Tobacco ban bill thrown out
HB 2331 would have made the sale of those products to anyone under 21 a misdemeanor carrying a $50 fine for a first offense and escalating fines for subsequent offense.
The bill wouldn’t have banned smoking or possession of the products for anyone age 18-20.
The bill died in a voice vote. It was unclear if the opponents outnumbered the supporters, but they were louder, and committee chair Joe Ellington — R-Mercer and a bill co-sponsor — called it in their favor.
Moody’s drops state debt rating
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A visibly unhappy Gov. Jim Justice and Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy announced in the late afternoon Feb. 21 press conference that Moody’s Investor Service has downgraded the state’s general obligation debt rating from AA1 to AA2.
Hardy said that, a year ago, two other agencies, Standard & Poor and Fitch, also downgraded the state’s rating leading Moody’s to put the state on a negative watch. Moody’s action on Feb. 21 reflected a multi-year trend of growing structural imbalance between annual expenditures and available resources.
Justice said, “This just makes me sick. That’s all there is to it. … It’s just going to get worse if we don’t act, if we don’t do something.”
Justice reiterated that he outlined his plan to save the state during his State of the State Address on Feb. 8. Cutting our way out won’t work.
“There’s no chance on God’s green Earth we can even think of doing that,” he said. Trying it will lead to a “China Syndrome” meltdown, he said.
Justice announced he would take no questions and left abruptly.
I-68 bill moving to Senate Finance
Senate Transportation and Infrastructure unanimously approved SB 210, the County Local Powers Act, on Feb. 21, adopting two of three amendments proposed during a Feb. 20 subcommittee meeting.
Because the state Constitution dictates how county tax funds are supposed to be used, a Constitutional amendment, needing voter approval, is required so the Legislature can allow counties to spend those future dollars on infrastructure.
That proposed amendment, SJR 4, is already in Senate Finance.
Last year, a similar bill, SB 12, and its accompanying resolution, SJR 1, both passed the full Senate but died in the House.
Bills introduced Feb. 21
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Here are some bills introduced Feb. 21. Local lead sponsors and co-sponsors are noted.
SB 359, to allow exemption from mandated immunizations for religious, conscientious, personal or medical reasons for adults and children. Sen. Dave Sypolt, R-Preston, co-sponsor.
SB 366, the governor’s version of the Second Chance Act, to allow nonviolent felons to seek expungement of their records to aid their gaining employment.
SB 367, a governor’s bill, to create a new Fleet Management Office.
SB 377, part of the Tax Reform committee’s work, to create a fixed-income credit for low-income seniors.
SB 378, also part of Tax Reform’s work, to create an Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income workers.
SB 386, a medical marijuana bill, the Medical Cannabis Act. Sen. Bob Beach, D-Monongalia, co-sponsor.
HB 2589, to allow students who are homeschooled or attend private school to take classes at a county vocational school.
HB 2608, to require the Division of Highways to contract with private contractors for certain emergency service operations. Delegate Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, lead sponsor.
HB 2620, the Overdose Monitoring Act, to create a central state repository of drug overdose information. Delegate Cindy Frich, R-Monongalia, lead sponsor.
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From The Register-Herald
Senate bills progress
The Senate passed three bills Tuesday. Senate Bill 202, adds a new section of code that would prevent pawnbrokers from accepting a prepaid card or gift certificate. Those that violate would be charged with a misdemeanor offense. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, said the reason for the law is because law enforcement officers have seen gift cards in this fashion used for money laundering and illicit activity processed through pawn shops. Of the 32 members present, 30 voted for the bill and Sens. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, and Robert Karnes, R-Upshur, voted against it.
The Senate also passed SB 249, which amends a single section of code that adds a person’s birthday and current address into an abstract of judgment in land records at the county clerk’s office to clarify who owns the land if a judgment is rendered against them. All 32 members present voted for the bill.
The third bill the Senate passed was SB 134, which allows the Bureau of Commerce to promulgate legislative rules. All members present voted for passage.
The Senate advanced three bills to second reading:
SB 188, which corrects the definition of telehealth
SB 222, which disqualifies a worker’s unemployment benefits for time that a person where a person lost or left a job as a result of a strike or labor dispute.
SB 242, which relates to school calendars. The bill allots one noninstructional day for teachers to prepare for opening school and another for teachers to prepare for closing school. It also increases the number of two-hour blocks for faculty senate meetings from four to six, removes the requirement that faculty senate meetings be held once every 45 days and permits certain accrued minutes to be used for lost instructional days.
The Senate also advanced two bills to second reading:
SB 182, which provides procedures to disqualify low bids of government construction contracts due to document technicalities.
SB 240, which creates a crime for the nonconsensual distribution of sexual images or threatening to distribute images.
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From The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register
West Virginia Debt Rating Downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Justice administration says Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the state’s general obligation debt rating, citing growing structural instability between the government’s financial resources and expense liability.
Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy says Moody’s downgrade from AA1 to AA2 follows similar moves last year by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s.
Gov. Jim Justice says state borrowing “just got more expensive” and criticized legislative proposals to refinance some of the state’s pension debt.
The Democrat has proposed fractional sales and corporate tax increases, establishing a surplus safety fund and a bond-funded highway reconstruction program to close a projected $500 million state deficit in the coming year and boost West Virginia’s economy.
Republican legislative leaders have criticized the tax proposals.
“This bond downgrade reinforces the need for fundamental changes to how we operate our state government.
“The failed tax-and-spend policies of the past will not solve this problem,” House of Delegates Speaker Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, said.
“We need bold leadership to right-size our state government and restructure our tax code in a way that promotes growth. The proposal to increase spending by another $318 million and pay for it with the largest tax increase in the history of our state will not solve our budgetary challenge. In the coming weeks, we will work to construct a budget that will restore confidence in our future economic outlook.”
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From The State Journal
WV Senate bans sale or trading of gift cards at pawn shops
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the West Virginia Senate have passed a bill that would make it illegal for pawnbrokers to buy or trade in prepaid or store-issued gift cards.
On Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017, senators voted 30-2, with two members absent, to make it a misdemeanor for a pawnbroker to buy or trade a gift card. Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, said law enforcement officers had complained that gift cards were being run through pawn shops as a way to launder money.
Sen. Robert Karnes, R-Upshur, and Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, voted against the bill.
The Legislature was widely criticized for not being able to agree on a budget during the 2016 regular legislative session, leading to an extended budget session that ended up costing taxpayers more than $35,000 a day.
Senate Majority Leader Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio, said Finance Chairman Sen. Mike Hall, R-Putnam, has appointed subcommittees to look at all aspects of the budget. Ferns said a budget bill should be ready before the end of the session.
Gov. Jim Justice and members of the House and Senate have vastly different ideas on how a budget should be constituted. With the state facing a projected budget deficit of $450 million or more, Justice wants to balance the budget using $26 million in cuts and increases in the state sales tax and fees.
House and Senate leaders want to balance the budget without resorting to tax increases. Meanwhile, a select committee in the Senate is exploring completely revamping the state’s tax code by doing away with personal and corporate income taxes and replacing them with a wide-ranging consumption tax on most goods and services.
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