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Time is running out on several bills that would address West Virginians’ pressing issues. Bills must be out of committee and passed by their house of origin no later than March 4 to have a chance of reaching the Governor’s desk and being signed into law.
Here are some updates on bills we’ve been highlighting, along with ways to take action to help them cross the finish line.
CLIMATE & ENERGY
- Utility Regulation: The Ratepayer Bill of Rights, HB 5648, would lower costs, expand access to local, cheaper power options, strengthen protections against shutoffs, make it easier to get bill assistance, improve efficiency, and give the public a stronger voice when rate increases are proposed. This is about protecting all those on fixed incomes and every family struggling to keep up. Read more here.
- Action: Send a message to members of the House Energy Committee asking them to put the Ratepayer Bill of Rights on their agenda. Then call and message your House Delegate to urge them to support the bill and protect West Virginia ratepayers.
- Clean Water: The Clean Water Act, HB 5585, and the Southern West Virginia Clean Water Fund Act, HB 5525, would open the door to emergency water infrastructure funding for southern West Virginia. Watch this 60 Minutes reel on the public health crisis in McDowell County and local faith leaders fighting to bring clean water to their community — watch the full segment here.
- Take Action: Tell Chairman Bill Anderson we need HB 5585 & HB 5525 on the Energy and Public Works agenda to provide emergency funding for drinking water.
- Email: bill.anderson@wvhouse.gov
- Capitol Phone: (304) 340-3101
- You can add a public comment directly to the bills on the WV Legislature website and let lawmakers know this can’t wait. Find the “Add A Public Comment to This Bill” button to the right of the bill number.
- Take Action: Tell Chairman Bill Anderson we need HB 5585 & HB 5525 on the Energy and Public Works agenda to provide emergency funding for drinking water.
HEALTHCARE
- Reproductive Freedom: SB 805 passed the Senate Health & Human Resources Committee last week and is on the Senate Finance Committee agenda today, Feb. 27, signaling it would spend state dollars to boost pregnancy care organizations. Framed as “abortion pill reversal,” critics say it doesn’t address West Virginia’s maternity care crisis and could divert resources from regulated hospitals and clinics to centers that aren’t medical providers, aren’t regulated, and aren’t bound by HIPAA.
- Learn more and take action here. Attend Reproductive Justice Day on March 6!
BUDGET PRIORITIES
- The Senate and House have passed different versions of the budget. The Senate’s version includes the Governor’s 10% tax cut. The House’s proposal wouldn’t provide any cut to the state’s personal income tax but would include funding for the Hope Scholarship, after the House Finance Committee changed course on its plan to reduce the program’s cost.
The budget approved by the House also cuts Medicaid by $94 million, including $10 million from the Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) waiver program, directly impacting our most vulnerable populations.
It takes from those who need help most and gives almost nothing in return, with working families seeing less than $1 per week in their paycheck from the proposed tax cuts—a poor deal all around.
Our lawmakers have a responsibility to the people they represent, a real chance to save lives and strengthen essential care here, but instead they’re taking more from those who need it most.- Take Action: Join WV CAG and partners in calling for Care Over Cuts. Tell them West Virginians deserve investment in people, care, and public infrastructure, not reckless tax cuts that favor the wealthiest few. Find contact information for your legislators here.
DEMOCRACY
- Elections: The House and the Senate have introduced more than 100 election-related bills. By the time you read this, the House will likely have passed a dozen election bills, including a bill, SB 640, which shields political donors’ employer information from the public. That bill was sent to the Governor earlier this week. The Senate has passed five election-related bills so far (including SB 640), and others are working their way through the committee process.
Not all of the bills are bad, but the majority are conspiracy-based bills born from baseless hysteria around voter fraud that will make it harder for West Virginians to vote and unnecessarily complicate the work of election officials.
Sadly, despite the many real problems facing our state, Republicans in the WV Legislature feel compelled to waste time chasing down bogus conspiracy theories that marinate in right-wing social media and cable news. One of these is the supposed scourge of non-citizens voting in our elections. Earlier this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a resolution (SJR 9) proposing a constitutional amendment that would prohibit non-citizens from voting in any election held in West Virginia. This is already against the law in every state of the union. Yet, this legislature is fixated on non-citizens and immigrants when it should focus on the real problems facing our state — one of which is population loss — instead of demonizing people who might end up here in search of a better life. The resolution is on the Senate Finance Committee today, Feb. 27. - All this is happening as Congress is moving to mandate proof of citizenship for voting in federal elections, and the US Department of Justice is continuing its bogus election integrity investigation, demanding that states turn over their voter rolls, which include highly sensitive personal information, and suing states that don’t comply, including West Virginia. The DOJ’s phony “investigation” and the SAVE Act both lean heavily on long-debunked conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election. These baseless claims are being used as justification to break the law and interfere with free and fair elections to maintain power and silence the voices of those who don’t support the President. Ultimately, this is about control over who can register to vote, stay on the rolls, and have their vote counted.
- Take Action: Senators gave up on the original SAVE Act last year when their constituents loudly opposed it. Let’s stop it again! Call West Virginia Senators and tell them to reject the SAVE Act.
Visit our legislative resource page to follow the action from trusted sources. Use the Legislature’s Bill Status page to follow key bills, and the Listen Live page to find committee agendas and tune in.
