The WV legislative session starts Jan. 14. Here’s what we’ll be watching and what you should know

As the 2026 West Virginia legislative session nears, the West Virginia Watch team is gearing up to keep you informed over the 60-day law-making process.

We’ll be watching everything from health care reforms and support for the state’s foster children to economic development plans and policies that could shape the state’s energy economy for years to come.

The legislative session is a chaotic period for both news and the public. It’s when laws are made and priorities for the state’s government throughout the next year are set.

We at West Virginia Watch wanted to take some time here before session begins on Jan. 14 to prepare our readers for what they will see from us throughout the 60 days, explain how processes work and ensure they know what tools and resources exist to help them navigate the often confusing proceedings that are about to take place.

Please read on to help keep yourself informed about what we’re tracking over the legislative process and feel free to reach out to any of our reporters if you have questions about the legislative process, our work or anything else.   

A quick rundown on how session works

Lawmakers are expected to gavel in for the first day of the 60-day session on Wednesday, Jan. 14. That evening, Gov. Patrick Morrisey will deliver his second State of the State address, where he will lay out the legislative priorities he wants to see lawmakers address throughout the rest of session.

Once session starts, any lawmaker in either the state House of Delegates or Senate can introduce bills they would like to see their colleagues consider. After being introduced in the lawmaker’s chamber, the bill will be referred to the committee process.

In the Senate, the process is simple: each bill is referred to at least one committee, where lawmakers will discuss it, invite testimony on it and introduce potential amendments to change it. If a bill is passed out of committee, it will return to the entire Senate for consideration.

In the House, new rules introduced last year restructured the committee process. There, bills are referred to more specific subcommittees that operate under the larger committee. For example, under the House Education Committee are subcommittees for educational choice, higher education and public education. Members from the larger House Education committee serve in smaller groups on the subcommittees.

Each subcommittee in the House will consider a bill for at least two days. The first day it is introduced in the subcommittee will serve as a “public hearing,” where members of the public and stakeholders either request to speak on bills or are invited by lawmakers to do so. Individuals should reach out to committee chairs for each subcommittee to request to speak.

The second day is when lawmakers will markup and discuss the legislation at hand, offering amendments as they see fit. At the end of that process, they will recommend whether or not the bill should be passed by the larger standing committee. The overarching committee will hold its own public comment period and discussion and markup of the bill before voting whether or not to advance it to the full House for passage.

After going through the committee process, legislation introduced in both chambers will be reintroduced — usually on second reading — in front of the entire body they originated in. Lawmakers at this point can offer amendments to bills that must be approved by a majority of the whole chamber. After a third reading and if a bill is approved by a majority of lawmakers, it will advance; the House will send their passed bills to the Senate and vice versa for passage.

Generally, this process continues until both chambers agree on and pass the same version of the bill to send on to the governor for approval. Once received, he can either sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without signature.

There are, of course, exceptions to all of these processes — either the House or the Senate can vote to suspend rules and change proceedings with enough votes, for example.

Overall, it’s most worth watching a bill once it is assigned to a committee. That shows that the bill is gaining traction and at least has enough support from a committee chair to be discussed and featured on an agenda.

Keep in mind, there are thousands of bills introduced each year. Only some of those advance through the committee process and even fewer become law. For example, out of 2,460 bills introduced last session only 249 — just over 10% — are actually considered completed legislation, meaning they became law or were vetoed by the governor.

WHAT WE’LL BE FOLLOWING

School funding formula woes, paying for the voucher program

Many lawmakers represent counties losing public schools due largely to West Virginia’s shrinking population. Seventeen school closures have been approved so far this year, according to an analysis from the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. Sixteen public schools closed in 2024.

Schools get less money from the state when there are fewer students in classrooms, spurring financial concerns as they try to serve those who remain.

State lawmakers have floated the idea of changing the state school aid funding formula, which hasn’t been updated in years, to better serve counties that are dealing with declining student enrollment. Adjusting the complicated school funding formula could be challenging in the 60-day session window.

School superintendents last month told lawmakers that they’d like to see a funding increase in the formula for professional and service personnel salaries so they can retain necessary teachers and staff despite declining population.

The funding formula also doesn’t account for special education services, which are costly to the school system. Special education students now make up around 25% of the state’s student population, according to the state school board.

Lawmakers will also have to figure out how to pay for the Hope Scholarship, the state’s broad school voucher program, that is expected to cost around $230 million. Some Republicans have already raised concerns that the program cost is ballooning out of control, and House Democrats are expected to introduce bills that would put guard rails on how the money can be spent, like banning use of Hope funds in out-of-state schools.

Morrisey, lawmakers want changes for troubled foster care system

Republicans in the House and Senate have already said they’ll introduce at least 16 pieces of legislation focused on fixing the state’s troubled foster care system. Several of the measures focus on beefing up accountability for Child Protective Services, including a measure that would require CPS workers to wear body cameras.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey has touted improvements to child welfare under his watch, but lawmakers are still concerned about how the state is handling foster care cases for around 6,000 kids.

Many of the measures would require funding.

Morrisey plans to work with the Legislature on one of the proposed bills that would create a fund to bring hundreds of out-of-state foster children back to West Virginia. The money would be used to open in-state beds in state-owned facilities. There are more than 300 foster children from West Virginia in facilities across the country.   

Senate President Randy Smith wants to see data center bill challenges addressed, others may not

One of the largest pieces of legislation passed in the 2025 regular session was House Bill 2014, dubbed the Power Generation and Consumption Act. The law aims to recruit the establishment of data centers in West Virginia. It also allows for the creation of microgrids — relatively small power sources that are not connected to existing electric utilities.

The law created a specialized tax structure for certain data centers and microgrids, meaning all but 30% of property tax revenues generated by the facilities is diverted outside of the community they operate in. It also stops localities from enforcing any zoning requirements or other policies against the developments, meaning local governments have no control in how they operate.

Several companies are currently attempting to construct microgrids and data centers throughout West Virginia. Residents in some of these communities have been outspoken against the developments, citing concerns over environmental and health impacts and lamenting the lack of local control their governments have over the facilities and the costs that could be associated with them.

It’s possible this session could see revisions to the data center and microgrid bill, in part due to these residents’ concerns.

Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston, told his constituents in Tucker County in November that he had a “hard time” voting for HB 2014. As Senate president, he continued, he could have killed the bill but doing so would have been “hard” on his “political career” since it was a priority from Morrisey.

He said that “local control is a big issue” within the bill, and something that members of the state Senate “want to address.”

At a news conference last month, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw was less direct about addressing concerns that have stemmed from the bill and the developments proposed following its passage. He said that, since it had been less than a year since the law went into effect, it was difficult to know the real impacts HB 2014 could have.

“I’m sure that it’s among the things we’ll talk about when we convene next month,” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, Morrisey told reporters last month that he doesn’t believe concerns shared by locals who would be most affected by proposed data centers — and who have stood up consistently at rallies, public hearings, in lawsuits and more decrying them — are fair. He called them a “couple people” who were “engaging in scare tactics” and urged the public to instead celebrate how potential future proceeds from data center developments could help cut taxes.   

School vaccination policy still unclear legislatively

Every year, lawmakers introduce bills to loosen the state’s strict school vaccination requirements. While states generally require school students to be vaccinated against several infectious diseases like whooping cough, polio and measles, West Virginia is one of only five states that do not allow families to opt out of that requirement for religious or philosophical objections.

State law currently allows exemptions for only medical reasons. An executive order from Gov. Patrick Morrisey is at odds with the state’s school vaccine law, but he says the order is permissible under another law, the Equal Protection for Religion Act. A case at the heart of the debate is set to be reviewed by the West Virginia Supreme Court.

Last year, the Senate approved a bill that would have codified Morrisey’s executive order, but the House of Delegates ultimately rejected it.

While some lawmakers have said they’d support or introduce bills that would put religious exemptions into state code or even get rid of the vaccine requirements altogether, the chair of the House of Delegates health committee told West Virginia Watch changing the school vaccine law is “not a priority” as the debate makes its way through the courts. Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, chair of the Senate Health Committee, said this session’s legislation should come from the House after delegates rejected last year’s bill.

PEIA remains unstable

West Virginia state employees continue to face rising health care costs. The Public Employees Insurance Agency recently approved a 3% rate increase effective July 1 for state employees, local government workers and retirees who are on their health care plans. For state employees, a monthly spousal surcharge will increase by an average of $200 per month.

Last year, PEIA raised rates by 14% for state employees and by 16% for local government employees. Retirees also saw a 12% increase in premiums.

The 2025 legislative session saw few PEIA-related bills. Morrisey last summer said he planned to call a special session to address the issues, but the session never materialized.   

State employee pay raises as part of economic development

Morrisey has said his budget proposal will include raises for all state workers, but he’s not said how much. Morrisey told reporters he wants to work with state lawmakers on the proposal.

“In my budget for fiscal year 2027, we will have a pay raise for state employees. Period,” Morrisey told reporters at a news conference Dec. 11. “That’s going to include teachers, that’s going to include school service personnel, that’s going to include our hard working state police and so many of the people — the correction officers — who are working hard every day to make West Virginia a better place to live, to work and to play.”

Republican leaders in the House of Delegates have proposed legislation that would increase pay for state teachers and school service personnel.

State treasurer Larry Pack said he’s backing legislation that would have all teachers in the state making at least $50,000. Teachers who already make that amount should get a $2,000 raise, he said.

House Republicans want to see more economic development overall

At a news conference last month, Republicans in the state House of Delegates said they want to see economic development and job creation dominate their legislative agenda.

Specifics for the plan so far are relatively vague and they will likely remain that way until legislation is introduced showing details. The approach, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw said in December, will focus on three pillars: job training, workforce development and retention; investment in “job-creating businesses” and, lastly, practicing “responsible economic growth.”

Hanshaw said the state will see more resources put toward the aviation industry, both in manufacturing and operations.

The House will also see the “Recharge West Virginia Act” introduced, which Hanshaw said will “support” local businesses in the state that increase their staffing.

Other legislation will be the TEAM-WV Act, an acronym meaning Technology, Energy, Aviation and Manufacturing. The act, Hanshaw said, is modeled under the same guiding principles of the nearby JobsOhio. In West Virginia, the potential bill would propose creating a “competitive, statewide” nonprofit to help form a more “cohesive” approach for developing sites for industry and growing partnerships between sectors.

Another attempt at Certificate of Need repeal

For years, advocates and special interest groups have been lobbying the Legislature to repeal the state’s Certificate of Need process. Even after years of having a Republican supermajority control both chambers of the Legislature under Republican governors, they’ve been met with little luck.

Last year, that trend continued as legislation proposing to repeal the process again failed, this time laying bare a political power struggle largely between Morrisey and members of the House.

CON has been on West Virginia’s books since 1977. It’s a regulatory process, overseen by the West Virginia Health Care Authority, that requires entities looking to create or expand health care services to receive a legal document proving those new services fit an unmet need in the area.

Through the Health Care Authority, those interested in obtaining a CON receive technical assistance before applying to see what needs they are meeting. Services are approved through a needs methodology and different services — such as hospice care, ambulatory centers, clinics, private practices and specialty services — have different methodologies.

Morrisey announced during his first State of the State address last year that he wanted to see the entirety of this process repealed. He called it “big government activism at its worst” and said that repealing it would allow the state’s health care industry to “move toward the free market.”

But those who work in health care have been critical of removing CON laws as more than 75% of patients in West Virginia are government payers, meaning their health insurance comes from the Public Employees Insurance Agency, Medicare or Medicaid.

If CON is repealed, these critics say, there would be no guarantee facilities that come into the state would cater to these patients, as those programs reimburse less for services than private insurers.

Legislation to remove CON laws have been introduced annually for at least a decade. Most never gained traction.

Last year, the legislation — HB 2007 — served as one of the first tests for Morrisey’s influence in the Legislature, and specifically among members of the House. Several lawmakers who held concerns about repealing the certificate of need process told members of the media, in interviews and elsewhere, that they did not appreciate the strategies employed by the governor and his staff while they attempted to whip votes in support of the legislation.

House Health voted down HB 2007 early last session, meaning it never went to the full House for consideration. While Del. Chris Anders, R-Berkeley, attempted to discharge the bill from the Health Committee and to the House floor for another vote later in session, he yet again failed as all but 16 members voted overwhelmingly to kill the legislation one last time.

It’s likely CON repeal in some form will again be up for consideration in the Legislature as it has been for the last decade. Specifics on the proposed policy, however, will only be clear once a bill is introduced.

There are several resources that can help the public stay on top of what happens at the Legislature every day and most can be found online at https://www.wvlegislature.gov/ Here are some quick tools you can use this legislative session:

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.