Rotunda Roundup
West Virginia’s 2026 Regular Session enters its final day on Saturday, with late-session action clustering around taxes, supplemental health funding, public-sector pay, education policy, and several high-profile public-safety bills. The most consequential March 13 floor developments were the House’s approval of a 5% personal income tax cut package, the Senate’s advancement of a 3% state employee pay raise with locality-pay language, and final legislative movement on a bill to unlock $199 million tied to rural health transformation. Expect final-hour maneuvering on budget implementation, school finance, child welfare, firearms policy, and utility-regulatory legislation before sine die.
Legislature
Senators revived “Raylee’s Law” in a late-session procedural scramble. On March 13, 2026, they amended the policy into HB 5537, a different education-code bill, after fighting through challenges over whether the amendment was germane.
The policy would block parents from withdrawing a child from public school to homeschool if there is a pending child abuse or neglect investigation. After Senate passage, the bill moved to the House in the final hours of session.
The bill is named for Raylee Browning, an 8-year-old who died in 2018 after being withdrawn from school.Lawmakers backing the measure argued that removing children from school can cut off contact with teachers, who are mandatory reporters trained to spot abuse and neglect.
Supporters framed it as a child-protection measure, not an attack on homeschooling. Senators said the goal is to keep at-risk children from “disappearing” from public view while an investigation is active.
Bottom line: this was a dramatic endgame move to rescue a bill that had stalled. The substance is simple but potent—keep a child in view when abuse concerns are already on the table, instead of letting the case vanish into procedural fog.
Baylea’s Law” passed the West Virginia Senate unanimously. Reporting says the Senate approved HB 4712 by a 34-0 vote on March 13, 2026.
The bill increases penalties for DUI causing death. The bill text says its purpose is to “increase the penalties for DUI causing death,” and prior reporting says it would raise the prison range from 3–15 years to 5–30 years.
The legislation is named after Baylea Bower. MetroNews reported Baylea Bower was a 24-year-old Boone County woman killed in a DUI crash, and the case became the political driver behind the bill.
The bill had already cleared the House with overwhelming support. Official Legislature blog coverage said the House passed it on February 19, 2026, and external legislative tracking reflects a 95-0 House vote.
Bottom line: this article is about the Senate signing off unanimously on a tougher DUI-penalty bill after a highly emotional case. In plain English, lawmakers are trying to make sure a drunk driver who causes a death faces much stiffer punishment going forward. Pretty straightforward public-safety legislation, with a big emotional tailwind and basically no political resistance.
Governor
West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported House Finance approved key Morrisey fiscal priorities in its final scheduled meeting. That package included near-$200 million rural-health authority and a trimmed-back tax-cut proposal.
Source: West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Why it Matters: House Finance served as the last major gatekeeper for the governor’s year-one fiscal agenda.
West Virginia Government & Agencies
The Senate advanced a state-employee pay bill that now sets up a fight over locality pay. WV MetroNews reported the Senate passed HB 4765 on a 34-0 vote, keeping the 3% pay raise and adding locality-pay authority of up to 20% in higher-cost counties.
Source: WV MetroNews
Why it Matters: Compensation policy is now intersecting with regional labor-market realities, especially in border and high-cost counties.
Education
The Senate passed the high-school transfer repeal bill, positioning WVSSAC to regain authority. WV MetroNews reported HB 4425 cleared the Senate and would reverse the one-time transfer framework if signed.
Source: WV MetroNews
Why it Matters: This resets the governance balance between statute and school-athletics rulemaking.
Health Care
Rural-health funding moved from concept to execution. The near-$199 million package creates immediate downstream implications for hospitals, providers, contractors, and rural-health infrastructure planning.
Source: West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Why it Matters: Health-care finance is economic development in a rural state; this package is both policy and market signal.
Child Welfare
Lootpress reported advocates are pressing for final action on child-welfare legislation aligned with the governor’s priorities. The article focused on HB 4730 and policy around young adults aging out of foster care.
Source: Lootpress
Why it Matters: Child-welfare measures remain in the closing-hour cluster of bills competing for final signatures.
West Virginia Watch reported a key child-care bill is headed to the governor’s desk after strong Senate support.Public search results identified the bill movement on March 13.
Source: West Virginia Watch
Why it Matters: Child-care policy is now being treated as workforce infrastructure, not just social policy.
Federal Watch
The largest federal-angle story in West Virginia on March 13 was legislative action to deploy federal rural-health dollars. State lawmakers completed authority for approximately $199 million tied to the Rural Health Transformation Fund, moving federal-origin resources into active state implementation.
Source: WV MetroNews
Why it Matters: This is the clearest immediate federal-to-state funding conversion now moving through West Virginia government.
Business & Industry
The House’s 5% income-tax bill remains the lead business-climate story at the Capitol. The House amended SB 392and sent it back to the Senate after removing a revenue-raising vape-tax provision.
Source: West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Why it Matters: Tax-cut structure now matters as much as tax-cut branding for employers, retailers, and budget writers.
The Senate passed a consumer-protection bill aimed at regulating cryptocurrency kiosks. WV MetroNews reported HB 5353 passed 33-1, with debate centering on fraud exposure and high transaction fees that can run from 5% to 15%.
Source: WV MetroNews
Why it Matters: The bill targets a fast-growing fraud vector and would expand compliance expectations for kiosk operators.
The Grid (Energy/Utilities/Regulatory)
Utility and transmission policy stayed live on the Senate floor calendar. Official Senate business listed HB 4012 for third reading on March 13, after Senate Energy action the previous day.
Source: West Virginia Senate Calendar
Why it Matters: Transmission and utility-burden legislation remains one of the session’s core grid-side policy fights.
Aboveground storage-tank deregulation remained under active legislative resistance. West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported the House pushed back on broader loosening of requirements connected to public-water risks.
Source: West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Why it Matters: Storage-tank policy still sits at the fault line between business deregulation and water-protection politics.
Legislative Info Desk — (Committee Schedule + Floor)
It’s the 60th Day of the Session, 1 day to go.
Today is the big day!
Today on the House side:
9 a.m. – the House will convene in the Chamber
Resolutions to be Introduced
House Calendar (inactive)
Special Calendar (active)
…and on the Senate side
11:00 a.m. – the Senate will convene in the Chamber
Senate Calendar
Legislative Bulletin Board
Official schedule
Committee times and agendas are subject to change |
