MORGANTOWN – The 2021 legislative session kicked off at noon Wednesday, with the House and Senate conducting their initial floor sessions.
One big surprise: The Senate session actually began at noon. “Senate time” means that floor sessions begin 15, 20, 30 minutes after the announced time, regardless of which party is the majority and who’s at the president’s podium. This time, it was new President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley.
Members in both chambers were masked, as they will be for all 60 days. And both floor sessions were brief, with just a few formalities, including introduction of bills.
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, previously said that because of the uncertainties of the pandemic, the House was going to frontload bill introductions in case of unexpected interruptions.
The House saw 293 bills introduced Wednesday, some of them new, some carryovers from last year. The Senate saw 124 bills introduced plus four resolutions proposing Constitutional amendments.
Here is a sampling of Wednesday’s bills. Local lead sponsors and co-sponsors, if any, are noted. Most of the Senate bills have just one sponsor.
Note that roughly only 10% of all the 2,000-plus bills introduced during any session pass – and many of those are rules or finance bills.
- HB 2001, to to establish the tax-deductible Jumpstart Savings Program for career training. Delegate Guy Ward, R-Marion, co-sponsor.
- HB 2002, the Broadband Insurance Program for broadband expansion. Delegates Terri Sypolt, R-Preston, Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, co-sponsors.
- HB 2003, to clarify the authority and obligations of the governor and Legislature relating to declared states of preparedness and emergencies. Delegate Amy Summers, R-Taylor, lead sponsor.
- HB 2007, to provide for occupational licenses or other authorization to practice by recognition for qualified applicants from other states.
- HB 2016, the COVID-19 Essential Jobs Protection Act, creating liability protections.
- HB 2043, to authorize the West Virginia Tourism Office to enter into an agreement with the Division of Highways to provide staff at welcome centers and highway rest areas, and to create displays promoting in-state tourism at the welcome centers and rest areas.
- HB 2068, to make June 19 a special memorial day to be known as Juneteenth honoring human rights and the end of slavery in the United States.
- HB 2077, eliminating the Certificate of Need program for hospitals. Summers, lead sponsor.
- HB 2113, to allow the Division of Highways to establish a pilot project to explore whether requiring paving contractors to also maintain for seven years the secondary roads they pave would produce better results than current practice. Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, lead sponsor; Delegates Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, Sypolt, co-sponsors.
- HB 2121, the Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughn Fair Pay Act. Fleischauer, lead sponsor.
- HB 2122, to implement the agreement among the states to elect the president and vice president by national popular vote. Fleischauer, sole sponsor.
- HB 2249, to permit customers and developers to enter into solar power purchase agreements. Fleischauer, lead sponsor.
- HB 2287, to encourage solar energy development on lands formerly used for mining and certain third-party co-generation projects, among other measures. Hansen, lead sponsor; Fleischauer, co-sponsor.
- HB 2291, to legalize the personal use and possession of cannabis by adults, along with county option, taxation and regulatory measures.
- SB 3, to prohibit civil actions for personal injuries or loss of life caused by coronavirus.
- SB 4, to create an intermediate appeals court.
- SB 11, to declare any work stoppage or strike by public employees to be unlawful; define when a county board of education employee is considered to be participating in a concerted work stoppage or strike, and other measures.
- SB 14, to provide for additional options for alternative teacher certification.
- SB 26,to provide that the penalty for possession of marijuana carries a fine of no more than $1,000 without confinement.
- SB 30, to permit third-party ownership of all renewable and alternative energy generating facilities.
- SB 66, to create a Voluntary WVU Rifle Team Check-off Program on the cost of hunting and fishing license. Sen. Dave Sypolt, R-Preston, sponsor.
- SB 68, to increase the tax on cigarettes to $2 per pack and to increase the tax on e-cigarette liquid to $1 per milliliter or fraction thereof.
- SB 108, to clarify that race discrimination includes discrimination based on certain hair textures and styles.
- SB 109, to prohibit civil rights violations based on sexual orientation.
- SB 113, to allow West Virginia residents to purchase prescription drugs from Canada in order to generate cost savings.
- SB 124, to cap costs for life-saving insulin to $25 for a 30-day supply, regardless of the amount or type of insulin prescribed. Sens. Bob Beach, Mike Caputo, both D-Monongalia, co-sponsors.
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