MORGANTOWN – The state Senate and House passed bills dealing with distracted drivers, student drivers, attacks on police officers, human smuggling green energy and more on Friday. Here’s a rundown.
HB 2218 is known as the Electronically Distracted Driving Act and the Robin W. Ames Memorial Act .
It applies to cell phones, audio and video devices, tablets, laptops, notebooks, data retrieval devices and GPS receivers. Voice-activated and hands-free devices are exempted. Current law exempts ride-share drivers and the bill adds taxi and limo drivers, as they all use dispatch software.
Along with monetary penalties for distracted driving, the bill adds incarceration penalties for causing harm or death.
It’s named for Preston County resident Robin Ames, who was killed while bicycling by a driver looking at an app on her cell phone. His widow, Karrah Ames, testified to the Judiciary Committee about Robin’s loss and the devastating effects on her and her children.
On the House floor, lead sponsor Steve Westfall, R-Jackson, said the bill updates current law to account for ever-advancing technology.
He said 26 states, including neighbors Ohio and Virginia, have similar laws; neighbors Kentucky and Pennsylvania have similar bills moving in their legislatures. In 2020, Federal statistics for distracted-driving crashes involving wireless devices show 3,142 deaths and 424,000 injured. One in five of those involved were not inside vehicles.
Delegate Larry Kump, R-Berkely, said the bill provides more accountability for distracted drivers.
The vote was 88-6, with all the votes against from Republicans. It goes to the Senate.
SB 250 is the other driving bill, passed 30-3 in the Senate and sent to the House. It requires instruction permit holders and level 2 intermediate license holders to display a student driver sign at the back of their car, where it will be visible to other drivers coming from behind. A first-offense violation is exempt from court costs and fees.
The three nay votes came from Republicans, including, locally, Sen. Jay Taylor, R-Taylor.
SB 490 is the Patrol Officer Cassie Marie Johnson Memorial Act. The Senate passed it unanimously and sent it to the House.
It says any person who knowingly and willfully obstructs a law-enforcement officer, probation officer, parole officer, courthouse security officer, correctional officer, the state fire marshal, a deputy or assistant fire marshal, firefighter, or emergency medical service worker and causes the death of that officer is guilty of a felony and subject to 15 years to life in prison, the same as for first-degree murder.
Judiciary chair Charles Trump, R-Morgan, said the act doesn’t have to include premeditation or malice. “It sends an important and strong message, in my opinion. … I think the citizens of this state admire the police respect the police.” But there are some who are willing to disobey and don’t care if people get hurt or killed.
The bill is named for Charleston Police Officer Cassie Johnson, who was fatally wounded in 2020 while responding to a routine parking complaint.
Lead sponsor Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, said of Johnson that she “gave a full measure of devotion and dedication to the citizens of West Virginia.”
SB 484, the human smuggling bill, also passed the Senate unanimously.
Trump said the state already has penalties for human trafficking but not for this, in which people pay coyotes to be smuggled across the southern border to destinations in the U.S.
The crime will be a felony, with smuggling an adult subject to one to five years in prison and a fine up to $200,000; and smuggling a minor subject to two to 10 years and a fine up to $300,000.
Lead sponsor Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, said “It is so distressing that there are people who will take advantage of others ad participate in human smuggling.” Many victims believe they’re being taken to a place with job opportunities but instead they are trafficked, often held captive and abused.
HB 3130 creates the Coalfields Energy Research and Economic Development Authority. Its definition of the word coalfields makes it apply to the whole state, not just counties with mines, it was said during committee consideration.
The bill establishes the authority as a public corporation charged with an array of goals, including promoting and developing the state’s energy workforce and energy technology research; and promoting and develop energy projects, storage and manufacturing.
On Thursday, three of the bill’s sponsors had their names removed while one delegate signed on.
On the House floor on Friday, Delegate Henry Dillon, R-Wayne, expressed disappointment with the bill, saying that on its face it looks like it’s aimed at helping suffering coal communities but in actuality it opens the whole state to subsidized green energy projects. “If you like that, go ahead and vote for it. I’ll be a strong no on this.”
Action on this bill immediately followed a grueling two-hour debate on a bill to provide a $105 million appropriation for the Form Energy battery plant in Weirton. So while the House was also widely divided on this bill, Dillon offered the only objection. The vote was 70-23 and it goes to the Senate.
SB 493 calls on the Division of Natural Resources to develop a plan to offer veterans free passes to state parks and forests. The plan and any rules regarding it would come back to the Legislature for approval. The Senate passed it unanimously.
SB S532 adds a new felony to the Sex Offender Registry Act for soliciting a minor for sexual activity. Current law makes soliciting any person a misdemeanor and there is no separate offense for soliciting a minor. The Senate passed it unanimously.
Lead sponsor Mark Hunt, R-Kanawha, said he introduced this bill years ago when he served in the House, and it passed there but died in the Senate. He worked back then with a police task force to fill loopholes in laws regarding violent crimes and crimes against children, and they closed them all but this one.
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