We know we’ve been harsh on our legislators the past couple weeks. In our defense, that is part of holding the Legislature accountable. However, in the spirit of fairness, we’d like to highlight some of the great bills passed this session.
HB 4092, the foster care bill. First the bill was gutted in a Senate committee, then the governor announced more available funding and the $16.8 million was restored. The passed bill allows the Department of Health and Human Resource’s tiered system to expand statewide and allows for a per diem (daily rate) increase for foster families and kinship placements.
HB 4543, the insulin bill. HB 4543 caps the price of a 30-day supply of insulin at $100 — a marked improvement over the average $600 per month most people spend. Unfortunately, this bill only caps the price for people with insurance. It does not affect people who are uninsured or on Medicare/Medicaid.
SB 583, the solar energy bill. This piece of legislation allows electric utilities to build or buy, then own and operate a solar plant. The idea is to draw in green-minded companies.
SB 554, which gives mineral rights owners a pathway to being released from a terminated, expired or canceled oil or natural gas lease. Essentially, a natural gas or oil company can’t hold a well hostage even though they aren’t actively using that well. This will allow landowners to bring in a company who will make use of their well instead of letting it sit inactive.
Three well capping bills (SB 120, HB 4088 and HB 4091) allocate funds to capping or plugging orphaned oil or gas wells. There are thousands of abandoned wells in West Virginia, and this bill makes sure that wells spilling pollutants into the environment get properly closed.
We were also pleased to see Senate Concurrent Resolution 4 die. SCR 4 would have called a constitutional convention to discuss amending the Constitution to set congressional term limits. Which, in theory, isn’t a bad thing. But once a constitutional convention is called, all parts of the Constitution are up for debate. The possible advantages were outweighed by the potential danger. Besides, we can decide term limits ourselves at the ballot box.
The Legislature passed some essential bills this session, and for that we are grateful. We’re still disappointed the medical cannabis bill (SB 752) and the hair discrimination bill (SB 850) died. We’re also disheartened none of the equal pay acts passed. We’re a little perplexed the Legislature passed the student freedom of religious expression bill (which is a good thing!) but didn’t pass the personal finance elective class. And as always, we wish more was being done about our roads: Of 61 bills related to roads and transportation, only six passed, and only one of those related to funding.
Well, we have the first of two elections coming up and about 10 months to remind our representatives what legislation is important to us.
Morgantown Area News
'Sunday, May 19, 2024'
