---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to the registration of business"
description: "Relating to the registration of business"
jurisdiction: "us/states/wv"
legislature: "West Virginia Legislature"
session: "2018"
identifier: "HB 4401"
citation: "West Virginia HB 4401 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Labor"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ambler"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 51
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2018-02-01"
last_action: "2018-04-16"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c71aa43f-ec81-4284-b977-d3a1e89dc93b"
source_url: "http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=4401&year=2018&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill"
source_hash: "1b702ab36c197b4a8c35557f6b4e5366c2c2fa308bb0bbd1ccd7a6c12a9e324b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wv"]
---

# West Virginia HB 4401 (2018) — Relating to the registration of business

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4401%20SUB.htm&yr=2018&sesstype=RS&i=4401)
2. **Enrolled Committee Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4401%20SUB%20ENR.htm&yr=2018&sesstype=RS&i=4401)
3. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4401%20intr.htm&yr=2018&sesstype=RS&i=4401)

## Votes

- EFFECT FROM PASSAGE — **93–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passage — **33–0** (pass) · legislature
- EFFECT FROM PASSAGE — **96–0** (pass) · legislature
- PASSAGE — **95–0** (pass) · legislature
- PASSAGE-SENATE AMENDED HB — **92–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Ambler — primary (person)
- Barrett — cosponsor (person)
- Cooper — cosponsor (person)
- Foster — cosponsor (person)
- Frich — cosponsor (person)
- Householder — cosponsor (person)
- Phillips — cosponsor (person)
- Sobonya — cosponsor (person)
- Westfall — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-02-01** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2018-02-01** To Industry and Labor then Finance
- **2018-02-01** Introduced in House `introduction`
- **2018-02-01** To House Industry and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-08** Do pass, but first to Finance
- **2018-02-08** To House Finance `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-15** By substitute, do pass
- **2018-02-16** On 1st reading, Special Calendar
- **2018-02-16** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2018-02-19** On 2nd reading, Special Calendar
- **2018-02-19** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2018-02-20** On 3rd reading, Special Calendar
- **2018-02-20** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2018-02-20** Passed House (Roll No. 168) `passage`
- **2018-02-20** Effective from passage (Roll No. 169)
- **2018-02-20** Communicated to Senate
- **2018-02-21** House Message received
- **2018-02-21** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2018-02-21** To Government Organization `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-21** To Government Organization `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-28** Reported do pass `committee-passage`
- **2018-02-28** Unanimous consent
- **2018-02-28** Referred to Finance `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-05** Reported do pass, with amendment and title amendment `committee-passage`
- **2018-03-06** On 1st reading
- **2018-03-06** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2018-03-07** On 2nd reading
- **2018-03-07** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2018-03-07** Committee amendment adopted (Voice vote)
- **2018-03-08** On 3rd reading
- **2018-03-08** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2018-03-08** Passed Senate with amended title (Roll No. 408) `passage`
- **2018-03-08** Effective from passage (Roll No. 408)
- **2018-03-08** Senate requests House to concur
- **2018-03-09** House received Senate message
- **2018-03-09** House concurred in Senate amend with amend, passed bill (Roll No. 478)
- **2018-03-09** Effective from passage (Roll No. 479)
- **2018-03-09** Communicated to Senate
- **2018-03-09** House Message received
- **2018-03-09** Senate concurred in House amendments and passed bill (Roll No. 465)
- **2018-03-09** Effective from passage (Roll No. 465)
- **2018-03-09** Communicated to House
- **2018-03-09** Completed legislative action
- **2018-03-10** House received Senate message
- **2018-03-21** To Governor 3/21/18 `executive-receipt`
- **2018-03-10** To Governor 3/21/18 - House Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2018-03-10** To Governor 3/21/18 - Senate Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2018-03-10** Approved by Governor 3/27/18 - Senate Journal
- **2018-03-10** Approved by Governor 3/27/18 - House Journal
- **2018-03-27** Approved by Governor 3/27/18 `executive-signature`
- **2018-04-16** Chapter 137, Acts, Regular Session, 2018

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c71aa43f-ec81-4284-b977-d3a1e89dc93b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official West Virginia legislature records).