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Wednesday, February 23, 2005



The House of Delegates met at 11:00 a.m., and was called to order by the Speaker.
Prayer was offered and the House was led in recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Clerk proceeded to read the Journal of Tuesday, February 22, 2005, being the first order of business, when the further reading thereof was dispensed with and the same approved.
Committee Reports

On motion for leave, a bill was introduced (Originating in the Committee on Government Organization and reported by unanimous vote of the Committee, with the recommendation that it do pass), which was read by its title, as follows:
By Delegates Beane, Ennis, Argento and Frich:
H. B.2623 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §20-1A-9 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to continuation of the Public Land Corporation."
Having been reported from committee with no dissenting vote, and in accordance with the provisions of House Rule 70a, the foregoing bill (H. B. 2623) will be placed on the Consent Calendar.
Messages from the Executive

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, presented the 2003-2004 annual report of the West Virginia Department of Human Resources, regarding the West Virginia Breast and Cervical Cancer Diagnostic and Treatment Fund, in accordance with section seven, article thirty-three, chapter sixteen of the code; which was filed in the Clerk's Office.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, presented the 2003-2004 report of the Office of Maternal, Child and Family Health's Newborn Hearing Screening Project, in accordance with section one, article twenty- two-a, chapter sixteen of the code; which was filed in the Clerk's Office.
Messages from the Senate

A message from the Senate, by
The Clerk of the Senate, announced the passage by the Senate, to take effect July 1, 2005, and requested the concurrence of the House of Delegates in the passage of
S. B. 213 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §16-41-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to continuation of the Oral Health Program"; which was referred to the Committee on Government Organization.
A message from the Senate, by
The Clerk of the Senate, announced the passage by the Senate, to take effect July 1, 2005, and requested the concurrence of the House of Delegates in the passage of
S. B. 214 - "A Bill to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §30-36-20, relating to the continuation of the West Virginia Acupuncture Board"; which was referred to the Committee on Government Organization.
A message from the Senate, by
The Clerk of the Senate, announced the passage by the Senate, to take effect July 1, 2005, and requested the concurrence of the House of Delegates in the passage of
S. B. 215 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §30-9-32 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to continuation of the West Virginia Board of Accountancy"; which was referred to the Committee on Government Organization.
Petitions

Delegates Campbell, Canterbury and Amores presented a petition, signed by four hundred twenty residents of Greenbrier County, requesting the Legislature to enact strict and more enforceable laws pertaining to juvenile offenders; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Bills Introduced

On motions for leave, bills were introduced, read by their titles, and severally referred as follows:
By Delegates Overington, Howard, Sobonya, Blair, Roberts, Duke and Rowan:

H. B. 2594 - "A Bill to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §17C-5-6b, relating to requiring mandatory blood tests be taken from drivers involved in motor vehicle accidents that result in the death or bodily injury to any person, when a law-enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to suspect a driver is under the influence of drugs, alcohol or both"; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
By Delegates Williams, Canterbury, H. White, Romine, Paxton, Stalnaker and G. White:

H. B. 2595 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §50-1-8 and §50-1-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to increasing salaries for magistrate clerks, magistrate assistants and magistrate deputy clerks"; to the Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.
By Delegates Overington, Schadler, Wakim, Blair, Stevens, Porter and Barker:

H. B. 2596 - "A Bill to repeal §61-11-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; to repeal §62-3-15 of said code; to amend and reenact §61-2-2 of said code; to further amend said code by adding thereto seven new sections, designated §61-2-2a, §61-2-2b, §61-2-2c, §61-2-2d, §61- 2-2e, §61-2-2f and §61-2-2g; and to further amend said code by adding thereto four new sections, designated §62-7-4, §62-7-5, §62-7-6 and §62-7-6a, all relating to death penalty for first degree murder; procedures, standards and findings applicable to imposition thereof in certain instances including aggravating and mitigating circumstances; sentencing; providing for automatic review of the death penalty by the Supreme Court of Appeals; providing for forensic deoxyribonucleic acid ('DNA') testing of biological material in death penalty cases; providing for execution of the death sentence by lethal injection; providing for delivery of sentence of death to officer retaining custody of person so sentenced; providing for transmission of indictment, order of conviction, sentence and judgment entered thereon to the warden of the state correctional facility; transfer of person sentenced to death to the state correctional facility; execution; providing presence of certain persons be requested for the execution; providing for certification that sentence of death has been executed; and providing for disposition of the body"; to the Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.
By Delegate Swartzmiller:
H. B. 2597 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §7-14-17a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to increasing the accrual rate of vacation time for deputy sheriffs with twenty and twenty-five years of service and increasing from thirty to forty-five days the number of vacation days a deputy sheriff may carry from one calendar year to the next"; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
By Delegates Perry, Stemple, Howard and Pino:
H. B. 2598 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §61-2-9a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to creating the misdemeanor crime of stalking correctional officers by former inmates; and criminal penalty"; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
By Delegates Beane and Staton:
H. B. 2599 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §44-5-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to who may be accepted as surety on a fiduciary bond"; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Varner, Kominar, Stemple, Beach, Leach and Perry:

H. B. 2600 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §8-19-21 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to municipal and county waterworks systems; specifications for water mains; and requiring the installation of fire hydrants at intervals of not more than every one thousand feet in all upgrades of water mains and all new installation of water mains"; to the Committee on Political Subdivisions then Finance.
By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Varner, Pethtel, Kominar, Stemple, Beach, Leach and Perry:

H. B. 2601 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §24-2A-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to electric utilities generally; and providing for equivalent residential rates for certain community organizations"; to the Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary.
By Delegates Stalnaker, Beane and Azinger:
H. B. 2602 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §8-15-10a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to providing municipalities and members of municipal fire departments an alternative to statutory prescriptions concerning holiday remuneration and compensation if they are able to agree to other terms than as set forth by statute"; to the Committee on Political Subdivisions then Finance.
By Delegates Campbell, Williams, Perry and Beach:
H. B. 2603 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §18A-3-3a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to reimbursement of tuition, registration and other required fees for course work completed by teachers; correcting references to rule making authority; removing obsolete language; and allowing reimbursement to qualified applicants from funds remaining available for that purpose after certain conditions are met"; to the Committee on Education then Finance.
By Delegates Susman, Hrutkay, Martin and Staton:
H. B. 2604 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §18-5-22 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to requiring county boards of education to employ one school nurse for every one thousand pupils based upon net enrollment in all grades"; to the Committee on Education then Finance.
By Delegates Craig, Morgan, Leach and Stephens:
H. B. 2605 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §5-5-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the eligibility of faculty members at state institutions of higher education for certain incremental pay; and making them eligible for the annual experience increment for state employees"; to the Committee on Education then Finance.
By Delegates Beach, Morgan, Long and Howard:
H. B. 2606 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §18B-10-14 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to college and university bookstores and prohibiting governing boards of state institutions of higher education from requiring students to purchase textbook packages"; to the Committee on Education then the Judiciary.
By Delegates Leach, Ron Thompson, Boggs and Houston:
H. B. 2607 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §16-22-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the expansion of newborn testing to include sickle cell anemia and congenital adrenal hyperplasia"; to the Committee on Health and Human Resources then Finance.
By Delegates Perry, Beach, Hrutkay, Stalnaker, Stemple and Martin:

H. B. 2608 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §5-10-15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the vesting of retirement benefits for those members of the Armed Forces accumulating nine or more years of credited service who are called from participation employment to compulsory military service or armed conflict and who die or become totally and permanently disabled during or as a result of compulsory active service and prior to resumption of participating employment"; to the Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.
By Delegates Rick Thompson, Swartzmiller, Ennis and Caputo:
H. B. 2609 - "A Bill to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto two new sections, designated §5A-3-37b and §5A-3-37c, all relating to prohibiting foreign professional service contracts with the State; creating the 'Keep Jobs In West Virginia Act'; declaring that state officials do not have authority to bind the State under the government procurement rules of an international trade agreement; providing the State is not bound by the government procurement rules of any international trade agreement; requiring the State Attorney General to notify the United States Trade Representative as well as the Congress of this state's position not to be bound by the government procurement rules of any international trade agreements; prohibiting the State to enter into foreign procurement contracts; and setting forth an effective date for the proposed legislation"; to the Committee on Industry and Labor, Economic Development and Small Business then the Judiciary.
By Delegates Walters and Armstead:
H. B. 2610 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §11-21-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to personal income tax and increasing the low income exclusion"; to the Committee on Finance.
By Delegates Williams, Beach and Perry:
H. B. 2611 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §11-21-4e of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to volunteer emergency workers receiving a tax exemption for responding to at least twenty-five percent of all calls during the year"; to the Committee on Finance.
By Delegates Williams, Stemple, Stalnaker and Butcher:
H. B. 2612 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §17C-14-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to clarifying that a person may start a motor vehicle on private property for the purpose of warming the engine and leave the vehicle unattended for a reasonable period of time"; to the Committee on Roads and Transportation then the Judiciary.
By Delegates Susman, Martin, Ennis and Perdue:
H. B. 2613 - "A Bill to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §33-16-18, relating to providing insurance coverage for osteoporosis screening and treatment"; to the Committee on Banking and Insurance then Finance.
By Delegates Susman, Crosier and Houston:
H. B. 2614 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §33-6A-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to preventing insurers from failing to renew automobile liability and property damage policies based on acts of God"; to the Committee on Banking and Insurance then the Judiciary.
By Delegates Beach and Perry:
H. B. 2615 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §20-2-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §61-3B-1 of said code, all relating to posting of property to prohibit hunting or trespassing, and to allow posting by clearly visible paint markings"; to the Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources then the Judiciary.
By Delegates Perry, Beach, Morgan, Howard, Sobonya:
H. B. 2616 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §18-7A-13a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to employment of members of the teachers defined benefit retirement system by institutions of higher education following the retirement of the member"; to the Committee on Pensions and Retirement then Finance.
By Delegates Michael, Doyle, Anderson, Frederick and Cann:
H. B. 2617 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §4-11A-1, §4-11A-2 and §4-11A-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to legislative appropriation of tobacco settlement funds and strategic contribution funds"; to the Committee on Finance.
By Delegates Brown, Hrutkay, Martin and Staton:
H. B. 2618 - "A Bill to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §33-16E-1, §33-16E-2, §33-16E-3, §33-16E-4 and §33-16E-5, all relating to requiring health insurance plans to cover the cost of contraceptives for its covered people"; to the Committee on Banking and Insurance then Finance.
By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Varner, Pethtel, Kominar, Stemple, Ennis and Leach:

H. B. 2619 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §8-15-8b of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to authorized expenditures from municipal pensions and protection funds and fire protection funds; and providing that moneys from revenues allocated to volunteer and part volunteer fire companies and departments may be expended for the payment of dues to national, state and county associations"; to the Committee on Political Subdivisions then Finance.
By Delegates Stemple, Beach, Swartzmiller and Anderson:
H. B. 2620 - "A Bill to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §19-9B-1, §19-9B-2, §19-9B-3, §19-9B-4, §19-9B-5, §19-9B-6, §19-9B-7, §19-9B-8 and §19-9B-9, all relating to regulating the possession and sale of domestic and exotic animals; creating the Exotic and Domestic Animal Public Safety Board and the Exotic and Domestic Animal Study Commission; establishing duties; providing rule-making authority; requiring all sellers of animals to register; authorizing inspections; providing for testing, seizing and quarantining animals; and establishing criminal penalties"; to the Committee on Government Organization then Finance.
By Delegates Boggs, Browning, Louisos, Stemple, Swartzmiller, Armstead and Walters:
H. B. 2621 - "A Bill to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated §29-29-1, §29-29-2, §29-29-3, §29-29-4, §29-29-5 and §29-29-6, all relating to state flood protection planning; providing legislative findings; defining terms; establishing the State Flood Protection Planning Council and authorizing certain duties; establishing State Flood Protection Planning Advisory Committee and setting forth its duties; and establishing a Joint Legislative Oversight Commission of Flooding"; to the Committee on Government Organization.
By Delegates Susman, Martin, Rick Thompson and Houston:
H. B. 2622 - "A Bill to amend and reenact §4-8-1, §4-8-4 and §4-8-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to adding the State Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator as a member of the Capitol Building Commission; prohibiting any substantial physical changes to the buildings and grounds of the State Capitol without the approval of the Commission; requiring compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act; and giving the Commission the authority to hire employees, enter into contracts for studies and levy fines for violations"; to the Committee on Government Organization then the Judiciary.
Consent Calendar

Third Calendar

H. B. 2534, Continuation of the Tourism Commission; on third reading, coming up in regular order, was read a third time.
On the passage of the bill, the yeas and nays were taken (Roll No. 42), and there were--yeas 96, nays none, absent and not voting 4, with the absent and not voting being as follows:
Absent And Not Voting: Doyle, Duke, Ferrell and Frederick.
So, a majority of the members present and voting having voted in the affirmative, the Speaker declared the bill (H. B. 2534) passed.
Ordered, That the Clerk of the House communicate to the Senate the action of the House of Delegates on the Consent Calendar bill and request concurrence therein.

First Reading

The following bills on first reading, coming up in regular order, were each read a first time and ordered to second reading:
Com. Sub. for H. B. 2176, Providing the offense of intimidating or harassing a judge or magistrate are also applicable to times when the judge or magistrate are off duty,
And,
H. B. 2593, Relating to land use planning and removing the requirement of Board of Zoning Appeals to pay attorneys' fees.
House Calendar

Third Reading

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2444 , Mandatory participation in the motor vehicle alcohol test and lock program for repeat offenders; on third reading, coming up in regular order, was read a third time.
The question being on the passage of the bill, the yeas and nays were taken (Roll No. 44), and there were--yeas 90, nays 7, absent and not voting 3, with the nays and absent and not voting being as follows:
Nays: Armstead, Ashley, Butcher, Lane, Trump, Wakim and Walters.
Absent And Not Voting: Duke, Ferrell and Frederick.
So, a majority of the members present and voting having voted in the affirmative, the Speaker declared the bill (Com. Sub. for H. B. 2444) passed.
Ordered, That the Clerk of the House communicate to the Senate the action of the House of Delegates and request concurrence therein.
First Reading

Com. Sub. for H. B. 2486, Creating a system for public funding of election campaigns; on first reading, coming up in regular order, was read a first time and ordered to second reading.
Leaves of Absence

At the request of Delegate Staton, and by unanimous consent, leaves of absence for the day were granted Delegates Duke, Ferrell and Frederick.
Delegate Doyle noted to the Clerk that he was absent when the vote was taken on Roll No. 42, and that had he been present, he would have voted "Yea" thereon.
At 11:33 a.m., on motion of Delegate Staton, the House of Delegates adjourned until 11:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m ., Thursday, February 24, 2005.