The Legislature passed 201 bills during the 2014 Legislative Session. 51 of those bills came with fiscal notes attached, the price tags attached to legislation that inform legislators and the public of the estimated cost to the state in either expenditure increases or revenue losses. Fiscal notes are usually attached to a bill when taxes or fees are assessed or a new program, service, or fund is being created. While there are significant flaws with fiscal notes in West Virginia, they still contain important information.
Of the 61 fiscal notes attached to completed legislation in 2014 (some bills have more than one fiscal note, submitted by different agencies, which is why there are more fiscal notes than bills), 17 identified a measurable expenditure impact. Seven of these fiscal notes identified a negative expenditure effect, meaning that the passage of the bill would reduce government spending, while 10 identified a positive expenditure effect. In total, the 19 fiscal notes show that the passed legislation would increase state spending by $61.2 million. The largest of these was SB 391, providing salary increase for teachers and school service personnel, at a cost of $38 million.
In addition, another eight fiscal notes identified possible expenditure changes, but were unable to provide an estimate.
Four fiscal notes identified a measurable revenue impact. Three of these fiscal notes showed a positive revenue impact, meaning that the passage of the bill would increase government revenue, while one showed a negative impact, indicating a reduction in revenue. In total, the four fiscal notes show that the passed legislation would increase government revenue by $5.4 million. The largest of these was SB 328, terminating the Strategic Research and Development Tax Credit, which increased revenue by $4 million.
In addition, another six fiscal notes identified possible revenue changes, but were unable to provide an estimate. Notable among these bills are two tax incentive bills: HB 4184, otherwise known as the Greenbrier tax credit, and HB 4343, the Project Launchpad Act.
Below is a list of the bills passed with a fiscal note.
|
Bill |
Summary |
Full Expenditure Impact |
Full Revenue Impact |
|
SB 90 |
Creating criminal offense for interfering or preventing call for assistance of emergency service personnel |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 204 |
Relating to crime victims compensation awards |
-$1,204,000 |
$0 |
|
SB 315 |
Clarifying use of certain funds under Military Authority Act |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 328 |
Terminating Strategic Research and Development Tax Credit |
$0 |
$4,000,000 |
|
SB 331 |
Requiring certain accelerated payment of consumers sales and service and use tax and employee withholding taxes |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 356 |
Relating to purchasing reforms |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 373 (DEP) |
Relating to water resources protection |
$755,715 |
$930,715 |
|
SB 373 (DHHR) |
Relating to water resources protection |
$454,191 |
$0 |
|
SB 375 |
Excluding certain personal property from TIF assessment |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 391 |
Providing salary increase for teachers and school service personnel |
$38,988,702 |
$0 |
|
SB 402 |
Permitting recovery of service charge and fees charged to Tax Commissioner by financial institutions |
-$25,000 |
$0 |
|
SB 414 |
Redirecting nonprobate appraisement filings |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 416 |
Relating to tentative appraisals of industrial and natural resources property |
-$5,000 |
$0 |
|
SB 431 |
Relating to issuance and renewal of certain driver’s licenses and federal ID cards |
-$560,228 |
$372,420 |
|
SB 443 |
Relating to SPRS |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 444 |
Relating to PERS |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 452 |
Relating to TRS annuity calculation of member with reciprocal service credit |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 456 |
Extending expiration date for health care provider tax on eligible acute care hospitals |
$19,932,495 |
$0 |
|
SB 457 |
Requiring programs for temporarily detained inmates in regional jails |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 458 |
Dedicating certain circuit court fees to fund low-income persons’ civil legal services |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 461 |
Creating Future Fund |
$0 |
unknown |
|
SB 469 |
Creating Veterans and Warriors to Agriculture Program |
$0 |
$0 |
|
SB 486 |
Establishing salaries and providing raises for State Police forensic lab employees |
$644,931 |
$0 |
|
SB 523 |
Providing for additional state veterans skilled nursing facility in Beckley |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 2165 (DHHR) |
Relating to death certificates of military veterans |
$0 |
-$108,713 |
|
HB 2165 (Veteran’s Affairs) |
Relating to death certificates of military veterans |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 2954 |
Requiring that members of the Mine Safety Technology Task Force are paid the same compensation as members of the Legislature |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4005 (Corrections) |
Relating to criminal offenses for child neglect |
unknown |
$0 |
|
HB 4005 (DHHR) |
Relating to criminal offenses for child neglect |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4006 (Corrections) |
Relating to the possession and distribution of child pornography |
unknown |
$0 |
|
HB 4006 (DHHR) |
Relating to the possession and distribution of child pornography |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4006 (Supreme Court) |
Relating to the possession and distribution of child pornography |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4184 (Development Office) |
Relating to the West Virginia Tourism Development Act |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4184 (Tax Dept) |
Relating to the West Virginia Tourism Development Act |
unknown |
unknown |
|
HB 4210 |
Juvenile sentencing reform |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4228 |
Repealing or removing certain portions of education-related statutes that have expired |
-$190,000 |
$0 |
|
HB 4236 |
Sexual assault nurse examination network |
$156,446 |
$0 |
|
HB 4254 |
Providing that certain state employees may be granted a leave of absence with pay during a declared state of emergency |
unknown |
$0 |
|
HB 4256 |
Amending the annual salary schedule for members of the state police |
$408,562 |
$0 |
|
HB 4270 |
Relating to salaries of service employees of the state camp and conference center known as Cedar Lakes Conference Center |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4283 (Div of Labor) |
Raising the minimum wage |
$650,000 |
unknown |
|
HB 4283 (Div of Personnel) |
Raising the minimum wage |
unknown |
unknown |
|
HB 4284 |
Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act |
unknown |
$0 |
|
HB 4290 |
Revising the regulatory structure of money transmitters and other entities |
$0 |
$210,476 |
|
HB 4318 |
Continuing education of veterans mental health |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4332 (DHHR) |
Extending the time that certain nonprofit community groups are exempt from the moratorium on creating new nursing home beds |
$4,165,000 |
$0 |
|
HB 4332 (Health Care Authority) |
Extending the time that certain nonprofit community groups are exempt from the moratorium on creating new nursing home beds |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4332 (PEIA) |
Extending the time that certain nonprofit community groups are exempt from the moratorium on creating new nursing home beds |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4343 |
West Virginia Project Launchpad Act |
$110,000 |
unknown |
|
HB 4349 |
Clarifying retirement dependent child scholarship and burial benefits under a Qualified Domestic Relations Order |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4350 |
Providing for the awarding of a West Virginia Veterans Medal and ribbon, and a West Virginia Service Cross and ribbon to certain qualifying West Virginia Veterans |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4363 |
Creating an informal dispute resolution process available to behavioral health providers |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4365 |
Relating to employer remittance and reporting of Teachers Retirement System member contributions to the retirement board |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4373 |
Relating to driver education programs |
-$3,064,842 |
$0 |
|
HB 4393 |
Creating the Dangerous Wild Animals Act |
unknown |
unknown |
|
HB 4425 |
Giving the Superintendent of State Police authority to hire additional staff |
-$16,568 |
$0 |
|
HB 4432 |
Adopting Principle Based Reserving as the method by which life insurance company reserves are calculated |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4449 |
Including proximity detection systems and cameras used on continuous mining machines and underground haulage equipment for tax credit purposes |
$0 |
unknown |
|
HB 4496 |
Providing for the allocation of matching funds from future moneys deposited into the West Virginia Research Trust Fund |
$0 |
$0 |
|
HB 4588 |
Protecting unborn children who are capable of experiencing pain by prohibiting abortion after twenty weeks |
unknown |
$0 |
|
HB 4619 |
Authorizing innovation school districts |
$0 |
$0 |
