ARTICLE 1A. REGULATION AND CONTROL OF BEDDING AND UPHOLSTERY BUSINESSES.

§47-1A-2. Definitions.

As used in this article, unless the contents clearly require otherwise:

"Commissioner" means Commissioner of Labor.

"Department" means State Department of Labor.

"Bedding" or "articles of bedding" includes ~~upholstered furniture and~~ filling material (as herein defined) and any mattress, pillow, cushion, quilt, bed pad, comforter, ~~upholstered spring bed~~, headboard, box springs, davenport or day bed, bedsprings, metal couch, metal bed, metal cot, metal cradle, or metal bassinette, which is wholly or partly ~~upholstered and is~~ used or intended for use for sleeping~~, resting or reclining purposes~~.

"Upholstered furniture" means any article of household furniture wholly or partly stuffed or filled with soft material which is used or intended for use for sitting, resting or reclining purposes."Upholstered furniture" does not include any seat or cushion which is used in any automobile, truck, bus or airplane.

"Filling material" includes any hair, down, feathers, wool, cotton, kapok, or other soft material used in the manufacture of and for filling articles of bedding ~~or upholstered furniture~~.

"New" means any material or article which has not been previously used for any purpose, including by-products produced in the manufacture of any fabric and material reclaimed from new fabric: Provided, That an article of bedding returned by the purchaser for exchange, alteration, or correction within 30 days after date of delivery after original sale at retail, shall be deemed to be a new article, but if such article is returned later than 30 days after the date of such delivery, such article shall be deemed to be secondhand.

"Secondhand" means any material or article of which prior use has been made, except as otherwise provided in this article.

"Manufacture," "making," "make," or "made" includes altering, repairing, finishing, or preparing articles of bedding ~~or upholstered furniture~~ or filling materials for sale, including remaking or renovating when done away from the home of the owner.

"Sale," "sell," or "sold" includes offering or exposing for sale or exchange or lease or consigning or delivery in consignment for sale, exchange, or lease or holding in possession with like intent.

"Person" shall include persons, partnerships, corporations, and associations.

§47-1A-11. Statements required on tags to be affixed to bedding.

(1) Every article of bedding made for sale, sold, or offered for sale shall have attached thereto a tag on which is stated the name of the filling material used, that such material used is new or secondhand and, when required to be sterilized, that such material has been sterilized and the number of the sterilization permit. Such tag shall also contain the name and address of the maker or the vendor and the registry number, as hereinafter provided, of the maker.

(2) Every remade or renovated article of bedding not for sale, before returned to the owner for his or her own use, shall have attached thereto a tag which, in addition to the statements hereinabove required, shall state the name and address of the remaker or renovator or the statement "remade and renovated for" followed by the name and address of the person for whom the article of bedding is renovated.

~~(3)~~ (2) In the description of the filling material used on any tag attached to an article of bedding, no term or designation intended or likely to mislead shall be used; but where such article contains more than one material, the amount of such materials shall be stated on the tag and there shall be no variance in excess of 10 percent from the amount stated on the tag: Provided, ~~however,~~ That no variance shall be allowed for filling material which is described as "all,""pure,""100%" or terms of similar import.

~~(4)~~ (3) A complete secondhand article of bedding which has not been remade or renovated may be sold "as is" without being sterilized, but the original tag shall be removed by the vendor and he or she shall attach a tag stating that the article is secondhand – “contents unknown." This requirement shall not apply to articles sold at public auction, the sale of antique furniture, or to a private sale from the home of the owner direct to the purchaser: Provided, ~~however,~~ That the exceptions herein stated shall not authorize the sale of an article of bedding that has been exposed to infectious or contagious disease and which, after such exposure, has not been sterilized and approved for use.

§47-1A-14. Annual registration and permit fees.

(a) The annual registration fee for all manufacturers shipping or selling articles of bedding ~~and for upholsterers or renovators, as defined in this article,~~ in the State of West Virginia shall be $90, payable on the first day of the fiscal year. Any manufacturer~~, upholsterer or renovator~~ who submits an annual registration fee on or after July 16 shall pay a $25 late fee in addition to the annual fee.

(b) The annual sterilizer permit fee shall be $90, payable on the first day of the fiscal year. Any sterilizer who submits an annual permit fee on or after July 16 shall pay a $25 late fee in addition to the annual fee.

(d) All fees paid pursuant to this article shall be paid to the Commissioner of Labor and deposited in an appropriated special revenue account hereby created in the State Treasury to be known as the Bedding and Upholstery Fund and expended for the implementation and enforcement of this article. Amounts collected which are found from time to time to exceed funds needed for the purposes set forth in this article may be utilized by the commissioner as needed to meet the division’s funding obligation.