West Virginia Senate Story Archives - Page 25 of 27 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. Senator Sues to Prevent Sunday Senate Session

A senator who is a pastor has filed a lawsuit to prevent the West Virginia Senate from working this Sunday.

Sen. John Unger filed the lawsuit Wednesday against Senate President Bill Cole in Kanawha County Circuit Court.

The suit by Unger, a Berkeley County Democrat, says he’s the pastor at three different churches this Sunday.

It says scheduling a Sunday session conflicts with his state constitutional right of religious freedom.

The lawsuit says Unger has to perform pastoral duties of visiting the sick, shut-ins, the elderly and the dying, and giving communion to people who can’t make services.

In a statement, Cole called the lawsuit a “sad attempt at political gamesmanship and obstructionism.” Cole, a Republican, said Unger didn’t have a problem working on Sundays when Democrats were in power.

Senate Approves Constitutional Carry Bill

Members of the West Virginia Senate voted 24 to 9 Monday to approve a bill allowing West Virginians over the age of 21 to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

The bill has already been approved by the House of Delegates, but Senators included changes that will now need to be reconsidered by the lower chamber before it heads to Governor Tomblin for a signature.

As approved by the Senate, the bill gets rid of the current permitting and safety training requirements to carry a concealed weapon but keeps those programs in place for citizens who want to carry their weapons in states that have reciprocity with West Virginia.

The bill also establishes a provisional license for 18 to 21-year-olds to carry concealed. Those provisional licenses include safety training requirements.

House Bill 4145 was amended in the Senate to remove a $100 tax credit for those who go through the permitting process even though it would not be required by code. Senate Judiciary Chair Charles Trump explained during a Saturday floor session such a credit would leave a millions of dollars hole in the state budget.

The Senate’s version also creates three new felonies related to carrying concealed when they are prohibited by law or use a weapon while committing a crime.

In a speech on the chamber floor, Democratic Sen. Corey Palumbo explained his no vote shows he stands with law enforcement officers and a majority of his constituents who opposed the relaxed concealed carry rules. Republican Sen. Kent Leonhardt argued that the bill will increase the safety of the state’s citizens.

House Bill 4145 could be taken up by the House of Delegates as soon as Tuesday.

Tobacco Tax Bill Pushed to Wednesday in Senate Committee

After some discussion of possible amendments, members of the Senate Finance Committee decided Tuesday to finish their consideration of a bill to increase the state’s tobacco tax Wednesday afternoon.

The bill, introduced on behalf of Governor Tomblin, would increase the tax by 45 cents per pack and also includes various increases for other tobacco products. Members, however, were interested in several amendments to the bill, leading to the recess.

Tomblin presented the bill as a part of his plan to balance both the 2016 and 2017 budgets. That plan also included a 6 percent tax on cell phones and land lines.

Senate Finance Chair Mike Hall said Tuesday he realized months ago it was time for lawmakers to begin discussing ways to bring more money into the state’s coffers, and whether it’s for health or revenue reasons, Hall believed members of the Legislature are willing to at least consider the tobacco tax hike.

“It’s not as broad based as I would like to see it if we’re going to do a revenue measure,” Hall said. “There are broader based taxes possibly that don’t just affect this population, but this is the one that’s been bandied about this building for a long time.”

Amendments discussed Tuesday included dedicating a portion of the funds generated by the increase to funding the state’s Public Employee’s Health Insurance Agency. That amendment is expected to be discussed further Wednesday.

Welfare Recipients Can Be Drug Tested Under Senate-Approved Bill

West Virginia Senators voted 32 to 2 to create a three-year pilot program to drug test welfare recipients. Two Democratic senators voted against the provision.

The bill requires the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources seek federal approval to create such a program and sets forth the requirements for it, including the “reasonable suspicion” a DHHR employee must find before testing a TANF recipient.

The TANF program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, is a short-term welfare program meant to help struggling families. According to the DHHR, about 3,536 West Virginians received TANF benefits in December 2015.

If the bill is approved by the House of Delegates, any of those recipients could be asked to take a drug test if they have been convicted of a drug crime in the past five years or “give the impression” they may be on drugs, according to Sen. Ryan Ferns of Ohio County, the bill’s lead sponsor.

The program will then run on a three strike system.

After one failed drug test, recipients must enroll in rehabilitation and workforce training programs, but get to keep their benefits. They lose those benefits after a second failed test, but after 12 months or completing a rehabilitation or job training program, whichever is shorter, they’ll get their benefits back. It’s after the third failed test, Ferns said, the recipient loses those benefits for life.

Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler was one of two Democrats to vote against the bill, he said, for two reasons. The first, the bill requires the welfare recipient to pay for the state required drug rehabilitation on their own and second, Kessler said there are a lack of those programs in the state.

“So, we’re forcing folks into programs that we’re not even sure they exist, number one, and if they do, we’re asking people to pay for it that desperately need treatment that don’t have the funds to pay for it,” he said.

Ferns assured Kessler on the floor the DHHR believes there are enough programs to handle the number of recipients expected to need treatment, and said many of those TANF recipients also receive Medicaid, which covers substance abuse treatment.

The program is expected to cost the DHHR about $50,000 to implement and $22,000 each year thereafter.

Senate Will Vote to Drug Test Welfare Recipients

Updated 2/9/2016: The West Virginia Senate approved a three-year pilot drug testing program, 32-2. For more, click here.

Original story:

Members of the West Virginia Senate are set to vote on a bill to drug test the recipients of public assistance.

Senate Bill 6 creates a three-year pilot program to drug test recipients of TANF benefits. TANF stands for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Sen. Ryan Ferns said the bill requires employees of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources prove reasonable suspicion before drug testing a TANF recipient, which comes in two forms.

The first, recipients convicted of a drug-related offense in the last five years will be required to take a drug test. The second Ferns described as anyone who gives the impression they may be using an illegal drug or abusing a controlled substance.

The bill sets out a three-strike system:

Strike One: no loss of benefits, requires recipient to enter rehabilitative and workforce training programs
Strike Two: loss of benefits for 12 months or until a rehabilitation or workforce training program has been completed, whichever is shorter
Strike Three: loss of benefits for life.

Benefits, however, will not be taken from dependent children in the home. Ferns says the bill requires the DHHR to find another qualified adult in their lives to take over distribution of child benefits, something he says the state already does in other cases.
“The drug epidemic has been increasingly harmful to our state,” Ferns said Monday. “It’s getting worse and worse all the time and we are looking at any possible way that we can assist individuals who need help and get them help.”

Those opposed to the bill maintain the screening process will allow for discrimination against minority and low-income West Virginians.

THe DHHR reports 3,536 individuals received TANF benefits in West Virginia in December 2015.

The agency estimates the program will cost the state about $50,000 for its initial implementation and about $22,000 each year after.

Senators will vote on Senate Bill 6 Tuesday.

State Senate OK's Raw Milk Bill After Veto Last Year

After a veto last year, the push to let West Virginians drink raw milk through animal-sharing agreements is regaining steam.

On Friday, the state Senate voted 22-12 on the raw milk bill, sending the proposal to the House of Delegates.

The bill would let people strike agreements to share milk-producing animals and drink raw milk. It would maintain a ban on selling or distributing raw milk.

People would also have to sign a document acknowledging the health risks. Animals would need to have passed health tests within the last year.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed a similar bill last year.

Tomblin said it would pose a serious risk to public health, since raw milk can contain particularly dangerous bacteria for children, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems.