Lawmakers have reached the halfway point of the legislative session, and the House of Delegates has made strides to deliver on their promise of focusing on economic development and jobs in West Virginia.
Legislation meant to help the state’s overwhelmed foster care system has also taken up much of the House’s first 30 days. The effort has mainly been led by a lawmaker who is a foster parent.
To date, a number of the priority bills presented in the House meant to improve the state’s struggling economy are advancing. Bills aiming to empower small business growth, incentivize businesses to invest in jobs training, offer early-career job training for children and create “business ready” sites for investment have already sailed through the House and now await consideration or approval in the Senate.
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, announced these priorities and several others before the start of session. Now, with the halfway mark passed, Hanshaw said his caucus is pleased with the progress and is preparing to continue the work throughout the final 30 days of session.
“The thing that was most important to our members was continuing to put as many West Virginians as possible in the best paying jobs that we’re able to create,” Hanshaw said during a news conference this week.
West Virginia has one of the nation’s lowest workforce participation rates.
Several of the initiatives passed by the House so far have received bipartisan support. House Democrats — which hold just nine of the 100 seats in the legislative body — have said they are supportive of their colleagues’ overall focus on economic growth, but there are several issues that have yet to be addressed by the supermajority.
Before the start of the 2026 legislative session, Democrats set out on a “Kitchen Table Tour,” where they met with members of the public from around the state and heard their everyday concerns. House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, said the tour helped his caucus shape their own priorities for the session.
They want to see something done about skyrocketing utility rates, increasing pay for workers, investing in child care to support parents and controlling rising costs associated with the state’s Hope Scholarship Program.
At a news conference Thursday, Hornbuckle said the economic agenda being pushed by Republicans is a good start, but much work remains to allow every day West Virginians to thrive.
“I think we’re on the right path, I truly do. But it’s not enough to address immediate relief,” Hornbuckle said. “I appreciate those efforts and we’re going to work in a bipartisan manner, but there are things (on the Democrats’ agenda) that will definitely help with what we’re dealing with today.”
One of the highest priorities for the House Democrats is attempting to control increasing utility costs for residents. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average electric rates for residential customers in West Virginia has risen by almost 34% between 2019 and 2024.
Del. John Williams, D-Monongalia, said it’s clear that a focus on jobs is good for the state. But there are thousands of people in West Virginia who have good, stable jobs and who are still struggling to afford basic needs.
“Bringing jobs in isn’t necessarily going to do something for them, but what will do something for them is lowering their utility rates,” Williams said.
Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, has introduced legislation that would place a two year cap on electric rates in the state. Over those two years, per the bill, studies should be done to see where costs are growing and what initiatives could be taken to lower the costs to consumers.
“We want to bring relief to ratepayers as quickly as possible and as much relief as possible for some period of time,” Hansen said.
During the 2024 session, Republicans made addressing the state’s critical child care shortage a legislative priority. But during that session and in 2025, little progress was made.
Hanshaw said this week that while child care isn’t explicitly part of the House Republican’s “Jobs First” agenda, his caucus understands the vital role improving the services can play in economic growth.
Child care legislation, tax cut face unknown future
Hanshaw noted that bills to address the state’s child care desert have begun moving too, after the House’s child care legislation failed to make it to the governor’s desk last year. Thursday’s agenda in the House Health Committee included three child care bills, including a bipartisan measure — House Bill 4067 — that would provide child care employees with a subsidy to pay for their own child care.
“We expect to have at least one of them on the floor,” Hanshaw said regarding numerous child care proposals in the House.
Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, sits on a bipartisan task force focused on addressing ongoing struggles with the state’s child care services. She said that while it’s hopeful to see some movement on the bills in minor committees, difficult work remains before they become a reality.
“Quite frankly we’re trying to do as much as we can to get around the Republican (controlled) House Finance Committee because they’ve killed every piece of child care legislation that we’ve seen in a very long time,” Young said. “I’m excited to see bills on the agenda, but we’ll believe it when it gets to the floor.”
Looming over the entire session is the potential for another income tax cut. Gov. Patrick Morrisey has included a 5% tax cut in his proposed budget, but has been clear that he expects the Republican-controlled Legislature to negotiate and find another 5% — bringing the total cut up to 10% — through cuts to other services.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been cautious about the governor’s proposal. They’ve shared concerns over the ability to fund such a cut.
This week, Hanshaw said that House Republicans are focused on dealing with the bills and proposals they’ve actually received. To date, he said, no legislation has been presented by the governor to implement a 10% tax cut.
House moving foster care bills while system still struggling
House members have also prioritized fixing the state’s troubled foster care system, which serves nearly 6,000 children.
Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, who is a foster parent, has sponsored many pieces of foster care legislation.
“We recognize it’s a complex issue, so it takes a large number of bills to try to address specific issues, and we have done that,” he said. “We’re still working through some of the finance pieces as we understand that budget constraints at times can limit the ability, but still, we’re taking a collaborative approach with both leadership in the House and the Senate, as well as with the governor’s office to ensure that we’re making strategic investments where they have the best results.”
House Bill 4393, sponsored by Burkhammer, would require the Department of Human Services to implement a plan to help children, including pregnant youth and children with an open child welfare case, who are at-risk of coming into the foster care system. The House passed the bill last month, and it is awaiting consideration by the Senate Finance Committee.
“(It) would ultimately reduce the number of kids in care. So that’s a win for families, a win for kids, as well as a win for the budget,” Burkhammer said.
The House has advanced one of Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s priority bills aimed at bringing hundreds of out-of-state foster children living in facilities out of state back to West Virginia.
There are nearly 400 West Virginia foster children in out-of-state group homes and psychiatric facilities in states including Florida, Minnesota, Texas and Utah, according to Department of Human Services data.
House Bill 4021 would provide $6 million to repair state-owned properties to be used for housing high-needs foster children and provide them with therapeutic services. The House Health Committee signed off on the legislation, and now is awaiting consideration by the Finance Committee.
The House passed a House Bill 4352, also sponsored by Burkhammer, that would prohibit cameras in bedrooms and bathrooms of foster homes.
“I think that is just a representation of the efforts that the House has put in over the last year to continue to grasp the complexities of the system and the problems that we face,” Burkhammer said. “We feel like we’re confident in ways to improve the system, and we have a very direct approach at that. That has allowed us to come out pretty bold in our stance.”
This article originally appeared on West Virginia Watch.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.
