West Virginia Legislature Story Archives - Page 4 of 125

Candidate Filing Law Sets New Limits On Nominee Appointments

Among the bills passed in the regular state legislative session dealing with voters and elections, and one that faced partisan scrutiny, eliminates a candidate’s filing deadline.

Signed by Gov. Jim Justice on March 27, the last day to do so, House Bill 4350 says if no one files as a party candidate for an elected office after the filing deadline, that vacancy may not be filled. Previously, the party executive committee had 17 days after that deadline to appoint a nominee. The change eliminates that practice except in certain circumstances, including no one filing to run for the position at all, death, disqualification or resignation of a candidate.

The bill sponsor, Del. Josh Holstein, R-Boone, said the change gives voters security in knowing who is running for office. And, he said it allows that someone hasn’t been tossed on the ballot just for political purposes.

“A function of a party is to recruit candidates, number one, and number two, to win elections,” Holstein said. “If we can’t find an individual for two years leading up to an election, and the three to four week filing period, to get them found, we have to scramble. At the end of that, to find somebody just to toss on, it’s usually not a very high quality person or a high quality candidate, it’s just someone that’s filling a ballot.”

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, and West Virginia Democratic Party chairman, said the legislation hurts voters and only benefits incumbents.

“The only thing that does is make less alternatives, less choices for voters,”Pushkin said. “Democracy works better when we have more choices for voters, when we have more people participating in their democracy. It doesn’t benefit anybody except people already serving in this building.”

West Virginia University Associate Professor of Political Science Scott Critchlow noted that many West Virginia election districts have small populations. He said each of the 100 House of Delegates districts have less than 20,000 people, and that can create a challenge for political parties to find candidates.

“What the practice has been so far is to allow for the people to register after the filing deadline, in case you didn’t get somebody in one of those very, very small, 100 districts,” Critchlow said. “This will stop that practice. And effectively, that’s going to mean that voters don’t have a choice when they go to the polls in November.”

Critchlow also said that House Bill 4350 was voted on by politicians, and noted that many of them could see it as in their own best interest to have fewer possible people run against them as they seek reelection.

“The filing deadline in West Virginia is in January,” Critchlow said. “So just take the last few months as an example. Somebody might know in January that they’re not going to face a person running against them in November. That means that for the entire legislative session from January to March, they can vote however they want to without having to worry about the voters.“

In response, Holstein said he rejects Critchlow’s entire premise, saying the legislation does not impact an incumbent and it preserves election integrity.

“What folks need to know is this preserves the situations where neither major party files a candidate,” Holstein said. “It still allows them to go out for that additional two weeks and seek somebody, so that’s still intact. All this does, it preserves death, it preserves withdrawal, it preserves eligibility, it preserves if no one has filed. All this does is say, if you have not filed during this entire period, and you’ve had two years from the last election cycle to prepare, you’re no longer eligible to be a candidate.”

House Bill 4350 takes effect Jan. 1, 2025.

The Growing Need For Foster Families On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, in the latest installment of our occasional series “Now What? A Series On Parenting,” Chris Schulz speaks with Terri Lynn Durnal of the National Youth Advocate Program about the unique experience of fostering children – and the need for foster parents in the state.

On this West Virginia Morning, from grandfamilies to kin networks and everything in between, families come in all shapes and sizes in West Virginia, and there is a growing need for one particular type.

In the latest installment of our occasional series “Now What? A Series On Parenting,” Chris Schulz speaks with Terri Lynn Durnal of the National Youth Advocate Program about the unique experience of fostering children – and the need for foster parents in the state.

Also, in this show, in the final hours of the 2024 regular state legislative session, lawmakers passed a budget that cut funding for IDD waivers. Emily Rice has more.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Chris Schulz produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Unemployment Benefits Now Capped, Even If Inflation Rises

Under a new law, West Virginia’s maximum unemployment benefit rate will no longer adjust as inflation rises. Also, unemployed residents must prove they’re seeking a job at least four times a week to receive benefits.

A controversial new law will soon limit how much money residents can receive through state unemployment benefits.

Beginning in July, residents can collect a maximum of $622 per week from West Virginia’s unemployment trust fund. That figure cannot be adjusted, even if inflation rates rise like they did in 2022.

Most residents already receive less than the new maximum. On average, the state provides benefit recipients $420 per week, the Associated Press previously reported.

But critics of the new law worry that capping benefit rates could exacerbate hardship in periods of economic downturn, especially among low-income and blue-collar residents.

On March 9 — the last day of the West Virginia Legislature’s 2024 regular session — Del. John Williams, D-Monongalia, expressed as much on the House floor.

“We are hamstringing people who are at the worst time of their lives,” he said. “There’s going to be a mess on our hands in less than 10 years, once inflation takes its toll.”

Inflation rates are down nationally from their peak in 2022. But they still remain above levels before the surge, as well as the target set by the Federal Reserve.

Currently, the state updates its benefit rates annually based on labor data that takes broader economic circumstances into account, like the average weekly wage in West Virginia.

However, that process will be removed under the new law, which passed in the final hours of this year’s regular session.

During the session, proponents of the bill expressed concerns about overspending state unemployment funds. The final bill was pared down from initial, more sweeping drafts of legislation that would have cut benefits far more drastically.

Speaking in favor of an earlier bill also addressing unemployment benefit spending, Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, said the legislation would help preserve access to unemployment benefits in years to come.

“If we do not do something now to go in and fix this unemployment fund, what’s going to happen is unemployment services will become unavailable in the future,” he said in February. “That’s just a matter of math.”

Gov. Jim Justice declined to veto or sign off on the final bill, allowing it to become law automatically Thursday. As of Friday, he had not explained his decision publicly.

Opponents of the bill, however, were outspoken about their concerns throughout this year’s legislative session.

In February, Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, said lawmakers backing the bill should have sought more input from labor unions and business owners, especially as layoffs and labor tensions mounted statewide.

Josh Sword, president of the West Virginia AFL-CIO, told West Virginia Public Broadcasting he agreed.

“The best way to get good policy is to bring all impacted parties to the table,” Sword said in February. “That absolutely did not happen.”

Republican lawmakers like Sen. Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, said they would use the final remaining weeks of the session to clue labor leaders into discussions. But, since its passage, Sword has maintained his disapproval of the law.

Beyond capping benefit rates, the new law also poses additional requirements for benefit recipients. Recipients now must prove they have taken steps to find a job on a weekly basis.

These requirements — and the new maximum rate — will take effect statewide on July 1, alongside the start of a new fiscal year for the state.

Justice Vetoes Bill To Ease Vaccine Requirements For Some Schools

On the final day of bill signing from the 2024 regular legislative session, Justice vetoed controversial House Bill 5105.

Gov. Jim Justice has vetoed a bill to ease vaccine requirements for many of the state’s school-age children.

On the final day of bill signing from the 2024 regular legislative session, Justice vetoed House Bill 5105.

The controversial bill would have changed West Virginia’s vaccination requirements by allowing virtual public school students to be exempt from vaccination policies and for private and parochial schools to institute their own policies either exempting students or not.

In a statement, Justice said he was persuaded by the state’s leading medical experts, who advised him to veto the bill.

“Since this legislation was passed, I have heard constant, strong opposition to this legislation from our state’s medical community,” Justice said. “The overwhelming majority that have voiced their opinion believe that this legislation will do irreparable harm by crippling childhood immunity to diseases such as mumps and measles.”

Justice added that spikes in measles in surrounding states with less stringent vaccine requirements guided his decision.

“West Virginia historically has seen very few instances of these diseases, specifically because the vaccination requirements in this state are so strong,” he said. “Importantly, the vaccines at issue have been required in this state for decades and have kept our communities safe.”

As the regular session wound down earlier this month, the House approved HB 5105 on a vote of 70 to 29 and in the Senate by 20 to 12.

As the law stands, all students in West Virginia have to receive vaccines for diseases like polio and measles, unless they are homeschooled or medically exempt.

Justice said parents from private and parochial schools voiced their opposition to the bill.

“We have heard from this community that they see this bill as purely divisive and, if signed into law, requiring consideration of adopting policies that will result in parents pulling their children from their schools,” he said.

Justice said while he understood those who saw the issue as one of freedom to make other health decisions, he could not ignore the “wisdom” of the medical community.

“I will defer to our licensed medical professionals who have come forward overwhelmingly to say this bill could and likely would result in reduced immunity and harm to West Virginia’s kids. Our kids are our future. They are our most important resource, and I will protect them with everything I have.”

Tracking The Bills The Governor Vetoes, Signs Into Law

As the deadline for Gov. Jim Justice to sign bills into law approaches, there are still numerous bills on the table awaiting his consideration.

Updated on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 6:25 p.m.

This is a developing story and will be updated as bills are signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice.

Wednesday marks the deadline for Gov. Jim Justice to sign into law bills that the West Virginia Legislature passed in its 2024 regular session.

Just one day out from the deadline, more than half of this year’s bills were still awaiting approval from Justice.

This is not uncommon, as governors often use the final hours before the deadline to decide upon bills. Any bills Justice does not act upon will automatically become law by Thursday.

At a press briefing Tuesday, Justice said his inaction was because many bills came to him late, following drawn-out discussions on the Legislature floor.

Plus, budgetary concerns muddied important financial decision-making days before the session ended, he said. With the Legislature approving a budget lower than he had requested, Justice said he would call lawmakers back for a special session before May 14.

Justice vetoed his third bill this year on Wednesday afternoon. House Bill 5105 would have exempted virtual public school students from vaccine requirements, and allowed private and parochial schools to set their own vaccine requirements.

As the law stands, all students in West Virginia must still receive vaccines for diseases like polio and measles, unless they are homeschooled or medically exempt. The other bills Justice vetoed this year would have allocated funding to neuroscience research at West Virginia University, and increased the capacity of renewable energy facilities in the state.

Justice used the final remaining hours of Wednesday to grant tens of other bills his stamp of approval.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting has provided a list of some of the final bills Justice approved on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a description of what the new laws entail.

Education and Child Care

Senate Bill 146 creates a state task force on adult education. The task force will consider funding options, and collect findings for the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability.
Senate Bill 487 requires the State Board of Education to review professional development resources for teachers every five years. It aims to ensure content is still necessary and focused on what actually happens in classrooms.
Senate Bill 568 aims to reduce chronic absenteeism by altering school protocol for addressing student absenteeism and increasing contact between schools and parents of absent students.
Senate Bill 844 redesignates the Educational Broadcasting Authority, which oversees West Virginia Public Broadcasting, as the Educational Broadcasting Commission. It also reduces the number of members who serve on the EBA, and grants the cabinet secretary for the Department of Arts, Culture, and History hiring power over its executive director.
House Bill 4305 grants in-state tuition status to higher education students who receive economic development incentives to relocate to West Virginia.
House Bill 4830 loosens training requirements for teachers. The requirement goes down from annually to every three years.
House Bill 4975 establishes a web-based foster parent information system.
House Bill 5405 increases professional development resources for West Virginia teachers.
House Bill 5514 increases the annual training requirements for county boards of education.
House Bill 5520 lowers the age of presumed competency for juvenile delinquency proceedings from 14 to 13.

Health

Senate Bill 170 compensates certain firefighters who develop bladder cancer, mesothelioma or testicular cancer through workers’ compensation.

Senate Bill 325 allows for penalties for manufacturers who deny, restrict or prohibit the acquisition of a 340B drug by a safety net provider of contract pharmacy. The 340B drug program allows covered providers to offer federal resources to Medicaid and Medicare recipients.
Senate Bill 453 requires pricing and payment transparency from pharmacy benefits managers contracting with PEIA. Pharmacy benefit managers manage prescription drug benefits for clients ranging from health insurers and Medicare Part D drug plans to large employers.
Senate Bill 477 criminalizes sharing health care workers’ personal information on the internet with the intent of harming them.
Senate Bill 667 creates the Physician Assistant Licensure Compact, allowing physician assistants to provide certain medical services when licensed to do so.
Senate Bill 679 clarifies the role of the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration Commissioner in overseeing businesses engaged in manufacturing, processing, distributing or sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Purchase of these products is limited to adults aged 21 and over.
Senate Bill 681 removes a requirement that members of the Army National Guard or Air National Guard who receive tuition funding from the state for a medical degree program must work in West Virginia for 10 years after graduating. Now, the number of years of in-state work required is set by the state’s adjutant general.
Senate Bill 755 increases age verification requirements for the online sale of tobacco products, including vapes.
House Bill 4233 codifies in state law that the term “non-binary” is prohibited from being used as a sex on state birth certificates. The term was already not included as an option for sex at birth.
House Bill 4756 creates a state Alzheimer’s plan task force.
House Bill 5175 eliminates funding for the Center for Nursing and transfers its duties and authorities to the Higher Education Policy Commission.
House Bill 5347 establishes a program for emergency medical services personnel to become certified paramedics.
House Bill 5349 makes labeling requirements for food products more specific.
House Bill 5540, known as Laken’s Law, is named after Morgan Laken, who died from a fentanyl overdose in 2021. It requires students to be taught about fentanyl, heroin, and opioid awareness, prevention and abuse, addiction, community resources, substance abuse among young people, and how to administer opioid reversal agents like Narcan. The instruction will begin in the 2024-2025 school year.
- See our previous reporting.

Elections and Government

Senate Bill 217 allows the state and its political subdivisions to negotiate construction prices when all bids received exceed the budget.
Senate Bill 438 slightly reduces the information certified practitioners of a field must provide the public through the state agency that granted their certification.
Senate Bill 542 clarifies vacancy protocol for county commissions, including how commissioners should proceed when a deadlock is reached over candidates.
Senate Bill 624 eliminates voter registration records for individuals who move out of West Virginia or receive a driver’s license in another state.
Senate Bill 628 reconciled financial claims made against the state.
Senate Bill 834 increases the number of members on the state’s advisory board for motor vehicle dealers.
Senate Bill 866 appoints the state treasurer as chairperson of the West Virginia Investment Management Board.
Senate Bill 874 creates local port authority districts, which are zoned through the state’s Division of Multimodal Transportation Facilities.
House Bill 4350 removes a state policy allowing individuals to file candidacy for a vacant public office after the filing deadline when no one from their party has already filed their candidacy.
House Bill 4552 requires candidates in partisan elections to immediately verify their party affiliation upon filing for office.
House Bill 4782 requires municipalities to regulate zoning ordinances equally for all businesses, regardless of whether a business sells firearms or ammunition.
House Bill 5690 creates a state task force on artificial intelligence.

Infrastructure and Development

Senate Bill 610 expanded the Water Development Authority’s ability to appoint employees.
Senate Bill 631 prohibits municipalities from disconnecting water service for nonpayment of stormwater fees.
Senate Bill 782 updates property development permits and deadlines.
Senate Bill 827 clarifies state terminology surrounding salvage yards, and the conditions for receiving a specialized regional distribution and dismantling license from the state.
Senate Bill 874 creates local port authority districts, which are zoned through the state’s Division of Multimodal Transportation Facilities.

Public Safety and the Courts

Senate Bill 578 clarifies property ownership terms in the state’s burglary crime law.
Senate Bill 649 clarifies that judges recalled to serve in West Virginia are entitled to per diem compensation from the state.
Senate Bill 712 reduced the minimum age for state police cadets from 21 to 18.
Senate Bill 778 expands the types of offenses that can grant an individual a “repeat offender” status for felony convictions in West Virginia.
House Bill 4190 establishes a silver alert system for people with Alzheimer’s disease or other cognitive impairments.
House Bill 4297 establishes that correctional officers who undertake specific training qualify as law enforcement officers.
House Bill 4399 allows certain individuals whose criminal charges have been dismissed to have those charges expunged from their record.

Tourism and Recreation

Senate Bill 148 establishes an auto-renewal program for state wildlife licenses.
Senate Bill 222 provides discounts and fee exemptions to veterans at certain state parks.
Senate Bill 690 creates a commission on agrotourism.
Senate Bill 824 increased the West Virginia Motorsport Committee from five to 17 members, all appointed by the governor.
House Bill 4700 bans individuals who exhibit harassing or harmful behaviors from certain sports wager activities.
House Bill 4793 allows residents who are at least 21 years of age to manufacture moonshine for personal or family use.

For a full list of bills that the West Virginia Legislature passed in its 2024 regular session — as well Justice’s action on them — visit the Legislature’s website.

To view our full coverage of the West Virginia Legislature’s 2024 regular session, visit the webpage for our program The Legislature Today.

As Deadline Nears, More Than 170 Bills Wait For Signature

About 63 percent of the bills passed during the West Virginia Legislature’s 2024 regular session await a response from Gov. Jim Justice, which is due March 27.

The West Virginia Legislature passed 279 bills during the 2024 regular session.

But 176 of those bills — about 63 percent of them — still await approval from Gov. Jim Justice.

Wednesday marks the deadline for Justice to sign bills into law or veto them using his authority as governor. By Thursday, any remaining bills will automatically become law.

It’s not uncommon for a governor to sign several bills close to the deadline. But this year, Justice accredited delays to drawn-out discussions, and budgetary issues that arose days before the session ended.

“In all honesty, there’s an awful lot of these bills that got down to us really late,” Justice said during a virtual press briefing Tuesday. “It takes time for our folks to get through all these bills.”

Justice added that the Legislature “didn’t really have a budget.” Lawmakers passed a budget below $5 billion this year, which was shy of the $5.265 billion Justice proposed in January.

In part, that’s because some lawmakers worried about overspending. Their concerns arose from news that the United States Department of Education could reclaim $465 million in COVID-19 funds received by the state.

Justice previously said that he would call the Legislature back for a special session before May 14 in response to these budget concerns.

In the meantime, he said he will continue working through the legislation before him.

One piece of legislation still pending is Senate Bill 453, which would require increased transparency from pharmacy benefit managers, who have oversight on drug costs and insurance reimbursement. Justice said during the press briefing that he plans to sign the bill.

Another is House Joint Resolution 21, which would add a question to voters’ ballots in the 2024 general election.

If approved by voters, the resolution would add a line to the state’s constitution expressing that non-citizens of the U.S. cannot “vote at any election held within this state.”

Non-citizens are already ineligible to vote in federal elections, which led Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, to describe the resolution as a “time-wasting, do-nothing” policy in February.

Justice, however, said he wholeheartedly supports the resolution.

“I’m a real believer, and it’s the law. I mean, for crying out loud, you don’t have any right to vote whatsoever if you’re here illegally,” he said.

But Justice was less forthcoming on another, more controversial piece of legislation: House Bill 5105.

If passed, the bill would grant vaccine exemptions to most students in private, parochial or virtual public schools across the state.

Students are currently required to receive vaccines for several infectious diseases, like polio and measles, regardless of the school they attend.

Many health professionals have expressed grave concerns over the health risks of increasing vaccine exemptions. But the lawmakers behind the bill describe it as a matter of personal choice and religious freedom.

Justice declined to share his stance on the bill during Tuesday’s press briefing.

“I’m very, very close to reaching a decision. I understand both sides,” he said.

In addition to signing the bill into law, Justice could also take no action — letting it pass automatically — or veto the bill.

So far this year, Justice has only vetoed one bill, which would have provided $2 million for neuroscience research on Alzheimer’s Disease and substance use disorders at West Virginia University.

“If you just give me ‘til tomorrow,” Justice said. “We’re still reviewing certain things and everything, but you’ll definitely hear from me tomorrow.”