Legislature in WV The Voice of Agriculture in the Mountain State

Today in the Legislature is a daily synopsis of legislative activities maintained by the West Virginia Legislature's Office

January 12, 2024
 
The 2024 West Virginia Legislative Session began on January 10. Governor Jim Justice, in his last state-of-the-state address, proposed a $5.52 billion budget, a 5-percent pay raise for teachers and state employees, the elimination of tax on Social Security income, and an expanded homestead property tax cut, as well as a number of other proposals.

The West Virginia Senate, under direction of President Craig Blair, began the second session of the 86th Legislature. Over 20 bills that passed the Senate last year but didn’t become law were read a first time for passage.

The House of Delegates was convened by Speaker Roger Hanshaw. House Resolutions 1 through 3 were passed for operation of the House.

Over 900 bills were submitted for consideration during the opening week. All committee assignments and legislation may be found at www.wvlegislature.gov.

All bills that did not pass one house as per legislative calendar have been deleted. Updates in bold.

The following bills were introduced during Week 3 (January 22-26) of the 60-day session. 

SB 501    By Senator Weld. Bill creates and defines felony offense of cruelty to animals. Bill currently contains exemptions for farm animals. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB monitoring.

SB 512    By Senator Rucker. Bill amends Chapter 11 of the Tax Code to say farming does not include the development and ownership of solar farms unless the units are elevated so that animals may graze underneath. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB monitoring.

SB 532    By Senators Smith, Caputo, and Stover. Bill’s purpose is to prevent oil/gas wells from being orphaned with no responsible operator. Requires certain fees or bonds to plug well at end of its useful production. Bill allows surface owner to defer plugging as long as well is not causing environmental problems. Sent to Energy. WVFB monitoring.

HB 4754    By Delegate Criss. Bill exempts 6 percent service tax on processing of beef, pork, and lamb by a slaughterhouse for owner of processed product. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB supports.

HB 4935    By Delegate Ferrell. Bill amends three sections of the State Code regarding welfare of domestic animals, dog breeder requirements, and unlawful confinement of domestic animals. Contains mild exemptions for agricultural animals. Bill would significantly increase costs to animal shelters and increase penalty of animal abuse if convicted to a felony. Similar bill HB 5146. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB opposes.

HB 4949    By Delegates Howell, Linville, Stephens, Willis, Hornby, Winzenreid, Crouse, Dittman, Jeffries, and W. Clark. Bill modifies Chapter 8, permitting agency deadlines for local governing bodies such as planning commissions to make decisions on requests within 60 days. Sent to Political Subdivisions. WVFB monitoring.

HB 4974    By Delegates Hott, Hite, Petitto, Jeffries, Kelly, W. Hall, Fehrenbacher, Householder, Hardy, Hornby, and Burkhammer. Bill establishes new code known as Save Our Farmland and Protect Our National Security Act. Bill identifies action by Secretary of State/Attorney General against individuals, entities, organizations, nonprofits, and others who are listed as a threat to state/national security that purchase agricultural land to be escheated to state for further sale. Secretary of State shall compile from Secretary of State/U.S. Attorney General and other sources that support terrorist activity. Similar bill HB 5169. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB monitoring.

HB 5013    By Delegates Hillenbrand, Thorne, Miller, Horst, Hornby, Adkins, Mazzochi, Dittman, Ward, Lucas, and Hott. Purpose of bill is to amend managed timberland to include certain parcels of land within subdivisions as long as they are managed for timber production. Sent to Energy. WVFB monitoring.

HB 5027    By Delegates Hornby, Burkhammer, Chiarelli, McGeehan, Phillips, and Foggin. Bill amends Fresh Food Act by increasing the amount of food purchases by publicly funded institutions from 5 percent to 10 percent, with penalties for non-compliance. Sent to Government Organization. WVFB supports.

HB 5044    By Delegate Williams. Bill amends Chapter 6 Article 8 regarding animal treatment. Bill sets unattainable animal care standards. Increases penalty for conviction to not less than $1,000 and up to $5,000 fine and minimum six-month jail time. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB opposes.

HB 5115    By Delegate Foster. Bill requires land assessed as farm property to be assessed at the regular rate of taxation for the preceding three-year period after the sale of the property for development. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB opposes.

HB 5140    By Delegates Hornby, Hite, Horst, Thorne, Street, Heckert, Burkhammer, Pinson, Chiarelli, Smith, and Willis. Bill amends Chapter 19-2B-4 to permit custom or non-commercial slaughterhouses to sell meat to consumers without restriction of portion size. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB supports.



The following bills were introduced during Week 2 (January 15-19) of the 60-day session. 

SB 221    By Senators Weld and Grady. Bill creates felony offenses for aggravated cruelty to animals. Includes many undefined terms. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB opposes.

SB 271    By Senator Karnes. Bill raises the limit of donated food tax credit from $2,500 to $5,000. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB monitoring.

SB 314    By Senator Chapman. Bill provides description of shelter requirements for animals. Under this bill, no animal would be kept outside if temperature is below 32 degrees or above 85 degrees. Bill does have a mild undefined term for agricultural animals. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB opposes.

SB 394    By Senator Tarr. Bill precludes WVDA from cancellation of certain leases. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB monitoring.

SB 397   By Senators Hamilton, Caputo, Chapman, Deeds, Martin, Maynard, Plymale, Rucker, Stover, Taylor, Woelful and Woodrum. Bill exempts high tunnels and greenhouses, whether heated or not, from all property taxes. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB supports.

SB 425    By Senators Woodrum and Deeds. Bill creates West Virginia Public Waterways Act providing for public access and fencing requirements. Requires agricultural producers to erect fences adjacent to new highway construction and requires gates to be installed for recreational purposes. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources.  WVFB opposes.

SB 427    By Senator Woodrum. Bill repeals authority of Agriculture Commissioner to increase certain fees by rules or regulations. Similar bill HB 4891. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB monitoring.

SB 429   By Senator Woodrum. Bill allows options for signage of farm use vehicle tag to both sides, front, or back of vehicles. Sent to Committee on Transportation. WVFB supports.

SB 491   By Senators Oliverio and Trump. Bill enacts Uniform Unlawful Restrictions in Land Records Act. Provides a mechanism for amending existing deeds by filing a document with the County Clerk which declares a discriminatory provision of a deed is void and doesn’t pass through to subsequent chain of title. Similar bill SB 4916. Sent to Government Organization. WVFB monitoring. 

HB 4434 By Delegates Howell, Crouse, Horst, Ferrell, Barnhart, W. Clark, Phillips, Willis, Sheedy, Stephens, and Hite. Bill prohibits state agencies and local governments from restricting sales of vehicles based on energy sources. Bill was amended to include tractors. Passed Technology Committee. Sent to Government Organization. WVFB supports.

HB 4575 By Delegate Horst. Bill sets forth limitations of entry onto private lands and clarifies law enforcement entry onto posted land, as well as use of surveillance cameras by law enforcement. Similar to HB 4825. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB monitoring.

HB 4721   By Delegate Cooper. Bill requires land surveyors to offer to record maps/plats of measured parcels of land made by the surveyor. Sent to Political Subdivisions. WVFB monitoring.

HB 4736 By Delegate Mazzocchi. Bill establishes new code known as the West Virginia Farm Fresh Dairy Act which allows for the sale of fresh raw milk to informed end consumers. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB opposes.

HB 4739 By Delegate Gearheart. Bill authorizes landowners to hire third party hunters to harvest deer or other wildlife. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB monitoring.

HB 4745 By Delegate Summers. Bill exempts quail and partridges possessed for agricultural purposes from game preserve license requirement. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB monitoring.

HB 4823 By Delegate Westfall. New code proposal creates West Virginia Public Adjuster Professional Standard Reform Act. Bill details public adjuster and insured contract requirements. Creates fees and commissions for public adjusters. Sent to Banking & Insurance. WVFB supports.

HB 4911 By Delegates Hornby and Summers. Bill legalizes the sale of raw milk. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB opposes.



The following bills were introduced during Week 1 (January 10-12) of the 60-day session. Those of interest to agricultural producers and rural West Virginians included:

SB 68 By Senator Woodrum. WVDA legislative rule relating to frozen desserts. Similar bill HB 4112. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB supports.

SB 69 By Senator Woodrum. WVDA legislative rule relating to certified pesticide applicators. Similar bill HB 4113. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB supports.

SB 70 By Senator Woodrum. WVDA legislative rule relating to licensing for pesticide businesses. Similar bill HB 4114. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB supports.

SB 72 By Senator Woodrum. WVDA legislative rule relating to select plant-based derived products. Similar bill HB 4116. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB supports.

SB 73 By Senator Woodrum. WVDA legislative rule relating to agritourism. Similar bill HB 4117. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB supports.

SB 171 By Senators Hamilton, Smith, Taylor, Oliverio, Deeds, Swope, Rucker, Woodrum, Trump, and Jeffries. Purpose of bill is to prohibit county commissions from adopting ordinances and rules or other authorizations that exceed state law. Bill prohibits county commissions from adopting ordinances that prohibit state and federally registered pesticides. On second reading. WVFB supports.

HB 4226 By Delegate C. Pritt. Purpose of bill is to define market value and true/actual value and that property taxes may not be approved and assessed higher than the value in 2019. Sent to Finance. WVFB monitoring.

HB 4292 By Delegate Anderson. Bill provides enhanced damages for non-payment of royalties due under terms of lease or agreement within six months of due date equal to three times the market value plus reasonable attorney fees. Sent to Committee on Energy. WVFB supports.

HB 4409 By Delegate Mallow. Bill increases the fire and casualty insurance surcharge from 0.55 percent to 1 percent and distributes funds to volunteer fire departments. Sent to Committee on Banking & Insurance. WVFB monitoring.

HB 4411 By Delegate Mallow. Bill requires DEP to develop standardized oil and gas leases/contracts. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB opposes.

HB 4442 By Delegate Howell and Hillenbrand. Bill ensures that rightful property owners retain any and all titles to their property in the event that fraudulent or wrongful claims are listed against the property. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB monitoring.

HB 4569 By Delegate Cooper. Bill exempts sales tax from all-terrain vehicles if a farm use exemption certificate is obtained. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB supports.

HB 4605 By Delegate Young. Bill establishes the Agricultural Right to Repair Act. It requires manufacturers of agricultural equipment to make available to owners and independent repair providers on fair and reasonable terms the parts and tools to diagnose, maintain, and repair the equipment. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB opposes due to previous MOU agreements with many manufacturers.

HB 4625 By Delegate Foster. Bill repeals laws relating to licensing of auctioneers. Sent to Agriculture & Natural Resources. WVFB opposes.

SJR 2 By Senator Karnes. Right to Farm & Ranch Amendment. Similar to HJR 2. Sent to Judiciary. WVFB supports.