BY: CAITY COYNE
The 2024 regular legislative session is halfway over, leaving lawmakers with just 30 days to consider the passage of more than 2,200 proposed bills that have been introduced so far.
To date, only 10 pieces of legislation — five from the House and five from the Senate — have been passed by both chambers and sent to the governor’s desk.
The first 30 days under the dome have gone relatively slowly, despite a number of contentious bills and debates both in committees and in chambers. Here’s a look at where things are as the second half of the session gets underway.
What’s been passed
Completed legislation — meaning bills that have been adopted by both chambers and sent to the governor — so far include bills to remove drug testing kits from the definition of drug paraphernalia, codify new department names for branches of the state health department and change code sections relating to income taxes.
In the Senate, lawmakers have approved and sent to the House 88 bills. Those include legislation to add more oversight to recovery residences, prohibit the doxxing of first responders and protect public school teachers from being penalized for discussing theories, including intelligent design, with their students, among others.
On the House side, 79 bills have been advanced to the Senate. Among those bills are legislation to limit the use of data from community air monitoring programs, allow the state’s Medicaid recipients to get dentures without it counting against the annual cap and promote legislative oversight of some health department investigations.
What’s slowed
Most bills are awaiting consideration in committees, where chairmen have to opt to put a bill on an agenda before it can advance back to a chamber for a vote. Generally, this is where progress stalls on legislation and most bills that die — though it’s difficult to say anything is “dead” before day 60 — do so by not being brought up in committees.
Some pieces of legislation prompted attention and conversation early in session but have slowed, and it’s unclear if they will be brought up again in the next 30 days. Among those bills is House Bill 4654, which would make librarians and public school personnel criminally liable for displaying “obscene matter.”
A public hearing on that bill was held last month where a majority of speakers voiced concerns about the proposed legislation. Since January 12, the bill has been awaiting consideration in House Judiciary.
Also awaiting consideration in House Judiciary is HB 4806, requiring children in schools to use bathrooms based on their biological sex. A public hearing has been called for that bill and must be held before it’s brought to an agenda. A separate bill, however, the Women’s Bill of Rights, has basically engrossed that language within it and is moving quickly through the Legislature.
Other pieces of legislation pending in House Judiciary include HB 4593 (making the West Virginia First Foundation subject to open meetings laws), HB 4299 (allowing public school teachers to conceal carry), HB 4753 (requiring health insurance policies to cover biomarker testing) and HB 4229 (the Ban the Box Act), along with about 470 other pieces of legislation.
Another bill that has quietly stalled is Senate Bill 468, which would have required students in eighth and 10th grade to view a video sponsored by anti-abortion activist group LiveAction in their curriculum. On Jan. 24, that bill was parked in the Senate Committee on Rules, where it’s unlikely to reappear.
What’s next?
It’s difficult to say anything is really dead in the session before both chambers adjourn Sine Die. Bills that stop moving or seem dead are regularly rolled into other pieces of legislation through amendments or can originate in committees or on the floor as new bills.
Tuesday is the final day that bills can be introduced in the House, and Feb. 19 marks the same deadline for the Senate. By Feb. 28 — crossover day, the 50th day of session — all bills legislators are looking to make into laws must be passed out of their chambers of origin. By midnight on day 60, anything that could become law must be passed and agreed upon by both chambers before going to the governor’s desk.
The 2024 legislative session is halfway over. Here’s a look at where some things stand.
ByWest Virginia Watch
Feb 10, 2024