2023 Bill Descriptions
What is in Bill Descriptions? | |
Bills by LWVWV priority area: | Content:
|
Bill Summaries – Safeguarding Equal Rights
Legend: | Support | Oppose |
| Bill | Title | Status | Effective Date | LWVWV Position | Explanation | More Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HB 2002 | Relating to providing support for families | Approved by Governor 3/28/2023 | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 7, 2023) | Oppose | Diverts state dollars to push an anti-abortion, anti-contraception agenda by funnelling taxpayer dollars to crisis pregnancy centers/sham clinics. | AP News |
| HB 2007 | Prohibiting certain medical practices | Approved by Governor 3/29/2023 – Senate Journal | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 9, 2023) | Oppose | The original bill banned gender-affirming surgery for anyone under 18. An amendment in the House Judiciary Committee added a ban on prescribing gender-affirming medication to adolescents. The final compromise version of the bill provides a pathway for transgender youth to continue receiving gender-affirming care in WV, within limited diagnostic restrictions (Takubo). | Mountain State Spotlight |
| HB 2008 | Requiring local entities to enforce immigration laws | Approved by Governor 3/29/2023 – Senate Journal | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 9, 2023) | Oppose | From ACLU of WV: This bill prohibits local governments from creating rules to limit local law enforcement from enforcing or cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. This limits local control and promotes a cruel discriminatory immigration system. | |
| HB 2890 | Modifying student discipline | Approved by Governor 3/28/2023 | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 9, 2023) | Oppose | A bill that purports to “modify” student discipline will likely result in an increase in student discipline – including suspensions and expulsions – and disproportionately impact students of color, students with disabilities, and students from low-income families who are already subject to higher rates of and more severe discipline. | |
| HB 3042 | Relating to forbidding excessive government limitations on exercise of religion | Approved by Governor 3/9/2023 | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (May 29, 2023) | Oppose | From ACLU of WV: This bill allows businesses and individuals to claim a religious objection to otherwise legal requirements. In practice, these bills permit discrimination under the guise of religious freedom. | |
| HB 3302 | To recognize unborn child as distinct victim in a DUI causing death | Approved by Governor 3/15/2023 | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 9, 2023) | Oppose | Recognizes an embryo or fetus as a distinct victim for the offenses of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs causing death and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs causing serious bodily injury. From ACLU of WV: This bill would treat an embryo as a person if there is pregnancy loss in a DUI. This perpetuates the legal fiction of fetal personhood. | |
| SB 239 | Requiring Commissioner of Bureau for Behavioral Health to engage certain providers and leaders to study homeless demographic | Approved by Governor 2/24/2023 – Senate Journal | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (May 16, 2023) | Oppose | Requires Commissioner of Bureau for Behavioral Health to engage certain providers and leaders to study homelessness. The bill is of great concern to service providers. It could result in limits of service to people who are experiencing homelessness. Additionally, the ACLU of WV noted that the bill emphasizes studying stigmatizing factors such as relocation from other states, counties, or municipalities; disease status and prevalence; and policies/availablity of services that may attract people who are unhoused. | |
| SB 422 | Requiring public schools to publish curriculum online at beginning of each new school year | Approved by Governor 3/21/2023 – Senate Journal | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 9, 2023) | Oppose | From ACLU of WV: This bill modifies laws allowing parents to inspect curriculum by requiring all curricula to be posted on the school or county board of education website, or to be updated within 30 days of any change. The bill allows parents to request to inspect additional instructional material. | |
| SB 47 | Creating Charter Schools Stimulus Fund | Approved by Governor 3/29/2023 – House Journal | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 8, 2023) | Oppose | Establishes the Charter Schools Stimulus Fund to provide additional financial support to charter school applicants and charter schools that may not otherwise have the resources for start-up costs and costs associated with renovating or remodeling existing buildings and structures | |
| SB 552 | Relating to abortion | Approved by Governor 3/29/2023 – House Journal | Effective from passage – (March 11, 2023) | Oppose | From ACLU of WV: This bill modifies a section of code dealing with informed consent. It requires WV to publish inaccurate information about certain medications, further stigmatizes reproductive health care, and removes liability protections for health care providers. |
Bill Summaries – Protecting Children & Families
Legend: | Support | Oppose |
| Bill | Title | Status | Effective Date | LWVWV Position | Explanation | More Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HB 2526 | Relating to reducing the personal income tax | Approved by Governor 3/7/2023 – House Journal | Effective from passage – (March 4, 2023) | Oppose | “[A] major income tax cut that will cost the state budget hundreds of millions of dollars annually and will overwhelmingly benefit the states wealthiest households and businesses. The legislation relies on a workaround for the tax cuts rejected by voters via Amendment 2 in 2022 and contains automatic triggering mechanisms that seek to ultimately eliminate the states personal income tax at the cost of needed budget investments.” | WV Center on Budget & Policy |
| HB 3018 | Establishing that 18 is the age of consent and removing the ability of an underage person to obtaining a consent to marry through their parents, legal guardians, or by petition to the circuit court | Approved by Governor 3/28/2023 | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 9, 2023) | Support | Bans marriage for children 15 and younger. 16- and 17-year-olds can still marry with parental consent, but cannot marry someone whose age is more than four years older. Previously, anyone younger than 16 could have married with a judges waiver. WV has the highest rate of child marriages among the states, according to the Pew Research Center. | AP News |
| HB 3270 | To amend the deliberate intent statute to limit noneconomic damages to $500,000 | Became law without Governor’s signature – Senate Journal | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 8, 2023) | Oppose | Places a cap on how much workers or their families can recover as compensation for noneconomic losses when an employer ignores safety hazards that lead to severe injury or death. The version of the bill that passed was viewed as a compromise by some lawmakers and advocates, but incensed others, especially those who represent former coal miners with black lung and attorneys who represent miners and their families. | |
| HB 3337 | Prohibiting additional drug and alcohol treatment facilities and services in a certain county | Approved by Governor 3/23/2023 | Effective from passage – (March 8, 2023) | Oppose | Places limits on treatment beds for people with substance use disorders by prohibiting the Health Care Authority from issuing a Certificate of Need to add licensed substance abuse treatment beds in any county that already has greater than 250 licensed substance abuse treatment beds. | |
| SB 10 | Campus Self-Defense Act | Approved by Governor 3/1/2023 – House Journal | Effective from passage – (February 21, 2023) | Oppose | Allows people with concealed carry permits to bring guns onto the campuses of WV colleges and universities. | |
| SB 268 | Relating to PEIA | Approved by Governor 3/17/2023 – House Journal | Effective from passage – (March 6, 2023) | Oppose | Returns PEIA to an 80/20 employer-employee match beginning in July for in-state medical care, and 70/30 for out-of-state medical care for non-contiguous out-of-state counties. According to PEIA, a return to an 80/20 plan will raise premiums for state employees by 24.2% for all salary tiers but result in no changes to benefits and no premium increases for retirees and non-Medicare retirees. The bill also includes a $147 monthly charge for spouses of PEIA participants who have access to health insurance coverage to the actuarial value of the PEIA plan. Also sets the reimbursement rate for all health care providers at a minimum of 110% of Medicare reimbursement rates. | |
| SB 577 | Reducing copay cap on insulin and devices and permitting purchase of testing equipment without prescription | Approved by Governor 3/23/2023 – House Journal | Effecive January 1, 2024 | Support | Lowers the cost of insulin and other medical supplies for insured diabetics in WV. Diabetics will have copay caps of $35 a month for insulin and $100 a month for supplies. | |
| SB 89 | Requiring hospitals to staff qualified personnel to perform sexual assault forensic exams | Approved by Governor 3/1/2023 – House Journal | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (May 22, 2023) | Support | Requires hospitals operating in WV to have trained and properly qualified health care providers on staff to conduct sexual forensic examinations. Such qualified health care providers must be available for emergency examinations and sexual assault forensic examination kit retrieval at all hours of hospital operation. |
Bill Summaries – Creating a Sustainable Future
Legend: | Support | Oppose |
| Bill | Title | Status | Effective Date | LWVWV Position | Explanation | More Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HB 2814 | To create a Hydrogen power task force | Approved by Governor 3/28/2023 | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 8, 2023) | Oppose | The original bill included the words clean hydrogen, meaning hydrogen made through electrolysis powered by renewable energy, but the final bill does not include the word clean, suggesting hydrogen powered by fossil fuels are included. Currently, 95% of all hydrogen is steam formed from natural gas. This task force will be responsible for reviewing all aspects of this emerging energy transition. | |
| HB 2862 | Relating generally to requirements for shareholder voting by the West Virginia Investment Management Board and the Board of Treasury Investments | Approved by Governor 3/28/2023 | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 8, 2023) | Oppose | Targets shareholder/proxy votes on behalf of a state retirement benefit asset management board that factor in environmental and social principles. | WV Gazette Mail |
| HB 3189 | The PFAS Protection Act | Approved by Governor 3/28/2023 | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 8, 2023) | Support | Following Senate Concurrent Resolution 46 in 2020, agencies were tasked with conducting a PFAS study across the state. PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances or so-called forever chemicals), which pose severe threats to public health, were detected in over 130 public drinking water sources in WV at levels far above the EPAs health advisories. This bill provides the next steps for the WV Department of Environmental Protection to conduct follow-up studies and create action plans to address these chemicals at their sources. | |
| HB 3482 | To create the Coal Fired Grid Stabilization and Security Act of 2023 | Approved by Governor 3/22/2023 | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 9, 2023) | Oppose | This bill will keep coal a priority resource in the future of electricity generation in WV. Requires designation of suitable sites for coal electric generation and reporting to the Division of Air Quality of the WV Department of Environmental Protection and the WV Public Service Commission. Construction and operating permits for coal electric generation facilities will be given expedited consideration and will require prompt consideration of appeals by the Air Quality Board concerning a permit being issued or denied. | |
| SB 162 | Authorizing director of DNR to lease state-owned pore spaces in certain areas for carbon sequestration | Approved by Governor 1/24/2023 – Senate Journal | Effective from passage – (January 20, 2023) | Oppose | Allows the Division of Natural Resources to lease state-owned pore spaces underlying state forests, natural and scenic areas, and management areas, and other lands under the jurisdiction and control of the director for carbon sequestration; but prohibits the leasing of pore spaces underlying state parks. A bidding process will be established with procedures and requirements. | |
| SB 188 | Grid Stabilization and Security Act of 2023 | Approved by Governor 3/28/2023 – House Journal | Effective Ninety Days from Passage – (June 4, 2023) | Oppose | Encourages the development, transportation, and use of electricity generated using WV natural gas as the energy source for generating electricity by directing the Department of Economic Development to identify and designate sites suitable for natural gas electric generation facilities, and provide for expedited approval of applications for permits to construct and operate natural gas electric generation facilities. | |
| SB 609 | Obtaining approval for decommissioning or deconstructing of existing power plant | Approved by Governor 3/7/2023 – House Journal | Effective from passage – (March 6, 2023) | Oppose | Requires an existing coal, oil, or natural gas fueled power plant to obtain approval from the WV Public Energy Authority before beginning decommissioning or deconstructing activities. |