Senate Judiciary Committee reports multiple House bills to full Senate

The West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee reported a slate of House bills to the full Senate with recommendations that they do pass, committee members announced during a routine session. Many measures drew brief explanations from committee counsel and were advanced by voice vote.

Committee Counsel summarized the scope of several bills for the panel. On House Bill 3434, Counsel said, "It is the Controlled Substances Act, with the updates to our controlled substance schedules consistent with the schedules of the federal government. That's the bill, mister chairman." The vice chair moved each bill to the full Senate and the committee chair declared the motions adopted after voice votes.

The package covers criminal and civil changes, including updates to controlled-substance schedules, protections for eligible adults facing suspected financial exploitation by allowing institutions to delay or refuse transactions, a change to make certain consumer-credit claims survivable after a plaintiff's death, limits on civil liability for servers of alcohol, expansion of the state's critical-infrastructure list to include certain agricultural and livestock facilities, an engrossed substitute tied to the Joel Archer substance-use intervention act, a Truth in Giving disclosure law for thrift operators, and a $125 annual registry fee for registrants on the state registry.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 3434: Controlled Substances Act (scheduling update). Committee Counsel…