West Virginia Gov. Justice working his way through remaining legislation

According to a Justice spokesperson, the governor had approximately 70 bills left to work through among the 333 bills that completed the legislative process over the 60-day period between Jan. 11 and March 11.

“We’re getting through them and everything, but it’s not a fast process,” Justice said later Wednesday during his weekly virtual administration briefing. “This takes time, and we want to be respectful of the votes that were taken and everything and how people debated these and how people came up with these bills and passed them for my signature. We’ll get through most all of them today, but we’ve still got some work to do.”

When the Legislature is not in session, the governor has 15 days to either sign a bill or veto it. The governor also can allow a bill to become law without his signature.

According to a spokesperson for the House of Delegates, Justice had until midnight Wednesday to take actions on bills.

As part of Wednesday’s signing ceremonies, Justice signed several bills dealing with nursing.

House Bill 2436 creates an acuity-based patient classification system. The system will determine nursing care needs and requirements based on multiple factors, including the severity of patient illnesses and need for specialized equipment. The goal of the bill is to help address nursing staff needs.

“The bill looks at patient needs and demands in the hospital, who they are and how many nurses it takes to take care of them,” said House Health and Human Resources Committee Vice Chairwoman Heather Tully, R-Nicholas, lead sponsor of the bill. “Who better to know what those patients needs than the nurses who actually take care of them on a daily basis?

“This also is actually a retention piece. We worked really hard on recruitment with educational opportunities for nurses in the state. Now we need to keep them within the borders, and one of the best ways you can retain your staff in a health care setting is to value the input they provide and to give them a chance to provide the utmost, top-notch patient care that they want to provide.”

Justice praised the bill.

“This gets back to common sense,” he said. “At the end of the day, should we not listen to the people who know exactly the most? I’m a real believer in that.”

House Bill 3317 will remove certain continuing education requirements for medical professionals.

House Health and Human Resources Committee Chairwoman Amy Summers, R-Taylor, said the bill will give medical professionals the freedom to choose what kinds of continuing education opportunities they pursue.

“In this, the nurses and all the different specialties that we have will be able to do the training that pertains to us,” said Summers, lead sponsor of the bill. “I work in the emergency room. I need to be learning about new treatments for diabetes, and I need to be learning about strokes and heart attacks, instead of politicians just telling me in law what I need to study. I now have the autonomy to study what matters to my profession.”

Of 127 bills introduced on behalf of the governor, the Legislature passed 53, including House Bill 2024, the budget bill that sets the state’s general revenue budget for Fiscal Year 2024 at $4.875 billion and puts in place a $2,300 pay raise for public employees, and Senate Bill 423, providing a $2,300 pay raise for school teachers, school service personnel and West Virginia State Police troopers and staff. Those bills were signed in a ceremony March 17.

Another of Justice’s bills, Senate Bill 422, which requires public schools to publish curriculum online at the beginning of each new school year, was signed last week, along with other education-related bills.

The remaining bills passed on the governor’s behalf were supplemental appropriations bills.

Other bills signed by Wednesday morning included Senate Bill 613, creating certificate of need exemptions for hospitals and physician groups; House Bill 3018, limiting marriage under age 18 but allowing exceptions for minors as young as 16 if they have parental approval and if the person they are marrying is no more than four years older; and House Bill 2862, aimed at ensuring that proxy votes for shareholders of investments made by the Investment Management Board and the Board of Treasury Investments are based only on financial considerations instead of social or environmental concerns.

One bill still awaiting the governor’s signature by Wednesday afternoon was House Bill 2007, banning gender reassignment surgeries and the use of hormone therapy or puberty-blocking medication for gender-affirming care for children under the age of 18. The bill was amended on the next-to-last night of the legislative session to allow for limited exceptions for gender-affirming medication for children diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria. Surgery was already something not recommended by medical professionals for children.

“That’s one we still haven’t gotten to yet,” Justice said.