Senate Bill 472 would require West Virginia hotels to provide human trafficking awareness training and resources to their staff members. The bill will now be reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A bill under discussion in the West Virginia Senate would require hotel owners to provide their staff training on human trafficking awareness.
Senate Bill 472 would require hotel employees who interface with guests, like reception and housekeeping staff, complete an annual training on identifying and reporting human trafficking.
The bill would also require employers to display a human trafficking awareness sign within their venues, with the phone number of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center featured prominently on it.
If the bill passes as written, hotels would be required to comply with the new standards by 2025 or face a fine of $2,000 per day of noncompliance.
Some lawmakers expressed concern over the severity of the fine at a meeting of the Senate Government Organization Committee on Tuesday, including Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley.
“I mean, that’s a pretty hefty fine at $2,000,” he said.
Also during the meeting, Richie Heath, executive director of the West Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, told committee members that many corporate hotel chains already offer human trafficking awareness resources through the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
“Human trafficking has been a big issue, especially in the last several years,” he said. “There’s been a lot of emphasis on this in the industry.”
If the bill advances further in the Senate, Heath said that West Virginia hotel staff would benefit from flexibility in training curricula so that they would not have to undo training protocols already in place.
Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, said that providing these resources comes at a cost, and also pointed to a lack of data clarifying how effective these resources would actually be for hotel staff in the state.
“Although there aren’t substantial costs to this, there are more costs, right? More burdens of government to spend, whether it’s signage, whether it’s an area that needs to be designated, whether it’s a training program,” Stuart said.
“It just eats into that profitability,” he continued. “Perhaps not for Marriott or Hilton, but for Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s bed-and-breakfast.”
Despite the debate, committee members unanimously voted to refer the bill to the Senate with the recommendation that it pass, but only after an additional review by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, host Randy Yohe talks with forensic psychologist Dr. David Clayman and Senate Jails and Prison Committee Co-Chair Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, to talk about the diversion of certain persons from the criminal justice system.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, host Randy Yohe talks with forensic psychologist Dr. David Clayman and Senate Jails and Prison Committee Co-Chair Sen. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, to talk about the diversion of certain persons from the criminal justice system.
Also, in the House, a bill to help those with dementia and their families heads to the Senate, and a bill on whether authorities should release mugshots has sparked some controversy.
And, we’re now more than a week into the session, and bills have started to move through their respective committees. The Education committees in both chambers are addressing financial issues in the state’s schools. Chris Schulz has the story.
Finally, it was Rural Health Care Day at the Capitol. Many health care providers and health advocacy organizations were at the capitol to discuss challenges and advocate for possible solutions in rural health care. Briana Heaney has more.
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Members of the House Finance Committee are expected to get their first look at the chamber’s budget for the 2018 fiscal year in a meeting this Saturday. In order to balance it, lawmakers will have to close an estimated $497 million hole.
To close the gap, Republican legislative leaders are largely looking to cut state spending, specifically in public education, higher education, and Medicaid, but on Friday, House Finance Committee members considered some new revenue increasing measures, or tax increases.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Jason Barrett, D-Berkeley.
The House Finance Committee considered a committee substitute for House Bill 2816.
The bill would eliminate the West Virginia film tax credit – an annual $5 million cap awarded by the West Virginia Film Office to attract movie producers to the state. That elimination is one Democrat Jason Barrett, of Berkeley County, opposes.
Barrett says Berkeley and Jefferson Counties have hosted several Discovery Channel and National Geographic film shoots in recent years.
“This film tax credit brings people to the state of West Virginia; people who have never been here before, and probably wouldn’t come,” Barrett explained, “This brings them into our state; it allows them to see the beauty of West Virginia, not only in the Eastern Panhandle but the entire state.”
But the bill does a lot more more than just eliminate the tax credit. It also ends a transfer of some $12 million from the general revenue fund to the state’s road fund. That money comes from purchases of automobile parts and other items. Capturing the transfer and keeping it in general revenue will help balance the state’s budget.
The committee bill also includes provisions to increase the beer barrel tax, which is estimated to create an additional $3 million for the state.
The revenue aspect of the bill has changed quite a bit, though, since it was first introduced to the chamber on behalf of Gov. Jim Justice. It originally included an increase to the state’s sales tax and a new tax on businesses resulting in $400 million in new revenue. In total, the committee’s changes create only $15 million in increased revenue.
Minority House Finance Chair Delegate Brent Boggs spoke in opposition to the bill.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Brent Boggs, D-Braxton, Minority House Finance Chair.
“I appreciate what little revenue it raises, but that’s the problem, it raises little revenue at a time that we need substantially more,” Boggs said, “and while no bill is perfect, and I’m sure no bill ever will be; this one falls way short of what I believe many of our needs are going to be, and it’s only a fraction of what was included in the governor’s original bill.”
Vice-Chair Delegate Eric Householder of Berkeley County spoke in favor of the bill.
“Under the original concept, if we were voting on the original concept, keep in mind, we would have a higher state sales tax, we would have $400 million in new taxes; more strain on an already existing economy that we’re seeing with our businesses that are having financial problems,” Householder said, “and I think for the most part, ladies and gentleman, this is a great compromise; it’s a better bill, and for those reasons, I support it.”
The bill passed on a roll call vote of 15 to 9, and will now be considered by the full House.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Eric Householder, R-Berkeley, House Finance Vice-Chair.
There was another tax-related bill that moved in the House Friday. That bill is 2933, which expands the base of the current sales tax and lowers the overall rate to generate additional tax revenues.
Republican Delegate Riley Moore, of Jefferson County, is the lead sponsor. His bill would reduce the sales tax to 5.5 percent from the current 6 percent by January 1, 2018. It also ends current exemptions in the state sales tax on things like cell phones, personal and professional services, contracting services, mobile homes, and daycare services.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Del. Riley Moore, R-Jefferson.
According to the bill’s fiscal note, the bill would bring in $105.6 million during fiscal year 2018, largely from the telecommunications and service taxes.
Moore says his bill would require businesses and residents who aren’t currently paying taxes to start paying, which he says will make the state’s tax system fairer and more competitive, especially in border counties.
“I think this is the best way to try to be able to do that, to be able to grow our economy,” Moore noted, “and also, especially for me, I’m from Jefferson County, our sales tax is quite a bit higher than our neighboring counties in Virginia, in particular. We have a lot of our folks go shopping over there, and we’re trying to keep some of that tax money here in the state.”
Moore says he think his bill will set a good foundation for West Virginia’s economy moving forward.
As lawmakers try to find ways to deal with the state’s financial problems, the House Finance Committee discussed a bill that could put $9 million back in the budget. The bill originating in the House’s Finance Committee would end the Racetrack Modernization Fund.
The fund was created in 2011 to supplement the cost of upgrading video lottery terminals – or digital slot machines and other lottery games. There are four racetrack casinos in the state – Mardi Gras in Cross Lanes, Mountaineer in Chester, Wheeling Island in Wheeling, and Hollywood in Charles Town.
Three of those casinos are in border areas and bring in out-of-state gamblers who contribute to West Virginia’s overall income. But in the mid-2000s, surrounding states began building casinos of their own. The fund was seen as a way to keep West Virginia’s gaming facilities more competitive.
Each year, lawmakers set aside $9 million in the Racetrack Modernization Fund for the upgrades, and any unused money rolls over from year-to-year. Currently, there’s $7.5 million leftover from last year. But the fund itself is only supposed to last until 2020. The House Finance Committee’s bill would end the fund three years early and re-appropriate the money to general revenue.
Some delegates in the Northern and Eastern Panhandles, however, had concerns about ending the fund, including Democratic Delegate Jason Barrett, of Berkeley County, who questioned Louis Southworth, an attorney representing the West Virginia Racing Association
“What kind of decrease in revenue have these casinos seen with this increased competition?” Barrett asked.
“I believe that in some of the years the racetracks were contributing around $450 million to the state,” Southworth said, “Last year, it was $367 million, so there’s been a decline, but at least the tracks feel that the fund has helped them keep that level up, and it would’ve been a lot worse if they hadn’t had it.”
“Would you agree that a lot of the players at these casinos are from out of state and having up-to-date games on these slot machines are critical to bringing those people in?” Barrett asked.
“No question,” Southworth answered, “It’s probably 80 to 90 percent from out-of-state, and the competition is fierce.”
Republican Delegate Erikka Storch, of Ohio County, also opposed the bill. She says the casino in her area is a huge contributor to her community, and losing the fund could make them less viable.
“If the racetrack doesn’t have the ability of that capital to upgrade their machines, will they have to lay off people? Will they have to, you know, direct their resources in other ways to maintain a competitive advantage? Will they be able to be a good player in the community as they have been? You know, they support a lot of nonprofits, they host a lot of things, they’re a major donor to a lot of things; they give back to the community a lot,” Storch explained, “Will they be able to do that? Or will they have to redirect those funds toward their capital necessities?”
Storch says she and some of her colleagues may consider offering an amendment on the floor.
House Finance Chair Eric Nelson, of Kanawha County, says he’s sympathetic to his colleagues’ concerns, but points out it’s additional revenue that can help balance the state’s budget deficit.
“I’ve got a casino, or gaming facility right in my backyard; fully aware of that,” Nelson said, “It is one of the balancing acts, you know. The priority of giving certain people or industries tax credits versus balancing the budget and doing other things like cuts and other revenue measures.”
The House Finance Committee did vote to move the bill to the full House, but on a close roll call vote of 14 to 11.
