Tag: house

For the week ending March 6, 2026

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the House of Delegates voted just after 6 p.m. on Day 51 of the 60-day session to concur with the Senate and complete a budget bill presented by House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, as the compromise and described as “responsible.”

Senate Bill 250, the budget bill, sets the $5.5 billion General Revenue budget for Fiscal Year 2027, which begins July 1, 2026. It includes a 5% reduction in personal income tax rates, and a 3% average pay increase for all state employees as well as public school teachers, school service personnel and the West Virginia State Police. An increase of nearly $40 million above the current year’s funding levels was allocated to adoption and foster care. Medicaid within the Policy and Programming Budget is funded roughly $28 million more than current levels, and the directives were moved from the surplus section of the budget to ensure it is covered. The waiver programs were funded a little more than $5 million greater than the current-year funding levels as well.

The higher education funding formula is funded in full for the first time with this budget, and an overall increase in funding is allocated for the dual enrollment program through the Higher Education Policy Commission. About $117 million in General Revenue funds are allocated to the Hope Scholarship program, as well as $100 million in supplemental funding and $60 million in the surplus spending section. The Treasurer’s Office has $20 million in carryover funding already available for the program.

The budget allocates $29 million to the already-established Personal Income Tax Reduction Fund and nine items totaling roughly $245 million are listed in what is commonly referred to as the “back of the budget” for surplus spending to be dedicated as it is available at the end of the Fiscal Year. Among those priorities are Lily’s Place, a Residential Treatment Center focused on Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, the West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Reclamation of Abandoned and Dilapidated Properties Program, the West Virginia Division of Highways, local roads and the West Virginia Flood Resiliency Trust Fund.

A bill that would create the private, nonprofit TEAM-WV Corp. to promote economic development, job creation, job retention and business recruitment to the state, overwhelmingly passed the House March 4. TEAM-WV would not be a state department or agency but instead would create a non-governmental partner for the Department of Commerce to increase its competitiveness in business development.

“I appreciate entrepreneurs because they often think differently than I do; they are what I call outside-the-box thinkers, and I admittedly am not,” said Delegate Eric Brooks, R-Raleigh, ahead of the vote on House Bill 4001, to create TEAM-WV. “I also know that since getting into this political realm and getting to know some entrepreneurs that they run in circles that I don’t run in. They know people I don’t know, and they have the access to resources that I don’t have.

“These folks are often the movers and shakers in our communities and in our state and even in around the country and around the world. They have the resources to make things happen. We know this to be true. And that’s what we want, we want private investment coming into our state.”

Members of the House unanimously passed House Bill 5537, which would repeal unnecessary sections of the state code pertaining to education, on March 3. House Bill 4191, which would address childcare concerns from two different angles, passed the House with broad support March 4. The measure would stabilize the state’s reimbursement rates for providers, would increase an employer’s current tax credits equal to 50% of their investment in a childcare facility and also increase the existing tax credit equal to 50% of an employer’s costs of operating the childcare provided.

Thirty-one bills have completed the legislative process and gone to the governor for action. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14.

Contact: Ann Ali at (304) 340-3323

For the week ending Feb. 27, 2026

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A direct stream of funding that would support the state’s Emergency Medical Services got a unanimous vote of support from the West Virginia House of Delegates this week.

“Well, I want to say to the Finance Committee, thank you; thank God we finally got something done,” Delegate Buck Jennings, R-Preston, said on the House floor ahead of the vote, adding that he had been trying to find permanent state funding for EMS since he first got elected in 2018.

House Bill 5168, which passed Feb. 23, would transfer a total of $12 million through the state Office of Emergency Medical Services at the end of each Fiscal Year from the State Lottery Fund. It would direct $6 million to the EMS Salary Enhancement, Crisis Response, and Mental Health Treatment Fund; $3 million to the County EMS Fund; and $3 million to the All-County EMS fund. Counties would be required to match the funds, which they could do through a levy, severance funds or private donations.

“In all reality, this is a historical day if this body passes this and it makes it all the way to the governor; we’re actually putting the first permanent funding to support the EMS workers of the state of West Virginia,” said Delegate Joe Statler, R-Monongalia. “I think we’re telling our first responders out there that we care. We know that they do a job for us every day, they’re out there working and that we’re willing to reach out to help them, to try and keep them going.”

Members of the House Finance Committee also acted this week to preserve the jewel of the state’s Capitol Complex, the Culture Center. Delegates heard from Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby about the extensive deferred maintenance she inherited with the 50-year-old building and took a tour to see the problems firsthand. House Bill 5685 would allow excess lottery funds to be used as revenue bonds for necessary renovations with appropriate legislative oversight.

The House overwhelmingly passed the West Virginia Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing Growth Act Feb. 27. The measure, House Bill 4006, includes a host of initiatives to support growth in the state’s aerospace industry. The Aerospace Development Program under the state’s Department of Commerce would encourage construction, operation, development, maintenance, manufacturing and expansion of the industry. The West Virginia Job Development Grant Program under the Division of Economic Development would allow aerospace businesses to enter into agreements with the Division to create a special revenue fund, utilizing grants and private funds to create new jobs. Another change would adjust the way capital additions to manufacturing facilities are appraised, at salvage value, for property tax purposes, and finally it would create the MRO Workforce and Aviation Maintenance Education Act, requiring the Council for Community and Technical College Education to develop an aviation and aerospace industry pathway.

“I think this is a very creative way to encourage companies to invest in West Virginia and then stay for a long time because of the way their investment goes in and they employ people, those dollars eventually do flow back into their companies, but it’s over a long, substantial period of time,” said Delegate Clay Riley, R-Harrison, in explaining the bill before the vote. “This is a situation where you have the opportunity to have companies come in and locate for 50 years, to be able to continue to be able to employ the citizens of West Virginia.

“We have a strong history of the aviation and the aerospace industry with Chuck Yeager and Katherine Johnson and Homer Hickam. This just sends a message to the world that we still have those folks, and they’re right here in the state of West Virginia, and this bill allows every county to prosper and every opportunity for every county to be successful.”

The House also passed a budget bill back to the Senate this week for continued deliberation. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14.

Contact: Ann Ali at (304) 340-3323

For the week ending Feb. 20, 2026

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the West Virginia House of Delegates took action this week to add more money to the paychecks of public school teachers, school service personnel and the West Virginia State Police. All other state employees are expected to receive a pay raise through the budget bill, but with House Bill 4765, which unanimously passed the House Feb. 19, the three classes of state employees with salary schedules set in state code also would be in line for a 3 percent raise starting July 1.

House Finance Committee Vice Chairman Clay Riley, R-Harrison, told Delegates just before the vote the amount would average out to about $1,800 across the three groups — more than $1,500 for the teachers and nearly $900 for school service personnel. The bill goes now to the Senate for consideration.

The Foster Youth Post-Secondary Transition Awareness Act, House Bill 4573, and House Bill 4730, which would develop a continuum of independent living and transitional support services for youth aging out of foster care, both passed the House this week with overwhelming support. HB4573 would direct the West Virginia Department of Education to coordinate direct communication about opportunities for higher education, job training, housing, healthcare and support for independent living to students with current or previous foster care experiences. Similarly, HB4730 would require the Department of Human Services to implement a program with the full spectrum of transitional services for young people who soon will exit or recently have exited from foster care. It also would require reports to the Legislature about its activity.

The House took unanimous votes this week on House Bill 5101, the Joanna Phillips Domestic Violence Prevention Act, which would enhance criminal penalties relating to domestic violence, and House Bill 4712, Baylea’s Law, which would increase the criminal penalties for DUI causing death, as well as House Bill 4819, which would allow a person with a criminal record who had met specific circumstances of rehabilitation to be licensed within certain categories of professional practice.

“We pass a lot of bills in here that increase penalties and make it tougher for individuals to get out of the criminal justice system, and I love bills like this because if you make a mistake, particularly in your youth, that should not be a scarlet letter for the rest of your life,” said Delegate Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, just before the vote on House Bill 4819. “Bills like this are important to get people back in the workforce and let people just get on with their lives.”

The House also passed House Bill 4009, which would create the Portable Benefit Account Act, with overwhelming support this week. The measure would allow West Virginia’s many independent contractors, freelancers and self-employed workers to maintain their benefits such as retirement savings and health care coverage across multiple clients or from job to job.

“Portable Benefits can help our state’s nearly 90,000 independent workers gain stability while holding on to their flexibility,” said Delegate Jonathan Kyle, R-Randolph, and the lead sponsor of the bill. “This would also allow companies to contribute to a worker’s account, which can help them attract talent while still protecting them from any new red tape or classifications.”

Eleven bills have completed the legislative process. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14.

Contact: Ann Ali at (304) 340-3323

For the week ending Feb. 13, 2026

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the House of Delegates finished the week by voting to leverage a tax credit that would bring in private investment for small West Virginia businesses, and the bill is in line to be the first completed legislation of the session.

Delegates Passed Senate Bill 1, the West Virginia First Small Business Growth Act, Feb. 13 after having amended most of the provisions of its counterpart, House Bill 4003, into the measure the previous day. The bill would offer a limited tax credit against the West Virginia Insurance Premium Tax to financial institutions that invest in state-certified growth funds. Only businesses principally operating in West Virginia with fewer than 250 employees at the time of their application with at least 60% of their workforce in the state would be eligible to receive the funds, with the West Virginia Department of Commerce overseeing the program.

“As someone who grew up in a family that owned their own small business that paid for my education and everything else I needed, this is a bill that I just take a lot of personal pride in,” said Judiciary Committee Chairman J.B. Akers, R-Kanawha, the lead sponsor of House Bill 4003, in presenting the West Virginia First Small Business Growth Act on the floor before the vote. “This bill is focused on existing West Virginia businesses. This is a promise that we have made that we’re going to start focusing as much of our attention as possible on existing West Virginia businesses, and this bill provides them with the capitalization they need to grow.”

Akers said it would mirror a federal program already successfully operating in 18 other states, including Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

“We’ve got private investors providing private capital to private companies,” he said. “The government is not involved in this other than … as a safeguard and guardrails.”

House Majority Whip Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer, who also serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Revenue, spoke about the bill ahead of the vote as well.

“I don’t mind telling you that high finance is not necessarily my specialty, and when I looked at this bill it made my eyes spin just a little bit because there’s a lot of detail here and there, but the reality is the impetus of this bill is pretty simple,” Gearheart said. “It makes a pool of capital available to West Virginia businesses that currently cannot access that kind of capital.

“Businesses that are successful that have the opportunity to grow and become even more successful and to expand what we do here now can have access to the dollars in order to do that by means of this bill, and it really is that simple.”

Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, spoke before the vote to explain how being in a border county gives him the perspective that forms his urgency for this initiative.

“We see a lot of this activity,” he said. “I look around the room to Mason County and Cabell County and Jackson County; we see it all the time, we’re competing for those people that live in our valley to locate their businesses on one side of the river or the other.

“Finally — finally — in the financial structure of our state, we’re going to have the opportunity to help small businesses.”

The bill passed by a vote of 87 to 3 and returns to the Senate for its review. If the Senate approves, the bill will be the first completed legislation of the 2026 regular session and will go to the governor for action.

Also this week, the House unanimously approved: House Bill 4011, which would allow expanded material recycling; House Bill 4749, which was written and presented to the Legislature by a teenager who is in foster care, and would expand the Foster Child Bill of Rights; and House Bill 4089, which would require insurance coverage for scalp cooling systems that preserve of hair during chemotherapy treatment, also known as Jessica Huffman’s Law.

The last day to introduce bills is Feb. 17, and 69 House bills have passed the House. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14.

Contact: Ann Ali at (304) 340-3323

For the week ending Feb. 6, 2026

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the West Virginia House of Delegates continue to move bills through the legislative process as the 60-day regular session nears its halfway point. A total of 42 House bills had passed the full House as of Feb. 6, and they now are with the West Virginia Senate for deliberation.

Among them is House Bill 4004, which passed the House Feb. 4 by a vote of 86-7. It would create the Recharge West Virginia Program to support companies in the state that give their employees an expansion in skills along with at least a 25% boost in pay.

Delegate Clay Riley, R-Harrison, presented the bill and answered questions about it before the vote. He told his fellow Delegates it was important to ask questions and be deliberative when casting votes about how to invest the state’s tax dollars.

“I can’t think of a better place to invest than the state’s people … and building a stronger economy for our state,” Riley said. “It creates a smart incentive for companies to grow here and hire here — West Virginians.

“It creates real opportunities for West Virginians to earn industry-recognized credentials and move into higher-paying jobs; it’s what we always talk about. Let’s raise people up — help them up. It closes the skills gap. It keeps talent in West Virginia, which is our biggest export right now, and it prioritizes regions with economic distress — those southern coalfields who said we need something. This is something.”

Delegate Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, who voted for the bill after asking several questions, said she thought it was “a great idea.”

“I think anything we can do to help with upskilling our employees is fantastic,” Young said just ahead of the vote. “I really think this is going to help with manufacturing.”

House Bill 4456 unanimously passed the House Feb. 4. It would allow law enforcement agencies in West Virginia to enter into written agreements with law enforcement agencies in border states to better help with investigations.

The measure, sponsored by Delegate Scot Heckert, R-Wood, passed unanimously Feb. 4. It came about after the sheriffs in Wood and Pleasants counties met with their counterparts in the Buckeye State and discussed ways to better aid and cooperate with one another.

“Especially with the nature of our state and so many borders we share, I thought this would be a simple but important way to better help our law enforcement officers easily cut through red tape and get to the jobs they’re trained to do,” Heckert said.

The last day to introduce bills is Feb. 17, and 1,316 bills have been introduced in the House. The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight March 14.

Contact: Ann Ali at (304) 340-3323