Public Comments

I support the intent to support pregnant employees and new mothers. However, HB 4467 misunderstands how sick leave banks actually work.

Sick leave banks are funded by employees voluntarily contributing their own sick days, often with additional automatic deductions from all participants when the bank balance drops. Maternity leave commonly lasts six weeks or more. Allowing extended maternity leave to draw from the sick bank will quickly drain balances and trigger repeated deductions from employees who may never use the bank themselves.

This will discourage participation, weaken the sick leave bank, and jeopardize its availability for true catastrophic medical events. The bill does not create maternity leave, it shifts the cost onto other employees’ personal sick leave.

If the Legislature wants to support working parents, it should pursue a dedicated parental leave solution rather than destabilizing the sick leave bank.

Respectfully, this bill needs revision before passage.

Mariah Richards

• Employment discipline or termination
• Housing instability
• Conflicts with probation, parole, or recovery housing
• Public stigma and selective enforcement

• Lawful certification
• Off-duty use
• No observable impairment

• Does not establish current impairment
• Can persist for days or weeks after lawful use
• Does not correlate reliably with cognitive or motor function

• Clear impairment-based standards
• Protection from nanogram-only punishment
• Clarification of patient rights in employment and public settings

• Their medication and their livelihood
• Their treatment and their housing
• Their health and their legal safety

I understand and appreciate the intent to address student nicotine use in schools, which is a real and growing concern. However, I am cautious about relying on law enforcement citations to address student possession.

Nicotine use among students is primarily a public health and educational issue, not a criminal one. Allowing citations without clear guardrails risks uneven enforcement and unnecessary involvement of students in the juvenile justice system, with disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations.

I encourage the Legislature to prioritize school based interventions, education, and diversion before law enforcement action is taken. Clear limits and safeguards would help ensure this bill addresses the problem without creating unintended equity or justice concerns.

Mariah Richards

I think this very appropriate so many of our loved ones not in just boone county has either lost their life mainly do to intoxicated drivers because they are careless just like bayleas life being lost so with that being said I personally stand behind bayleas law I have lost so many loved ones do to intoxicated drivers so please pass this law and just maybe bayleas law will make a difference and bring those numbers down of intoxicated drivers causing death will come down those numbers are increasing and we need them to decrease because even being 50 is way to high of a number if your drinking you should always have a backup and if not call your local nonemergency to give a lift home with out getting in trouble just like if you call about a od or if you narcan someone without getting in trouble all police stations need to share to always call for a lift even if it anit a holiday in order to support bayleas law.

I understand and appreciate the intent of SB 155 to address teacher shortages, but I am concerned about how adjunct teaching positions would be funded.

The bill allows counties to hire adjunct teachers outside the state salary schedule, yet it does not clarify whether these positions would be recognized for state aid. If adjunct teachers are not funded through the state aid formula, counties, especially those already financially strained, may be unable to afford this option.

Without clear funding guidance, this bill risks creating an unfunded mandate rather than a workable solution. I urge the Legislature to clarify how adjunct positions will be supported financially before moving this bill forward.

Thank you,

Mariah Richards

• does not require evidence-based treatment,
• does not track patient outcomes,
• does not ensure access to medication-assisted treatment,
• does not protect medically necessary patient transfers.

• inter-facility transfers,
• cross-county transfers,
• transfers due to medication incompatibility,
• transfers required for co-occurring medical or psychiatric conditions.

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §12132, which requires public programs and services to provide reasonable accommodations and avoid discriminatory exclusion based on disability, including substance-use disorder.
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §794, which prohibits denial of benefits or services under federally funded programs due to disability.
• EMTALA, 42 U.S.C. §1395dd, which establishes obligations related to stabilization and appropriate transfers when medical necessity requires it.

• filled beds are treated as success,
• patient outcomes are irrelevant,
• relapse, deterioration, or forced program retention go unmeasured.

• Article III, §10 of the West Virginia Constitution (due process), and
• Article III, §17 (equal protection),

• Irresponsible firearm handling and escalation by legislators and officials nationwide
• Increased tensions in schools, legislative buildings, and workplaces
• Confusion during emergencies when multiple armed individuals are present, increasing the likelihood of misidentification and accidental harm

• Escalates situations that could otherwise be resolved through de-escalation or standard security protocols
• Raises the risk of accidental discharge, misuse, or wrongful use of force
• Blurs the line between civilian employment and law enforcement authority
• Increases liability exposure for the state despite statutory immunity language

• Clear role boundaries
• Professional, centralized law-enforcement response
• De-escalation training and secure facilities
• Accountability and transparency

• saturation in already over-burdened neighborhoods,
• “LLC rebranding” to avoid scrutiny,
• patient brokering / incentive-driven referrals, and
• Medicaid/payer waste that ultimately hits taxpayers.

• requires registration of recovery residences (§16-59-4), and
• prohibits state entities (including WVDCR, parole board, probation offices, etc.) from referring parolees/probationers/patients to a recovery residence unless it holds a valid certificate of compliance (§16-59-3(a)), and
• restricts state-treasury and state-benefit funding to uncertified residences (§16-59-3(b)-(c)).  

• mandatory public reporting of ownership, staffing ratios, capacity, and outcomes;
• coordination requirements with local EMS/public safety;
• distance/compatibility standards tied to local zoning and safety planning (without discrimination);
• strict anti-fraud and anti-brokering enforcement aligned with WV’s patient-brokering prohibitions (see §16-62-2 in SB 475’s enacted framework).  

• enforceable contaminant limits for PFAS, PCBs, nitrates, and disinfection byproducts,
• corporate liability and mandatory cleanup for industrial contamination,
• transparent enforcement by WVDEP with meaningful penalties for repeat violators, and
• protections for residents harmed by pollution, not increased punishment for those already living with its consequences.

• Drinking water protections have been weakened or deregulated through statutory and administrative changes, despite the Legislature’s obligation under W. Va. Code §22-11-1 et seq. (Water Pollution Control Act) to safeguard public health.
• Infrastructure deficiencies persist, implicating the state’s duty to protect health and safety under its general police powers.
• Oversight agencies remain under-resourced while expected to enforce increasingly complex regulatory frameworks.

• water and environmental enforcement,
• infrastructure maintenance,
• public health agencies.

• which testimony is accepted,
• which oversight powers are expanded or restricted,
• which agencies retain enforcement authority.

• restored regulatory enforcement,
• measurable infrastructure improvements,
• demonstrable responsiveness to constituent concerns,
• strengthened oversight and transparency.

• mandatory safety training,
• clear anti-intimidation protocols for public areas,
• or enforcement standards for weapon handling in a tense political environment.

1. Direct General Revenue appropriations recognizing EMS as a core public safety service
2. Medicaid and insurance reimbursement reform to prevent EMS agencies from operating at a loss for non-transport and emergency care
3. Dedicated public safety surcharges (e.g., vehicle registration or insurance-linked fees) tied to service demand rather than gambling losses
4. Statewide EMS funding standards to reduce dependence on uneven county levies
5. Targeted use of federal matching funds and grants to supplement—not replace—state responsibility

• proportional penalty caps tied to property value or owner income,
• guaranteed remediation assistance or cleanup funding,
• independent oversight to prevent selective or retaliatory enforcement,
• and robust procedural safeguards before liens or continued penalties attach.

• cap penalties,
• ensure meaningful opportunity to cure,
• provide cleanup assistance,
• apply standards equally to industrial actors,
• and protect private property owners from indirect or constructive takings.

• WV Code §22-1-1 establishes that it is the public policy of the state to conserve natural resources and protect the environment for the benefit of present and future generations.
• WV Code §22-11-1 (Water Pollution Control Act) acknowledges that environmental harm is cumulative and directly impacts public welfare, ecosystems, and economic stability.
• WV Code §19-12-1 et seq. recognizes the importance of forests and forestlands to soil conservation, water regulation, wildlife habitat, and climate moderation.

• Deforestation and conversion of farmland for industrial and commercial development
• Habitat loss affecting native flora and fauna
• Increased flooding, erosion, and landslides tied to land disturbance
• Altered local temperature and moisture patterns caused by loss of forest canopy

• Regulating surface and groundwater flow
• Reducing flood damage to roads and communities
• Stabilizing soil and preventing landslides
• Supporting biodiversity and pollinators critical to agriculture

1. Preservation of forests and farmland
2. Clear statutory distinctions between environmental harm and sustainable infrastructure
3. Alignment with existing conservation and environmental protection statutes

• The Division of Highways and road maintenance
• Public education
• Emergency services
• Environmental oversight and public health
• State agencies tasked with regulatory enforcement

• Less funding for infrastructure
• Deferred maintenance and safety risks
• Increased burden shifted onto residents through fees, regressive taxes, or service cuts
• Greater instability in agency budgets that already struggle to meet statutory obligations

1. How essential public programs will be funded long-term
2. Which services will be reduced or eliminated
3. Why residents should expect improved outcomes with fewer resources

• Men’s reproductive responsibility should be reduced primarily to sterilization,
• Gender equality is achieved by isolating procedures rather than addressing systemic bias,
• Biological sex determines appropriate roles or decisions in family planning.

• Address reproductive healthcare access across all genders, not isolate one procedure,
• Invest in education, counseling, and prevention, not only surgical outcomes,
• Avoid reinforcing gender stereotypes that already contribute to unequal treatment in workplaces, healthcare settings, and the legal system.

• Decisions become unreviewable
• Nepotism and conflicts of interest are harder to detect or prove
• Selective enforcement becomes more likely
• Financial or political incentives can improperly influence outcomes
• Public trust in government institutions erodes

1. Require written findings citing specific evidence
2. Identify the statutory basis for any override
3. Create a record subject to audit and judicial review
4. Establish clear consequences for undocumented or improper decisions

• Residents can be billed for unsafe or unusable water
• Emergency declarations do not automatically trigger billing relief
• Agencies acknowledge contamination while disclaiming authority over financial harm
• The burden is placed on individual residents to navigate multiple systems rather than on the state to coordinate a unified response

1. Please pass this bill.
2. We need it coded into law

http://4224 seng Creek Rd

1. This is something that should have been in place already. Its murder, careless, senseless, murder. These people get by with a slap on the wrist for taking a life. Get this going so it doesn't happen anymore.

The law should be a lot more tougher on people that drink and drive and take a life! if you would give somebody 30 years instead of three for killing someone while intoxicated and driving, there would be a lot more people calling at designated driver,

I fully support 5260. As a medical card holder having the option for edibles would allow myself and other that do not like vaping or oils a better option. Not to mention the just keeping WV money in WV rather than individuals traveling to border states to buy edibles.