From your lobbyist, Michael Haid

It has been an honor and a privilege representing the Home Builders Association this legislative session. I’ve certainly learned a lot this year and I believe we have built a solid foundation for the future. The Delegate lunches we had for both parties were very well received and Kent Pauley did a great job discussing our message points with the members.

I wanted to touch on a few bills we worked on this session that are important to our members.

HB 3036 -Increasing the number of districts and the limit on approved costs under the BUILD WV Act

This bill increases the Build WV Act districts across the state to an undefined limit. The yearly cap of BUILD expenditures has also been raised from 40 million dollars annually to 150 million statewide. We expect the Governor will sign this bill. Click the link below to view this bill:

https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2023_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb3036%20sub.pdf

HB 3215- Relating to Land Use

This was Delegate Riley’s bill from Harrison County. The purpose of this bill relates to land use planning. The bill provides flexibility in
timelines to allow planning commissions to promptly address applications; and addresses difficulties with finding qualified members for public boards. It modifies definitions; modifies the frequency of planning commission meetings; clarifies contents of subdivision and land development ordinances; addresses jurisdiction of planning commission; clarifies process for minor proposals; modifies provisions related to approval of major proposals; provides for flexibility in qualifications for county boards of zoning appeals; and modifies frequency of board of zoning appeals meetings.

Hopefully this bill will make it easier to get projects moving quicker. We expect the Governor to sign the bill. A link to the bill text is below for your review:

https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2023_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb3215%20enr.pdf

HB 3270- To amend the deliberate intent statute to limit noneconomic damages to $500,000

A challenging issue that has been debated in the halls of the Capitol for over a decade – HB 3270 finally reached the finish line late in the session. Again, we expect the Governor to sign this bill.

Hopefully this will result in lower insurance rates over time for our members.

A link to the bill text is below:

https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2023_SESSIONS/RS/bills/hb3270%20sub.pdf

Thank you again for your support and guidance this session.