A look at House floor action on Saturday, March 11, the last day of the legislative session

David Beard, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
·4 min read

Mar. 11—MORGANTOWN — The Legislature marked its 60th and last day of the 2023 legislative session on Saturday. It was an unusual last day, with no bills in either chamber up for passage, and both sides awaiting messages and taking action to agree or disagree on amendments to their bills made by the other side.

The session ends at midnight. Here is a running look at Saturday's House doings, with newest action at the top.

HB 3482 creates the Coal Fired Grid Stabilization and Security Act. It mirrors SB 181, which is headed to the governor and was designed for the state to promote gas-fired power plant projects through identification of viable sites and expedited permitting. HB 3482 does the same for coal-fired power. The House concurred with Senate amendments and it heads to the governor.

SB 273 aims to allocate CPS workers based on county population and worker caseload, with a proviso that no county will have fewer CPS workers than it does now. It allows the Bureau for Social Services to provide merit-based and locality pay.

The House concurred with a Friday Senate amendment and the bill heads to the governor.

HB 3035 deals with "high-quality education programs " and creates a "multi-tiered system of support intervention for grade-level literacy and numeracy by the end of the third grade." The bill has been going back and forth between the House and Senate.

The Senate and House worked with similar bills that differed in details, and on Thursday the Senate amended its bill, SB 274, the Third Grade Success Act, into this one, along with HB 3293 dealing with dyslexia and dyscalculia ; the amendment struck the House Grow Your Own West Virginia Pathway to Teaching Pilot Program from the bill.

Back in the House Saturday afternoon, it was reported that the Senate also removed a requirement for students to be at grade level in math by third grade ; a provision to allow counties to phase in early childhood classroom assistant teachers where they are most needed, with full implementation by 2026 ; for assistant teachers to exercise control of a class in a teacher's absence ; and and option to employ paraprofessionals in place of assistant teachers. So the House amended those back in and bounced it back to the Senate.

HB 3555 is aimed at curbing coursework costs for college students.

It says that if the required course materials have not been selected before a student's enrollment in a course and the selection would raise the cost for the student, the institution may only assess the new or increased charge if the institution has a policy to allow the student to opt out of the way the institution provides for the student to obtain or purchase the course materials, and to receive a full refund for any charges already incurred.

It also says institutions may work with booksellers, publishers, or other third parties to offer courseware and book fees at a lump sum or per-credit-hour amount, provided that an opt-out option is offered to students in advance of the start of each academic term.

The House concurred with Senate amendments and it heads to the governor.

HB 3398 would create a Memorial to Fallen Heroes of the Global War on Terrorism.

Delegate Bill Ridenour, R-Jefferson, a retired Marine and Defense Intelligence officer, presented the Senate message. He followed that by saying in 1983 he lost friends in the Beirut Marine Corps barracks bombing and other attacks. In 1993, his unit responded to the Blackhawk Down attack.

In 1996 he was named U.S. Pacific Command anti-terrorism operations officer and led responses to various attacks. And in 2001 he was 100 yards from the left wingtip of the plane that hit the Pentagon. The entire intelligence watch section was killed.

He was then part of a Navy team combating threats and going to funerals, and spent 10 years in counterterrorism. "This is somewhat personal to me."

The House concurred with the Senate amendments and it heads to the governor.

HB 3110 is the oil and gas well inspector bill, to the Senate. It dedicates three-fourths of 1 % of severance tax collections to the Office of Oil and Gas, up to a cap of $1.2 million per year. It sets a well permit modification fee of $5, 000. And it imposes a tiered annual oversight fee based on well production ranging from $350 to $25, with a per-producer cap on the number of wells operated.

The House concurred with Senate amendments and it heads to the governor.

HB 2346 addresses the statewide substitute school bus driver shortage. School boards may hire retired drivers as critical-need substitutes, with no limit on days, without affect to the drivers' retirement benefits. The House concurred with Senate amendments and it heads to the governor.

HB 2218 is known as the Electronically Distracted Driving Act and the Robin W. Ames Memorial Act. It expands prohibitions and penalties for using an electronic device while driving. The House concurred with Senate amendments and it heads to the governor.