Justice vetoed eight bills passed by legislators this session. Here’s what they would have done.

With Wednesday’s deadline to act on legislation officially passed, Gov. Jim Justice issued his veto on eight bills approved by lawmakers during West Virginia’s 2024 legislative session.

It’s the most bills vetoed by Justice in a regular session since 2019, when 30 bills were disapproved and returned by him. Barring extremely unlikely circumstances that would involve members of the Legislature calling themselves into a special session to override the vetoes, the eight bills vetoed this year are essentially dead.

Among them are proposed laws that would have weakened the state’s strong school immunization policies, allocate funding to medical research and increase the capacity for renewable energy generation in the state.

Here’s a breakdown of all the bills Justice vetoed this session and his released reasonings for doing so:

Removing hydrogen from certain taxes

Senate Bill 683 would have removed hydrogen in the definition of “alternative fuels” in state code. The removal would have meant that operators of hydrogen-powered vehicles would not be taxed at the same rate as those using vehicles powered by other types of fuel.

Justice said that while the bill was “well-intentioned,” it did not go far enough as hydrogen would remain taxable through the definition of “special fuels.”

“I encourage the Legislature to revisit this issue and to meet with representatives from the Tax Department to ensure a bill to exempt Hydrogen from the motor fuel tax amends all necessary sections of West Virginia Code to accomplish the purpose,” Justice wrote in his veto message. 

Changing licensure and oversight of the Board of Osteopathic Medicine to the state Board of Medicine

Senate Bill 714 would have transferred functions of the state Board of Osteopathic Medicine to be under the state Board of Medicine. Doing so would have given more power and authority to the latter especially as it pertains to the licensure of “genetic counselors,” which are medical professionals who assess a patient’s risks for genetic diseases.

Justice, in his veto message, said such a move was unnecessary as the Board of Osteopathic Medicine has been operating in the state with “effective oversight” for more than 100 years.

He said osteopathic medicine is and should be considered in a “separate and distinct” category of medicine, and combining the profession’s licensure with the Board of Medicine’s could impair the care that residents receive.

“Having separate boards to regulate separate categories of the medical profession will continue to encourage diversity in practice, increase innovative approaches to care, and preserve the integrity of each distinct practice,” Justice wrote.

Financial examination of video lottery applicants

SB 722 would have limited what financial records the West Virginia Lottery examined when considering an application for licensure to become a limited video lottery establishment.

Currently, the Lottery can examine all financial records of any applicant or permittee. The proposed law would have only allowed examination of the limited video lottery business “that is under the permittee’s control,” according to the bill text.

Justice said in his veto message that allowing the bill to become law would have “compromise[d] the integrity of the West Virginia Lottery” by potentially allowing entities to become licensed without proper financial vetting.

“This bill would weaken the West Virginia Lottery’s oversight and provide no benefit to the citizens of the State,” he wrote.

“Safe harbor” for cyber security programs

Another “well-intentioned” bill, according to Justice, HB 5338 would have created the West Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, establishing guidelines for how personal data is processed and collected in the state as well as a framework for citizens to access and review their data.

It would have also created a “safe harbor” for cyber security companies looking to work within best practices, however “safe harbor” is not defined in the bill code.

Justice, in vetoing the bill, said he was concerned about “unintended consequences” it could bring, like potentially making companies like TikTok immune from legal action and lawsuits brought against them.

Justice said members of his office “worked with Legislative staff” to review the bill, confirming that the unintended consequences could be a reality.

“The potential for bad actor to abuse this law and to harm our citizens is unfortunately real. This was not the Legislature’s intent,” Justice wrote. “… We stand ready to work with the bill’s sponsors and the stakeholders involved to help craft a bill that will help our state’s businesses and protect our citizens.”

Procurement of tech infrastructure by the state 

HB 5604 would have increased the cap for state entities — including “all departments, bureaus, divisions, offices, boards, commissions, authorities, agencies, and institutions of the state — to purchase technical infrastructure from $50,000 to $250,000.

Governmental units, according to the bill, would have utilized a marketplace to purchase such investments.

Justice, in vetoing the bill, said increasing the $50,000 cap would remove oversight currently provided by the state Purchasing Division, potentially leading to the duplication of costs or services in different parts of state agencies.

He also said that the state’s Office of Technology should help guide what tools and software are purchased for IT services, as individual entities “don’t generally have subject-matter expertise in information technology.”

“I encourage the bill’s sponsors and staff to meet with my Office and our Office of Technology to work through the issues raised in this letter to ensure we continue to mind the store as best we can, while enabling State agencies to procure the information technology they truly need,” Justice wrote in his veto message.

Vaccine exemptions

Following outcries from hundreds of medical professionals urging his veto on the bill, Justice followed their advice on Wednesday evening and disapproved House Bill 5105.

The legislation, if enacted, would have allowed parochial and private schools in the state to set their own vaccine requirements.

Medical professionals warned of the dangers that could come with opening the door to chip away at the state’s school immunization policies, which are some of the strongest in the country. In light of his veto, those same medical professionals praised Justice for his action.

Justice, in his veto message, said that since the bill passed he has heard consistent opposition to it from the state’s medical community.

“West Virginia is way ahead of the pack in protecting our children from preventable diseases like measles and, in this matter, I will defer to our licensed medical professionals who have come forward overwhelmingly to say this bill could and would result in reduced immunity and harm to West Virginia’s kids,” Justice wrote.

Renewable energy 

On Monday, Justice issued a veto on HB 5528, a bipartisan bill that would have removed the sunset provision on a state program meant to promote increased use of renewable energy in the state. Justice initially approved and implemented that program in 2020, and — with his veto — it will now expire in 2025.

In his veto message, Justice said he worried that emphasizing further development of renewable energy could “cripple our great coal-fired energy industry in the process.

He said, while the bill was “well-intentioned,” he worried about approving incentives at the state level that could reduce the reliance on coal-powered energy.

“Not only will this arbitrary reduction in coal-powered energy end up costing consumers more, but this drastic change can only further endanger our nation’s energy security and put West Virginians at the mercy of the national power grid to ensure we keep the lights on at home,” Justice wrote.

Funding for research grants

In his first veto issued this year, Justice denied HB 5014, which would have used a supplemental appropriation of $2 million from last year’s budget to expand addiction and Alzheimer’s disease research at the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. It also would have appropriated $4 million for hospitals around the state to use as research funding.

In his veto message, Justice said he “wholeheartedly” supports hospitals and research occurring in the state, but he held reservations about there being “little context or direction for the use of such funding.”

He said, due to challenges and uncertainty around the state’s budget for Fiscal Year 2025, it wouldn’t be prudent to allocate the $6 million at this time. This bill would have used a supplemental appropriation of $2 million from the state’s fiscal year 2024 budget.

A special session is likely to be called by the governor in coming weeks to deal with ongoing budget issues, and it’s possible this appropriation could be included in Justice’s call.