Sen. Tom Willis

Maddy summarySB 500 amends West Virginia's sex offender registration law to prohibit individuals convicted of specified sex offenses from residing within 1,000 feet of any school, park, or playground. This applies to all sex offenders required to register under existing law (including those convicted of offenses listed in §15-12-2(b) of the West Virginia Code). The bill adds this spatial restriction to current registration requirements, requiring offenders to maintain this distance from designated locations. It does not change registration procedures but adds a new residency limitation for affected individuals.

Maddy summaryWest Virginia's SB 498, titled the "Protecting Kids from Porn" Act, requires websites providing adult content (where over 25% of material is explicit) to implement strict age verification before allowing access. It mandates a four-step process: facial recognition, government ID verification, credit card authentication for adults, and third-party checks, with re-verification every 24 hours. The law prohibits bypassing these measures via VPNs or proxies and imposes significant penalties, including $1 million per violation, permanent blocking of non-compliant sites, and civil liability up to $10,000 per minor exposed. It directly affects commercial adult websites operating in West Virginia and aims to prevent minors from accessing pornographic material online.

Maddy summarySB 423, the "Public Electrical Savings Act," establishes rules for public entities (like schools, government buildings, and municipal facilities) entering power purchase agreements (PPAs) for on-site solar energy. It requires that any PPA must guarantee customers a lower cost per kilowatt-hour than the local utility’s rate, limits PPA contracts to five years (with renewal allowed), and caps total solar generation from PPAs at 3% of a utility’s statewide peak demand. The bill also sets individual capacity limits (50kW for homes, 1,000kW for businesses) and mandates utility meter inspections and cost reporting. These provisions aim to ensure public solar projects provide actual cost savings while preventing grid strain.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires sheriffs to send certified mail notices to property owners, residents, and lienholders at least 30 days before selling property for unpaid taxes. It directly affects homeowners and property owners with delinquent taxes, ensuring they receive written notice of the upcoming sale date and amount owed. The key mechanism adds a $10 fee per recipient for the mailing cost, which is included in the total taxes due. The bill also specifies that notices must be sent to owners of record, occupants, and those with written requests on file, in addition to current publication requirements. This change aims to improve transparency before tax sales occur.

Maddy summarySenate Bill 53 requires West Virginia county school boards to publish an annual list of unused public buildings (such as closed or unoccupied school facilities) on a public website. This allows public charter schools to request and lease these buildings for classroom use, provided the buildings are not currently used for instruction. The bill ensures county boards cannot sell or block a building once a charter school requests it, and gives schools up to two years to secure approval and complete necessary renovations. Charter schools must pay market-rate rent and cover all operating costs (including utilities, maintenance, and repairs) during the lease. If a charter school's application is denied, the county board is not obligated to hold the building for future requests.

Maddy summarySB 163 requires West Virginia state agencies to prepare and submit economic impact statements when proposing certain new legislative rules. These statements must analyze potential costs to the public, including regulatory expenses, business competitiveness, job creation, private investment, and economic growth. The bill applies specifically to "legislative rules" (rules with legal force or that affect rights, privileges, or liabilities), not to interpretive or procedural rules. Agencies must include this analysis as part of the rulemaking process before rules take effect, directly affecting how state agencies develop regulations and indirectly impacting businesses and residents who comply with those rules.

Maddy summarySB 24 creates the West Virginia Intrastate Energy Use Act, clarifying that environmental regulations for coal, oil, and natural gas produced and consumed entirely within West Virginia fall under the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), not the federal EPA. It requires coal mines, oil wells, and gas wells operating for in-state use to obtain operational permits from the WVDEP before commencing activities, asserting that EPA lacks authority to deny such permits for resources not entering interstate commerce. The bill applies to all in-state energy production and power generation facilities using these resources, while explicitly stating it does not override other state or federal environmental laws. This legislation aims to define state regulatory authority for intrastate energy activities based on constitutional principles of state sovereignty.