Technology

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.

HB 4415 amends West Virginia law to explicitly include federal correctional facilities in existing statutes prohibiting the smuggling of prohibited items into correctional settings. The bill makes it a misdemeanor to deliver items like food, clothing, or money without permission (fines up to $500, jail up to 12 months) and a felony to transport weapons, drugs, escape tools, or telecommunications devices (fines $1,000-$5,000, prison 1-10 years). It directly affects individuals attempting to smuggle contraband into federal prisons located within West Virginia, such as visitors, family members, or others delivering unauthorized items. The law updates prior penalties for smuggling into state facilities to apply uniformly to federal correctional institutions.

HB 4462 bans the sale of cell-cultured food products (like lab-grown meat, eggs, fish, or poultry) for human consumption in West Virginia. It defines these products as those made by growing animal cells in a lab to mimic traditional food items, and removes any requirement for labeling them as "lab-grown" or similar. The bill specifically targets cell-cultured products, not plant-based alternatives (defined as "analogue products"). This is a direct sales prohibition with no new labeling rules for the banned products.