Tag: West Virginia Legislature

Senate Health Panel Moves Vaccine Bill

A Senate committee approved an agreement Thursday that would modify the way immunization exemptions are granted in West Virginia, taking the power from…

A Senate committee approved an agreement Thursday that would modify the way immunization exemptions are granted in West Virginia, taking the power from the county level and centralizing it at the state Bureau for Public Health.

Members of the Senate Health Committee initially received a bill that would have allowed parents to seek religious exemptions from some immunization requirements. A committee substitute offered last week removed that exemption, but members still had concerns and asked for more time to work on a compromised version.

The committee substitute now requires a family doctor provide the Bureau for Public Health with a request for a medical exemption. The request would then be reviewed by a new chief immunization officer within the state Bureau.

The bill also sets up an appeals process for parents who disagree with the immunization officer’s decision. It can first be appealed to the Commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health and then to a state court.

“This is obviously a good attempt in ensuring that the issue of inconsistencies are addressed while keeping the strong immunization policies intact,” Dr. Rahul Gupta, Commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health and the state’s chief health officer, told the committee, “and I think that’s a really good step forward.”

The bill was approved unanimously by the committee and now goes to Senate Judiciary for further consideration.

W.Va. Senate GOP Says Deal Struck on Prevailing Wage Changes

State Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael says there's a tentative deal to scale back the state's prevailing wage.The Jackson County Republican said…

State Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael says there’s a tentative deal to scale back the state’s prevailing wage.

The Jackson County Republican said Wednesday the agreement would avoid repealing the wage for public construction projects. Republicans have proposed the repeal.

Carmichael said one provision would remove the wage’s calculation from the state Division of Labor.

Instead, Workforce West Virginia would calculate it, along with West Virginia University and Marshall University economics specialists.

The wage would be reported to lawmakers to approve the methodology.

Carmichael said projects less than $500,000 wouldn’t be subject to the wage.

Steve White, Affiliated Construction Trades director, said it’s promising there will be a deal, but the devil’s in the details.

After delays and behind-the-scene negotiations, the bill is slated for amendments and a vote Thursday.

W.Va. Senate Clears Bill Touted by State's Coal Industry

The Republican-led state Senate has cleared a proposal lauded by the struggling coal industry and criticized as dangerous for worker safety by the miners'…

The Republican-led state Senate has cleared a proposal lauded by the struggling coal industry and criticized as dangerous for worker safety by the miners’ union.

Senators voted 26-8 Tuesday for the bill changing safety and environmental standards related to coal mining.

Environmental groups warned the legislation could weaken water quality protections.

Bill proponents said the industry needs all the help it can get. Diminishing coal seams, competition from other states and natural gas, federal regulations and lousy markets are hurting Central Appalachian coal.

Opponents say it’s wrong to reduce protections in a state defined by deadly mining accidents.

Changes range from shielding coal mine companies from some citizen Clean Water Act lawsuits, to allowing less rail track to be laid in mines.

A similar House bill has passed one committee.

Activists Say Weakening of Tank Bill Puts Water Supply at Risk

Groups lobbying for strong regulations to protect that state’s water resources gathered at the Capitol Monday to tell lawmakers not to pass a bill they say will gut the above ground storage tank legislation passed last year.

The West Virginia Safe Water Roundtable, comprised of multiple citizen action groups and affiliated with the Our Children, Our Future Campaign, spoke out against House Bill 2574.

Activists called the legislation insulting after the time they, industry representatives and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection spent over the past year negotiating the terms of an above ground storage tank regulation program that resulted from last year’s approved legislation.

That legislation, Senate Bill 373, was passed just weeks after a chemical spill tainted the water supply for 300 thousand residents in the Kanawha Valley.

“I could remind you that despite its strength, Senate Bill 373 is nevertheless a compromise and concessions to industry were made along the way and I could point out that 1,100 tanks have already been designated not fit for service and that Senate Bill 373 is already working,” activist Karan Ireland said at a press conference Monday.

“Instead, I’d like to speak directly to the sponsors of these bills. What you are doing is wrong.”

Sponsors of House Bill 2574 say the legislation aims at reducing instances of double regulation for many tank owners and focuses on those holding 10 thousand gallons of fluid or more near a public drinking water supply.

Interest groups maintain the change would leave thousands of tanks in the state unregulated.

W.Va. Lawmaker Responds After Making Rape, Abortion Comment

A state lawmaker who remarked that it is “beautiful” when a child can be born as the result of a rape says his remarks were misrepresented.
Republican Del. Brian Kurcaba said Friday that he’s sorry if people interpreted his statement as meaning anything other than “all children are precious regardless of circumstance.”

Kurcaba’s comments Thursday during committee discussion on an abortion-ban proposal sparked outcry. 
 
He said, “Obviously, rape is one of the most egregious acts that anybody can ever do to somebody. It’s awful. 
 
“For somebody to take advantage of somebody else in such a horrible and terrifying and brutal way is absolutely disgusting. But what is beautiful is the child that could come as a production of this.”
 

W.Va. GOP Squashes Democrats Attempt to Stop Prevailing Wage repeal

In a close party-line vote, Republican state senators stymied a Democratic effort to stop a bill that would repeal the state’s prevailing wage. 

Democrats failed in a 16-18 Senate vote Thursday to reject the repeal bill, which passed a committee Tuesday.

Democrats said the bill was being wrongly fast-tracked and a compromise between labor and business should have been considered.

“This has been coming. There was plenty of time for compromise, but that compromise was not seen nor embraced,” Sen. Herb Snyder, a Democrat from Jefferson County, said on the floor Thursday.

“What we have done is put fear in the hearts of tens of thousands of West Virginia citizens. Our citizens, Mr. President. Their fear is that they do not know, if this repeal bill passes, what their wages will be.” 

Republicans say the free market should dictate wages. They expect amendments to come on the Senate floor.

The bill will be on first reading Friday and up for a vote as early as next week.

The House of Delegates has not considered yet the repeal.

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