2010 Legislative Accomplishments of Legislature

  Economic Development

• Intermediate Business Courts (HB4352) - creates new courts, within the existing system, to handle disputes between businesses to reduce the caseload in existing courts.

• South Charleston Tech Park (SB 611) – allows the Higher Education Policy Commission to relocate its offices in the old Union Carbide/Dow Tech Park; preserving the research facility for potential business development

• Energy rate flexibility (SB 656) – allows the PSC to negotiate more flexible rates and payment plans for energy-intensive industries to help attract manufacturing 
   
• Local labor for construction jobs (HB 4359) – requires local workers (within 50 miles) be hired for construction projects costing over $500,000

 
Responsible Government

• Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission (HB 4036) – creates a formal process to advise governors on appointments for judicial vacancies codifying existing practices
   
• State Vehicle Fleet Accountability (SB 219) – centralizes all of the state’s vehicles under one office and established guidelines for their supervision to reduce cost
   
• State Supreme Court clean elections (HB 4130) – creates a pilot project for a publicly financed elections system for the 2012 State Supreme Court races so judicial candidates can be free from large-scale fundraising
   
• Elections Spending Disclosure (HB 4647) – increases the requirements for groups to disclose their political spending, giving the public more information about who is running ads

Public Safety

• Child Predator Unit (Budget bill) – increases the size of the State Police’s child protection unit
   
• Dilapidated Buildings (HB 4034 & 4038) – increases cities’ abilities to clean-up abandoned, vacant properties
   
• School Bus Safety (HB 4223) – increases penalties for traffic violations involving school buses and illicit drug offenses on school on school buses

• School Building Authority (SB 229) –allows greater flexibility for the SBA to issue bonds, freeing more funding for school construction
   
• School Calendar Flexibility (HB 4040 & 4652) – allows counties more flexibility in designing their school calendar to ensure students get the full 180 days of instruction and creating local committees in each country to provide input
   
• High School Dropouts (HB 4593) – establishes several new measures to reduce the number of high school dropouts

2009 Legislative Accomplishments of Legislature

Education

• Ensuring students get help with critical skills if needed when they reach 3rd & 8th
  grades – SB 1001

• Allowing schools to apply to become Innovation Zones where new academic
  policies can be developed locally and tested – HB 109

• Modernizing teacher hiring policies to attract more new teachers – SB 1006

• Increasing PROMISE scholarship funding to allow more students to receive
  scholarships protecting the program's long term viability - SB 373

• Allowing veterans to attend WV colleges at in-state tuition rates - HB 2335
   

Economic Development and Energy

• Creating tax incentives to attract high tech data centers – SB 1003

• Increasing the use of alternative & renewable energy to 25% of all output by
  2025 – HB 103

• Securing unemployment compensation fund: maintain its solvency at minimal
  cost – SB 246

• Reporting of industrial accidents to authorities & the public in a timely manner -
  SB 279

• Establishing carbon sequestration rules: promotes pilot projects - HB 2860

• Establishing new procedures to ensure better post-mine land use planning to help
  create jobs – SB 1011

• Updating the state building code promoting energy efficiency - HB 2976
   

Health Care

• Raising salaries for mental health care workers at state hospitals – SB 1002

• Creating tax breaks to help parents who care for autistic children – SB 1009

• Increasing coordination of state's health care programs - SB414

Responsible Government

• Fixing state pension loophole to help prevent double-dipping - SB 244

• Expanding early voting to allow counties to create additional early voting
  locations - HB 2464

• Extending the deadline for teachers to convert back to the old retirement system,
  helping to ensure the system's solvency - HB 2870

• Helping cities better manage their pensions, saving cities money at no cost to
  state taxpayers – SB 4007

• New voting methods for military and overseas citizens to make it easier for them
  vote – HB 406

• WV was one of very few states to end the fiscal year with a surplus – most states
  have had to make drastic cuts or raise taxes