended on the House floor would require all county school board meetings to be open to the public in person and via audio and video broadcast live via a link on the board website.
A draft of the minutes of each public board meeting must include a record of the votes cast by each board member on all substantive matters and be posted to the website within two business days. Minutes must remain on the website for at least one year.
The House does not provide video feeds from its meeting rooms and Delegate Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, had proposed a failed amendment to the budget bill earlier in the week to devote $50,000 to remedying that problem.
On Thursday, she said regarding SB 493, “I think this is a great bill. I love transparency. I wish we’d do it.”
It passed 88-7 and returns to the Senate for amendment concurrence. All local delegates except Democrats Evan Hansen and Dave Pethtel voted for it.
SB 172 provides for 10% raises for elected county officials: commissioner, sheriff, clerk, circuit clerk and assessor. It passed 89-8 and returns to the Senate for amendment concurrence. All local delegates voted for it.
SB 487 deals with depositing surplus revenue into the Rainy Day Fund. Current law says 50% of any fund surplus at the end of a fiscal year must be transferred into the Rainy Day Fund to make its balance equal 13% of the General Revenue Fund balance at the end of that year. No further deposits are required until the Rainy Day Fund balance falls below the 13% mark.
The bill reduces the 13% to 8%. It passed 97-1 and returns to the Senate for amendment concurrence.
SB 570 requires law enforcement officers to undergo training on how to deal with people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. It passed 96-0 and returns to the Senate.
SB 704 is the bill to allow parents, custodians and guardians to inspect instructional materials used in their children’s classrooms. It passed 74-26. Locally, all Republicans voted for it, all Democrats against it.
SB 2 was on second reading for amendment. As it came from the Senate, it indexes the number of weeks of unemployment to the state’s unemployment rate. The current limit is 26 weeks. The Senate version changed it to a range geared to the index of 12-20 weeks. The House altered the range to 14-22 weeks.
The House also amended SB 3, dealing with work-search requirements, and SB 576, intended to ensure an employee who is denied a religious or medical exemption for an employer’s vaccine mandate and quits the job remains eligible for unemployment insurance.
It’s up for passage on Friday.
Senate action
HB 4311 makes it a felony to vote more than once in an election — either within the state of West Virginia or in West Virginia and another state — or to attempt to vote when not legally entitled, or to have a legal vote rejected or to alter a ballot. The Senate it passed it 27-5 and sent it back to the House for amendment concurrence. All local senators except Democrat Mike Caputo voted for it.
