House of Delegates Story Archives - Page 30 of 43 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

House Passes TANF Drug Testing Bill

The House of Delegates passed a bill Wednesday that would require drug testing for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Senate Bill 6 passed 91 to 8 in the House. The bill requires the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to apply for permission from the federal government to begin a drug screening and testing program.

In that program, applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, benefits could be tested if there’s “reasonable suspicion” those applicants are using drugs or if they’ve been convicted of a drug crime in the past three years.

The bill creates a three strike system within the program. After one failed drug test, the TANF recipient does not lose any benefits, but must enter a rehabilitative or workforce training program. After the second failed test, the recipient loses benefits for one year or until completion of the workforce or rehabilitative program. After a third failed test, he or she loses benefits for life.

In any step in the process, the benefits given to children in the home will not be taken away. The DHHR is required to find another adult to distribute the benefits to, just like they do in other programs.

Those in opposition to the bill argue it’s singling out low-income people, while those in support say it will help those who struggle with drug abuse and ensure state dollars are being used honestly.

Democrats attempted to amend the bill on Tuesday evening, however all four proposed amendments were rejected or ruled not relevant to the bill.

The bill did see two amendments from the House Judiciary Committee, so the bill will go back to the Senate for consideration before being sent to the Governor’s desk.

In a recent poll of likely West Virginia voters, 77 percent supported drug testing welfare recipients.

House Rejects Four Amendments to TANF Drug Testing Bill

The House of Delegates will vote on a bill Wednesday that would require drug testing for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Senate Bill 6 requires the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to apply for permission from the federal government to begin a drug screening and testing program.

In that program, applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF benefits could be tested if there’s “reasonable suspicion” those applicants are using drugs or if they’ve been convicted of a drug crime in the past three years.

Delegates considered four amendments to the bill during a floor session Tuesday night. All four amendments were proposed by Democrats.

1. The first amendment would have removed marijuana from the list of drugs that could cause an applicant to lose his or her benefits. This bill was rejected.

The second and third amendments were ruled not relevant to the bill —

2. The second amendment would have required state lawmakers to be drug tested. If a legislator would have failed that test, he or she would have been required to enter a drug treatment program and would lose their pay.

3. The third amendment would have expanded the drug testing program beyond just those who are applying for TANF benefits to any person who is applying for funding from the state, including the officers of private companies.

But both amendments were ruled not relevant by House Speaker Tim Armstead.

4. The final amendment considered would have required the DHHR to obtain a warrant for the drug test from a judge. However, this amendment was also rejected.

Senate Bill 6 will be up for a vote in the House Wednesday.

A recent poll of likely West Virginia voters found 77 percent supported drug testing welfare recipients.

Road Funding Bill Could Be Dead in Committee

A House committee has removed a bill from its agenda that would increase Division of Motor Vehicle fees and some taxes to help fund road maintenance and construction projects.

During the Tuesday morning meeting, House Finance Chairman Eric Nelson announced to the committee the bill would be taken off of the agenda because the support needed to pass it isn’t there.

As approved in the Senate, the bill would add a trigger to increase the state’s gasoline tax by 3 cents when the wholesale price of a gallon drops below $2, but also generates money for the state road fund through increased taxes and fees.

A House Finance subcommittee of seven members discussed the bill on Friday, and suggested the committee as a whole move forward with caution because of the included increases.

There were two pending amendments to the bill that were suggested by the subcommittee.

It is unclear if the House Finance Committee will put Senate Bill 555 back on the agenda.

The 2016 legislative session ends Saturday, March 12, at midnight with a budget session to follow.

TANF Drug Testing Bill Soon to Be Considered in the House

A House committee has passed a bill that would require drug testing for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Senate Bill 6 requires the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to apply for permission from the federal government to begin a drug screening and testing program.

In that program, applicants of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF benefits could be tested if there’s “reasonable suspicion” those applicants are using drugs or if they’ve been convicted of a drug crime in the past five years. But House Judiciary Chairman John Shott said that provision was amended in his committee.

“And that was with regard to the screening instrument that the Department of Health and Human Resources will be using when new applicants come in, and it just changed the timeframe within which to look for previous drug use from five years to, shortened that to three years,” Shott said.

A recent poll of likely West Virginia voters found 77 percent of voters supported drug testing welfare recipients.

Senate Bill 6 was reported to the full House on Saturday and will likely see a vote Wednesday.

Delegates Take First Look at Road Tax Bill

On the final day to approve bills in the chamber, Senators passed out Senate Bill 555. The bill adds a trigger to increase the state’s gasoline tax by 3 cents when the wholesale price of a gallon drops below $2, but also generates dollars for the state road fund through increased taxes and fees.

The bill made its first appearance in a House Finance Subcommittee Friday.

There were seven members on the subcommittee. Initially, the bill only included the gasoline tax increase, but before leaving the Senate it was amended. Senators included increases to Division of Motor Vehicle fees and an increase to the tax on purchasing a vehicle.

House Finance Chairman Eric Nelson says most of the new revenue would be committed to road maintenance and construction projects.

“Collectively, all of these, so called revenue measures would generate, according to numbers, about $300 million dollars and go into roads,” Nelson said.

All seven members in the House Finance Subcommittee expressed concern with the bill, including Delegate Carol Miller, a Republican from Cabell County.

“I started reading this bill [Thursday] night, at approximately 7:30 p.m., and the more I read, the more I circled, the more I underlined, the more I flagged, and it just went times three, times eight, times negative one percent, up one percent, and, I mean, I stopped flagging after about fifteen, and I just think that there’s too much in this bill to be, without us really understanding the true dollar amount of how many fees we’re gonna put on people,” Miller said.

The subcommittee did vote to move the bill to the full committee, but suggested Chairman Nelson collect more information about the impact of the provisions before putting it to a vote.

“I think any revenue measure is gonna have a word of caution with it,” House Finance Chairman Nelson said, “rightfully so in our tough times, but at the same time, we have a big need as it relates to road maintenance and road construction, and so we’ve got to put everything on the table, and I think that’s what we have in front of us. The reason for the subcommittee is to give it a little extra time, then they can report back to the big committee so that we aren’t rushed into certain decisions.”

Nelson anticipates the full Finance Committee will take up Senate Bill 555 Monday.

Tobacco Tax Bill Dies in House Finance

A bill to raise the state’s tobacco tax was approved by Senators earlier in the session and made its first appearance in a House Committee Thursday.

Delegates on the Finance Committee took up the bill Thursday morning and continued their discussions that afternoon.

Delegates continued their consideration of Senate Bill 420 for almost two hours voting on a few amendments, but in the end, the committee killed the bill.

The bill was presented on behalf of Governor Tomblin and originally included a 45 cent tax increase on each pack of cigarettes. As it passed the Senate, the bill bumped that tax up to a dollar.

The House Finance Committee adopted an amendment to the bill Thursday afternoon reducing the tax once again to the 45 cent per-pack rate as well as two other amendments.

One removed the tax hike for all other tobacco products- leaving only a tax increase for cigarettes. The second removed the tax for e-cigarette liquids.

After the amendments were adopted, only three members of the committee voted in favor of the bill. House Chairman Eric Nelson voted against it.