West Virginia Senate passes teacher-license change, microgrid measure; recedes amendment on retired-officer gun purchases

The West Virginia Senate on a recent floor session passed several bills affecting teacher certification, energy policy and retirement firearms purchases and recorded votes on multiple other items.

The measures matter because they alter professional licensing for teachers, set state policy to promote microgrid districts for large data centers and adjust the Legislature's earlier amendment on retired-officer firearms purchases. Senators debated an amendment to the teacher-certification bill and one senator spoke at length about potential rate impacts of the microgrid policy before voting.

Engrossed committee substitute for House Bill 3125 passed after the Senate adopted an amendment that Senator Grady described as resolving a code conflict and folding in the Troops to Teachers program. Senator from Mason explained the change, saying, "This is strictly a code conflict. We passed out Senate Bill 765, the Troops to Teachers program, earlier. And, we had to wait for the House to pass that back to us so we could amend it into this bill, mister president." The bill, as described on the floor, allows teachers who hold a bachelor’s degree and have 10 years of teaching experience with a valid certificate in good standing and no unsatisfactory evaluations to apply for and receive a permanent teaching certificate without additional coursework. A roll-call on final passage produced a recorded result…