This bill directs the West Virginia Legislature to allocate surplus state funds to the Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2026. The appropriation specifically supports the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation within the department, funding information technology services and special services for correctional units. The legislation uses existing unappropriated surplus money from the State Fund's General Revenue rather than creating new revenue sources. This action increases the available budget for these specific correctional facility operations during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026.
This bill provides additional funding to the West Virginia Department of Education for fiscal year 2026 by allocating money from the state's unappropriated surplus revenue. The legislation directly affects the State Board of Education and State Department of Education by supplementing their existing budget appropriations. Key provisions include specific funding allocations for various programs such as teacher retirement, child nutrition, technology modernization, scholarship programs, and special education services. The bill amends the state budget act to formalize these financial transfers from the general revenue fund to the education department's designated fund.
HB 5353 requires virtual currency kiosks (machines for buying/selling digital currencies like Bitcoin) to obtain a money transmission license, bringing them under the same regulatory framework as traditional money transfer services. The bill sets daily transaction limits for all customers and mandates clear disclosures about terms, risks, and fees before transactions occur. It also clarifies that kiosks operate as delegates of licensed money transmitters and resolves conflicts between state and federal money transmission laws. This law directly affects kiosk operators and their customers in West Virginia.
HB 5327, the West Virginia ALS Care Services Act, establishes a state program to provide targeted support for residents living with ALS and their caregivers. The bill requires the Department of Human Services to fund three key services: care coordination and education to help navigate healthcare systems, loan programs for assistive technology and reusable ramps (addressing a common financial barrier as ramps aren't typically covered by insurance), and access to multidisciplinary ALS clinics. These clinics consolidate specialized care, reduce the need for repeated specialist visits and emergency care, and aim to improve patient outcomes while lowering long-term healthcare costs. The program directly affects West Virginia ALS patients and their families by enabling them to remain safely at home longer, reducing reliance on costly institutional care.
HB 5528 requires West Virginia state agencies, counties, municipalities, and political subdivisions to remove or redact personal residential information - including home addresses, personal phone numbers, and personal cell numbers - from public records upon written request by certain public officials. It directly affects elected/appointed officials (like judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and legislators), their immediate family members living with them, and their employers. The bill mandates immediate removal of such information from publicly accessible databases or websites after a valid written request, with civil penalties including attorney fees for non-compliance. Permitted disclosures include those required by federal law, court orders, law enforcement needs, or voter registration purposes, but not general public access.
HB 5638 establishes the West Virginia Cybersecurity Office within the Office of Technology, led by a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), to manage the state's cybersecurity program. It requires most state agencies (excluding higher education, the State Police, constitutional officers, the Legislature, and Judiciary) to follow standardized cybersecurity practices, conduct risk assessments, and implement security controls for protecting information systems. The CISO is tasked with developing agency-wide cybersecurity policies, creating a risk management service to clarify agency responsibilities, and setting cyber risk standards based on federal and industry best practices. The bill aims to strengthen the state's ability to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber threats across government operations.
SB 1053 creates a new "Unemployment Automation and Administration Fund" to modernize West Virginia's unemployment system. It requires employers to pay 7% of their quarterly unemployment tax contributions into this fund, with limits: deposits stop if the fund reaches $18 million in a year or if the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund falls below $300 million. The fund will cover costs for upgrading the unemployment claims system, improving the job search platform, administrative expenses, and workforce development initiatives. This directly affects employers who pay unemployment taxes in West Virginia, redirecting a portion of their payments toward system improvements.
SB 228 establishes a two-county pilot program requiring child protective services workers in West Virginia to use mobile devices (like tablets) during child abuse and neglect investigations. The bill mandates that these devices must create digital records in real time, automatically upload data daily to department servers, and meet specific technical requirements for security and interoperability with existing systems. The pilot, starting October 2027, requires mobile technology use in at least 70% of cases in the participating counties and runs for five years. The Department of Human Services must report annually on the program’s progress to the Legislative Oversight Commission.
SB 640 prohibits the public release of contributors' addresses and employer information for political election donations exceeding $250 in a single election cycle. It amends West Virginia election law to require this information to be reported in financial statements but bans its disclosure to the public, while maintaining the requirement for contributors to provide it. The bill directly affects political donors over $250 and election committees that file financial reports. A violation constitutes a misdemeanor offense under the new provisions. This change modifies existing disclosure rules to protect contributor privacy for specific details, without altering contribution limits or reporting requirements.
This bill authorizes West Virginia county commissions to lease or permit the use of county-owned wireless towers to private entities, provided those entities meet specific security and compliance requirements. The legislation mandates that any lessee must not be associated with foreign adversaries, terrorist organizations, or entities linked to countries supporting terrorism, and must use secure cellular and cyber defense measures that do not threaten critical infrastructure like voting systems. County commissions are required to conduct due diligence before approving any tower use and are granted immunity from liability if they perform this review in good faith. Additionally, the bill prohibits counties from charging fees for tower use by public safety agencies, state departments of transportation, and other state agencies, though counties may recover actual costs for installation and maintenance.
