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Senate Finance Committee reports wide slate of appropriations and policy bills to full Senate
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Summary
The West Virginia Senate Finance Committee advanced a package of supplemental appropriations and several House bills — including a forestry equipment tax change and a major higher‑education aid overhaul — unanimously reporting each to the full Senate with recommendations that they pass.
CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Senate Finance Committee on an undisclosed date considered and reported to the full Senate a series of supplemental appropriations and House bills, moving each forward with a recommendation that it pass.
The committee voted to report a committee substitute for House Bill 4416, which counsel said would add two new code sections effective July 1, 2026. The bill would classify forestry equipment used in harvesting, processing or transporting forest products as Class 1 for ad valorem tax purposes and would exempt the sale and service of such equipment from sales tax. Counsel said the Department of Tax estimates the change would reduce revenue by about $1,100,000 annually, an impact described as mostly affecting counties. Counsel also noted the House passed the measure 92–3. The vice chairman moved to report the substitute to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass; the committee agreed.
The committee also reported multiple supplemental appropriations. Counsel described Senate Bill 787 as a $600,000 transfer from the remaining unappropriated FY2026 balance to current expenses in the Department of Commerce, Division of Forestry; Senate Bill 791 as a $230,000 supplemental to the Department of Homeland Security, Division of Emergency Management; and Senate Bill 829 as a $167,400 supplemental to an equipment appropriation within the Department of Administration (division name not specified in the transcript). Each was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass.
Counsel told the committee that Senate Bill 832 would appropriate $266,879 from the remaining unappropriated FY2026 balance to a new current expense appropriation within the Bureau of Senior Services and that a committee substitute proposed technical corrections; the substitute was agreed and the bill was reported. Senate Bill 873 was described as a $388,463 supplemental to personal services and employee benefits in the Department of Commerce, Division of Economic Development. Senate Bill 1043 would raise special-revenue spending authority within the Department of Agriculture by a total of $4,000,000 (itemized in the bill as $200,000 for personal services, $2,800,000 for current expenses and $1,000,000 for other assets). Senate Bill 1084 would transfer $8,051.62 from the Women’s Commission operating fund to general revenue surplus and appropriate $8,051 to a West Virginia Women’s Suffragist Monument surplus appropriation in the Department of Tourism, Division of Culture and History. All were reported to the full Senate with recommendations to pass.
On the policy side, counsel explained House Bill 4626 would establish a grant program administered by the state health secretary to support a public–private partnership to fund Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug‑development trials of ibogaine, with the stated goal of pursuing FDA approval of ibogaine for treatment of opioid use disorder and related conditions. The bill sets an application process and eligibility criteria, prescribes membership and duties for a grant-selection committee, requires successful applicants to submit an investigational new drug application and seek breakthrough‑therapy designation from the FDA, and contemplates funding via appropriation, grants, gifts and donations. The committee voted to report the bill with a favorable recommendation.
Counsel described House Bill 4768 as revisions to the code governing the West Virginia College Savings Program (often called the 529 plan). The bill would explicitly include public primary, middle and secondary schools that qualify under 26 U.S.C. §529 within the definition of “eligible educational institution” and would align the plan’s definition of “savings plan” accordingly. The committee reported the bill with a recommendation that it pass.
House Bill 5022 would expand the Bureau for Medical Services’ required annual review of reimbursement rates to include additional programs: the personal care program and the traumatic brain injury program, along with a waiver term recorded in the transcript in unclear wording; counsel said BMS would also make rate-adjustment recommendations if needed. The committee reported the bill.
Counsel offered an extensive explanation of the committee substitute for House Bill 5212, which would make broad changes to higher-education financial aid and loan-repayment programs: restructuring workforce development grants into four subprograms; altering payment mechanics for certain loan-repayment programs so awards would be paid directly to federal student loan servicers; changing service-commitment area definitions for medical student-loan recipients; expanding permitted funding sources for some programs; adjusting GPA and award-eligibility rules for the Promise Scholarship; and revising eligibility definitions for the West Virginia Invest Grant program. After discussion, the committee voted to report the substitute to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass.
Procedural motions to report each measure to the full Senate were made by the vice chairman and carried by voice vote; individual roll-call tallies of committee members were not recorded in the transcript provided. The committee adjourned after a motion to adjourn was made by the senator identified in the transcript as the senator from Logan and carried by voice vote.
What’s next: Each item the committee reported will proceed to consideration by the full West Virginia Senate; the transcript records committee action only and does not record further floor action or effective dates beyond those stated in bill text.
