MORGANTOWN — Here is a sampling of bills introduced on Wednesday, Jan. 18. Local sponsors and co-sponsors, if any, are noted.
- HB 2752, to create the Non-Profit Transparency and Accountability Act, which will require that all nonprofit organizations that receive any part of their total operating funds from public sources, whether state or federal, shall be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests and bear the responsibility to respond to these requests under the same requirements as a public body.
- HB 2761, to allow a county board that employs classroom aides to consider a classroom aide with no less than 10 years of service and satisfactory evaluations for a position as a classroom teacher to address areas of critical need, provided that the aide will graduate from an institution of higher education within three years of the school year for which the classroom aide is selected to teach.
- HB 2767, to provide a housing allowance of $2,000 per month for designated state constitutional officers to assist in residing in the seat of state government.
- HB 2774, to create the Welcome Home Grant Program, a pilot program to incentivize veterans to relocate to West Virginia to reside and to work; governor’s bill.
- HB 2775, to raise the salaries of certain state employees including: WV State Police and certain personnel; public school teachers; and school service personnel by 5%; governor’s bill.
- HB 2778, to require schools to publish the adopted, up-to-date classroom curriculum online at the beginning of each school year, or within 30 days of updating or adopting curriculum, to promote transparency in curriculum requirements; governor’s bill.
- HB 2780, to repeal the municipal amusement tax.
- HB 2782, to require that municipal elections be held concurrently with regularly scheduled primary or general elections; Delegate Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, lead sponsor.
- HB 2783, to exempt primates from the Dangerous Wild Animal Review Board’s list of animals classified as dangerous wild animals; Chiarelli, lead sponsor.
- HB 2797, to provide that microschool tuition and fees are qualifying expenses for Hope Scholarship accounts; Delegate Joe Statler, lead sponsor.
- HCR 5, to make the fiddle the official musical instrument of the State of West Virginia.
- SB 273, to revise requirements regarding the allocation of child protective workers in counties based upon the population of the county.
- SB 280, to require the election of justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals, judges of the intermediate court of appeals; circuit court judges, family court judges and magistrates be on a partisan basis and that elections be on a division basis when more than one justice or judge is to be elected.
- SB 282, to create the West Virginia Guardian program to provide public safety and/or security on public school grounds and buildings.
- SB 285, to create the West Virginia Coal Marketing Program to protect and expand West Virginia’s coal markets and coal facilities and to address impacts cities, towns, and counties have experienced or will experience due to changes in the coal market; Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, sponsor
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