Latest news with #Bill537
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Gov. Morrisey signs bills increasing child abuse penalties
beckley – Legislation supporting mothers and infants, increasing penalties for child abuse and expanding vehicular homicide charges by classifying the loss of an unborn child as a death became law Thursday after a signing ceremony. Gov. Patrick Morrsiey met with area legislators and other dignitaries at the CrossPoint Church in Beckley to sign three bills into law. The governor said Thursday's signing ceremony and two other announcements earlier this week have a common theme. On Tuesday, Morrisey announced a $1 million Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council for the McDowell County town of Bradshaw address longstanding problems in the sewer collection and treatment systems affecting 106 customers. This announcement was followed up Wednesday when the governor announced reforms in the state's foster care program for children. 'All of these announcements have a common theme whether you're talking about storm recovery, ensuring clean drinking water or protecting the child welfare system. It's really looking around for the most vulnerable among us and making sure we're stepping up to do what's necessary,' Morrisey said. 'That most certainly includes our kids and that's why we're here today.' 'West Virginia has a proud history defending the sanctity of life for a long, long time,' he said. 'And I've been very humbled to be an important part of that serving as the first prolife attorney general in state history and before I left we were still busy defending the state's prolife law in the Fourth Circuit (Court). That's still pending. And we've been working constantly to try and keep expanding the provisions to protect innocent life.' Morrisey described the three bills he was about to sign into law. Senate Bill 537 strengthens the West Virginia Mothers and Babies Pregnancy Support Program by expanding the use of state funds for pregnancy help organizations. 'It's a pretty cool program. It expands the use of state funds for pregnancy help organizations which now can cover some new expenditures for new land for buildings, some additional services for the young moms in need, to help some of the providers meet licensing and accreditation and to engage in staff training,' Morrisey said, adding that the Legislature has allocated $3 million for the effort. House Bill 2123 increases the criminal penalties imposed on a parent, guardian or custodian for child abuse. 'Once again, we have to protect the most precious among us and if you harm a child as a parent or guardian, you're going to pay a heavy price,' the governor said. 'We're now increasing the jail time for abuse of a child that causes bodily injury from one to five years to two to 10 years. For abuse that creates a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury, the incarceration time is once again from one to five years to two to 10 years. And for abuse causing serious bodily injury, incarceration time is increased from two to 10 years to five to 15 years.' House Bill 2871 expands Vehicular Homicide and Homicide by Operation of Motorized Watercraft penalties and considers the loss of a child in the womb as a death for the purposes of prosecution. 'That's good, and that's just common sense,' Morrisey said. 'A life in the womb is still a life. Laws have to reflect that fact and they are.' The governor thanked the legislators attending the ceremonial signing for their support and invited them to share their thoughts. The Mothers & Babies Support Program represents the value of life in West Virginia, said Senator Brian Helton, R-Fayette. 'It shows our state's commitment to life and also the importance of not only that, but also the resources and empowerment for women, particularly single women who are in a distressing time of life to be able to choose life for children,' Helton said. 'That's so important and that program is going to be invaluable.' Senator Rollan A. Roberts, R-Raleigh said that the signing ceremony made Thursday a great day. 'But a few years ago I was privileged to be the caucus chairman for the senate majority and lead that caucus into eliminating almost every kind of abortions that were performed,' Roberts said. 'I think at that time there were 38 abortions a week. I got a signed copy of that bill. My signature is one of the signatures on the bill. That bill sets on my desk today so that every time I walk into my office, I am reminded 38 babies live because of the work of the Legislature and finally getting that through. It was not easy. It was a battle.' Roberts told the governor that at that time, he had said that if they wanted mothers to have their babies, the state had to do something to help them. There was a commitment made by members of the House and the Senate 'to make something good happen for the mothers and the babies.' West Virginia wants to change how other people in the nation perceive it, but the state needs to work on its reality, Roberts said. 'But while we are changing the perception others have of us, we better be working on improving the reality,' he said. 'That's what these bills are all about. This is improving the reality of everyday people and I know the media jumps on all sorts of things. They say oh this wasn't done and that wasn't done and the focus wasn't on this or that. Well, I tell you if we're focusing on foster care, that's a great focus. If we're focusing on mothers and babies' needs, that's a great focus. If we're focused on penalizing those, really penalizing those, who are abusing children instead of giving them a slap on the wrist, let's let them know we are not for that happening. You're going to pay a price if you do this, because the life of a child is impaired for life and we've got to acknowledge that as a society.' Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Gov. Morrisey signs 3 pro-life West Virginia bills
BECKLEY, (WBOY) — West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) signed three pieces of legislation into law on Thursday that relate to children and pregnant mothers. Senate Bill 537, which expands the use of state funds for pregnancy help organizations, House Bill 2123, which increases the criminal penalty for child abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian, and House Bill 2871, which classifies the loss of a fetus during a vehicle accident as a vehicular homicide death, were all signed during a ceremony in Beckley. Gov. Morrisey said in a press release that the laws are 'strengthening West Virginia's commitment to defending the sanctity of life.' Man allegedly threw Crown Royal bottle near 2 children while in vehicle in Fairmont 'West Virginia has a proud history of standing for the value of and dignity of life,' Morrisey said in the press release. 'I am pleased to sign these bills into law to further defend and protect the most vulnerable among us.' You can read the full text of the bills at the links below: SB 537 HB 2123 HB 2871 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trio of new laws intend to reduce Arkansas prison population
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Three bills signed into law during the final work week of the Arkansas 95th General Assembly intend to lower the rate of felons re-offending after being released from prison. House Bill 1931 and Senate Bill 485 address the need for recidivism reduction in the state, while Senate Bill 537 develops a program to give a released felon credits for employment. All three were signed into law by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on April 16. Bill to allocate $750 million for new Arkansas prison likely not returning to Senate after multiple failures HB1931 states in its Legislative Findings opening section that as of 2019, Arkansas had a 48.3% recidivism rate, meaning that 48.3% of inmates who were released returned to prison for an additional term. This costs the state $140 million annually, the bill states. It then calls for a hard focus on beginning reentry preparations upon an inmate's first day of imprisonment by adopting needed policies and rules to serve this goal. This will lead to a program created for each inmate that will be continuously assessed and updated for the best possible outcome. Programs will include incentives for participants, such as extended phone privileges or commissary spending limits as rewards. Inmates will also receive post-release support, which is also included in SB485. Nonprofit program uses modern techniques to reduce recidivism rates, keep families together SB485 refines the laws concerning a suspended sentence, probation and parole to encourage rehabilitation through supervision based upon a presentence needs assessment. The legislation also calls for creating incentives for 'prosocial efforts,' including such things as education and community service. SB537 gives a parolee credit for every 130 hours over 30 days of 'verifiable wage-earning hours,' overseen by Community Corrections. Every 30 days, a parolee can gain five work-for-time credits, each one reducing their sentence by one day. Credits are not accrued when the parolee has 60 days left on their sentence. Changes to Arkansas felony, Medicare law go into effect in 2025 The acts are now alongside the Protect Arkansas Act, passed in 2023 and becoming state law this year. It removed the possibility of parole for violent crimes and created a recidivism task force. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Two bills to preserve conservation funding in marijuana tax revenue advance
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. The dispensary is one 25 plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles fighting to stay open after city prosecutors began notifying 439 medical marijuana dispensaries that they must shut down by June 7. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian | Getty Images) Lawmakers in each chamber of the Montana Legislature have advanced bills that shift marijuana tax revenue, but preserve conservation funding. A previous bill that would have stopped the flow of marijuana revenue to a group of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks programs, drawing opposition from many conservation groups, was tabled in a Senate committee on April 1. The two new bills each passed their respective house of origin with significantly more bipartisan support — Senate Bill 537 passed on Saturday 45-0, while House Bill 932 passed the same day 71-27. SB 537, introduced by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, keeps the existing amount of funding for conservation initiatives in place but expands how the funds can be used. The bill also increases distributions to the Healing and Ending Addiction through Recovery and Treatment (HEART) account, and adds funding for the Department of Justice, including substantial investments in law enforcement. 'I would call this the Cops and Conservation Act,' Zolnikov said on the Senate floor on April 4. 'Because one thing we hear about from my side of the aisle is we need more law enforcement, there's more problems coming on, how do we help those guys. And I'll tell you what was awesome about this bill, working with the other side of the aisle, they were very supportive of this side of the aisle's priorities. Working with this side of the aisle, they seemed to be very comfortable clarifying the buckets on this side of the aisle's priorities and helping on the conservation side. And in the end, we're trying to fill gaps.' Zolnikov's bill emerged as a compromise piece of legislation following the pushback to Senate Bill 307, brought by Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, which would have shifted marijuana revenue from conservation to law enforcement. McGillvray said his bill gave lawmakers a choice, whether they thought people, who may be harmed by the effects of marijuana, or trails and wildlife were more important issues to fund. By contrast, Zolnikov sought to eliminate the choice and instead give all stakeholders a little bit of what they wanted by allocating the roughly $33 million of tax revenue that currently goes into the state's general fund. Under the new structure, the current 4% revenue allocated each for state parks, trails and recreation and nongame wildlife remains as is. The 20% of funds currently earmarked for FWP's Habitat Montana fund instead goes to a new Habitat Legacy Account, which Zolnikov said broadens the use of the funds. According to the bill, 75% of funds in the account must be used solely to fund wildlife habitat projects, while the rest may be used for various conservation-related projects including noxious weed programs, grants for conservation districts, big game and wildlife highway crossings, and land and water acquisitions or easement purchases. 'It's all types of buckets in there that the conservation folks worked on and supported,' Zolnikov said. 'If you were in the hearing, it was the most fun group of people you could ever see all supporting it.' The HEART fund, which currently receives a set $6 million of marijuana revenue, would be boosted to a 20% allocation, which will allow the account to grow with tax revenue. The other additions, which target needs identified by McGillvray such as boosting law enforcement include: 2.5% for DOJ canine training, 1.5% for DOJ sexual assault exams and kits, 0.25% for the Board of Crime Control to fund crisis intervention training; 14% to the behavioral health system for future generations funds; 6.5% for drug and alcohol use prevention and 31% for DOJ law enforcement grants. Those grants would include distributing $50,000 to each police department, sheriff's office and tribal police department, plus proportional distributions based on department size. 'It's a pretty thorough bill. I'd say, working on it, I had to learn about a lot of problems that I think there's some gaps that we're not filling, and this really helped fills them in the future,' Zolnikov said. McGillvray told reporters on Tuesday that he felt many of the things in Zolnikov's bill, such as letting the HEART fund grow with tax revenue, were smart, but he still had some concerns about using the funds for conservation. 'The nexus between marijuana revenue and marijuana harms is just smart tax policy. And unfortunately, it all got started on the wrong foot, and it was a tough sell to get it back on the right foot,' he said. McGillvray added that removing revenue from the state's general fund for law enforcement is a 'big bite that could have a struggle' with the governor's office. On the House side, Rep. Ken Walsh, R-Twin Bridges, brought HB 932, which targets just the current 30% of conservation funding allocated to Habitat Montana. It functions in roughly the same way as SB 537, moving those funds to a new Habitat Legacy Account. Under HB 932, that account would funnel 75% into a separate Land and Wildlife Stewardship account that would be used solely for habitat conservation projects, while the remaining funds would be split between wildlife crossings, and the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP) account. WHIP funds can currently only be used for noxious weed treatment, but Walsh's bill would greatly expand their use. 'What this bill will do is expand that bucket for private land owners, and conservation groups and fish, wildlife and parks to work together,' Walsh said He listed off some possible applications — irrigation infrastructure, forest management, prescribed fire, fish passage, soil enhancement, and wetland protection. 'Maybe even wildlife crossings, so we don't hit as many elk and deer on the road,' he said. The bill drew some opposition for continuing to fund conservation-related programs. 'This bill is going to lock up marijuana revenue in wildlife management kinds of things. And I know that's important to this body. But we have been listening all session about what's going on in our correctional system — we don't have enough space, don't have enough space,' Rep. Fiona Nave, R-Columbus, said. 'That's drug driven. We need the marijuana funding … to be available for drug treatment and law enforcement.' But lawmakers overwhelmingly backed the bill under its expanded scope. 'This allocated available dollars to important Montana industries, agriculture and the outdoor economy. It's a good bill for these businesses,' said Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls. HB 932 is awaiting a hearing before the Senate Fish and Game Committee while SB 537 will be heard in the House Taxation Committee later this month.
