Vetoed by Governor Jim Justice, Jr.

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that reduces the state budget, including a 15% reduction for West Virginia State University.

Highlights:

• Prohibits any expenditures in excess of what is allotted in this bill to a given agency (Sec. 5).

• Appropriates the same amount of funds for the state Supreme Court for the fiscal year 2017-2018 as the previous fiscal year (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that unexpended balances in the Civil Contingent Fund, Natural Disaster Fund, and Business and Economic Stimulus Funds are to be reappropriated to a fund , and may be spent at the discretion of the Governor (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes the Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety to spend up to $355,000 on operations for the upcoming year (Sec. 1).

• Requires expansion of the Educational Program Allowance for project-based learning in STEM fields at schools in Hacker Valley, Pickins, Aurora, and Meadow Bridge (Sec. 1).

• Appropriates $13 million for West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind (Sec. 1).

• Appropriates $100,000 to the West Virginia Cancer Coalition and $73,065 for informal resolution of nursing-home related  disputes involving the Department of Health (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes the Department of Human Services to expend funds for West Virginia children residing in out-of-state programs (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes the Commissioner of Corrections the discretion to transfer appropriations between correctional facilities (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes the director of Juvenile Services to transfer funds from individual juvenile centers to resident medical expenses for the care of department inmates (Sec. 1).

• Requires that $200,000 of the appropriations given to the Community College Workforce Development Fund must be spent on the expansion of the Mine Training Program in Southwestern West Virginia (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes the Commissioner of Highways to operate revolving funds in order to purchase equipment used in the construction or maintenance of roads (Sec. 2).

• Establishes a pla  to match all federal funds given for the maintenance of the Appalachian Highway System (Sec. 2).

• Specifies that $34 million will be transferred to the West Virginia Teachers’ Retirement System Employer's Accumulation Fund (Sec. 3).

• Appropriates $4 million to the Division of Miners’ Health, Safety, and Training (Sec. 3).

• Authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to spend up to 10% of its funds in order to facilitate cost-saving services at the community level (Sec. 3).

• Authorizes the transfer of $1.5 million to fund the West Virginia Health Information Network Account (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that state matching funds to Medicaid may only be used for the payment of backlogged billings, funding future federally mandated population services, and Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Sec. 3).

• Authorizes $4.9 million to be spent on the West Virginia Drunk Driving Prevention Fund (Sec. 3).

• Establishes a reserve fund of $10 million to stabilize and preserve the future solvency of the Public Employee Insurance Agency Financial Stability Fund (Sec. 3).

• Requires $10 million of excess lottery funds to be used to repay and service debt interest payments (Sec. 4).

• Establishes that $29 million will be appropriated to the PROMISE scholarship fund from excess lottery revenues (Sec. 5).

• Authorizes $226 million of federal funds given to West Virginia to operate the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (Sec. 6).

• Appropriates $36 million of federal block grants to operate the West Virginia Community Development Office (Sec. 7).

• Establishes that $125.3 million of funds from federal block grants will support the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (Sec. 7).

• Appropriates a total of $2.1 million to be awarded in claims against the state (Sec. 8).

• Specifies that all donations of nonpublic funds received by the Governor on behalf of the state that are related to improvements of the administration must be deposited into a separate account in the state treasury (Sec. 13).

• Specifies that money erroneously paid into the state treasury must be returned to the organization responsible for the original refund (Sec. 15)

Full Bill Text