WV Legislative Update: What’s Moving and How to Get Involved

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WV Legislature: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

We’re about one-quarter of the way through the 2026 Legislative Session, and the pace is starting to ramp up.

The Good: Different bills moving that would expedite a five-day timeline for Medicaid enrollment; help prevent winter utility rate hikes; require credits for 12-hour internet outages; limit pesticide use near schools; expand trauma-informed supports for foster youth; and shift chronic absenteeism responses toward prevention rather than punishment. Learn more.

The Bad: Rulemaking tied to last year’s data center/microgrid law is still moving, now with proposals to keep key project details confidential. Meanwhile, bills are advancing to weaken private school accountability; further restrict abortion medication (despite existing bans); and push religion into classrooms. Learn more.

  • Quick Action: Lawmakers have already proposed HB 4013, which would provide additional tax cuts and incentives to support data center development. Tell the House Finance Committee: Stop Dirty Data Center Handouts

The Ugly: The Governor is pressing a 10% income tax cut that risks cutting services, and West Virginia is in the middle of an aggressive immigration crackdown alongside multiple bills expanding cooperation with ICE and criminalizing basic aid. There are still flashes of due process; two detainees were ordered released by a federal judge. 

  • Quick Action: This petition urges Governor Patrick Morrisey to end state and local assistance in federal immigration enforcement in West Virginia. It calls for a clear directive barring the use of public resources and personnel for targeting, detaining, transporting, or surveilling people. Add your name!

Read the full update for bill numbers, key details, and ways to get involved.

Visit our legislative resource page to follow the action from trusted sources.

Finding Power in Community

One of the most powerful pieces we’re sharing this week comes from CAG’s Shawn Phillips, who reflects on speaking at the Free America Walkout Rally on Jan. 20 at the State Capitol. She describes standing in the cold, overwhelmed with emotion, looking out at familiar faces and strangers who had become neighbors through shared action.

Her speech is a reminder of community, something we build through relationships and conversations. In uncertain times, organizing matters: because organized people have the power to create real change.

Get inspired, read Shawn’s full story here

CAG Welcomes Ryan Kirkpatrick

WV CAG is excited to introduce Ryan Kirkpatrick, our new Climate and Energy Organizer. Ryan is a lifelong Charleston resident and a student at West Virginia State University studying Business Administration and Business Agriculture. His commitment to climate and energy justice grew from learning how the coal industry shaped our state—and the lasting health, environmental, and economic harms many communities still face. Ryan has already spent years organizing on chemical safety and industrial risk, and he also serves as Environmental Chair for the Charleston NAACP and as Program Manager for People Concerned About Chemical Safety.

Hear more from Ryan himself here!

Advocacy Days at the WV Capitol

Advocacy days at the WV Capitol are a great way to meet organizers and community members, learn what’s moving at the Legislature, and speak directly with decision-makers. Below is a running list of upcoming action days. Attend a lobby day, see dates below or visit the 2026 Activity Calendar here.

2026 Upcoming Advocacy Days:

  • Feb. 6: Social Work Advocacy Day & Recovery Advocacy Day
  • Feb. 9: Families for Immunization Day
  • Feb. 16: Rural Health Day
  • Feb. 23: Environmental Day (E-Day)
  • Feb. 23: Nurses Day & Criminal Legal Reform Day
  • Feb. 24: Black Policy Day
  • Feb. 26: Utility Affordability Day, email dani@wvcag.org if you would like us to set up a meeting with your representative that day.
  • March 6: Reproductive Justice Day

In solidarity,

WV Citizen Action Group

become a WV CAG member for just $15/year
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