Rotunda Roundup
The 2026 Regular Session ended at midnight on Saturday, March 14, 2026, with the House and Senate closing out a burst of end-of-session bargaining, concurrence votes, and last-minute misses. Lawmakers locked in a 5% personal income tax cut, completed a standalone teacher/school service personnel/State Police pay raise bill, and sent the Women’s Collegiate Sports Protection Act to the governor, while high-profile measures such as Raylee’s Law and the late-moving E-Verify bill died in the clock-choking chaos of Day 60. Gov. Patrick Morrisey also moved on executive matters over the weekend, announcing the WorkFIRST Initiative on March 14 and confirming a leadership change at the Department of Human Services effective March 15. Official legislative blog updates put completed legislation at 303 bills by sine die.
Legislature
Official Floor Record — House
The House closed Day 60 after moving late Senate bills and concurrence items, then adjourned sine die.Official House-end updates showed the chamber advancing bills including SB 899 (principal certification pathway after 15 years), SB 947 (vital-record access for homeless minors), SB 985 (kratom regulation), and SB 1033(beekeeping/apiary regulation and related agriculture nuisance protections).
Source: WV Legislature Wrap Up — House Updates On Final Day
Why it Matters: This is the cleanest official snapshot of what the House was still moving before the endgame got messy.
The House had 262 bills completed as of 5:40 p.m. on March 14 before the final night push.
Source: WV Legislature Wrap Up — House Updates On Final Day
Why it Matters: It shows how much of the remaining Day 60 workload was compressed into the final evening window.
Official Floor Record — Senate
The Senate completed action on multiple Day 60 bills and then adjourned sine die. Official Senate-end updates say the chamber completed legislative action on SB 502 (Women’s Collegiate Sports Protection Act) and SB 947(free birth certificates for homeless minors), then in its last act receded from its locality-pay amendment to HB 4765, allowing the standalone pay raise bill to complete on a 33-1 vote.
Source: WV Legislature Wrap Up — Senate Updates on Final Day of 2026 Legislative Session
Why it Matters: The Senate’s retreat on locality pay was the key procedural move needed to land the pay raise bill before midnight.
Official legislative blog reporting put total completed legislation at 303 bills for the 2026 Regular Session.
Source: WV Legislature Wrap Up — Senate Updates on Final Day of 2026 Legislative Session
Why it Matters: That is the topline output number for client discussions about session productivity and what now moves to the governor.
West Virginia lawmakers adjourned the 2026 regular session after completing a tax cut, pay raises, and more than 300 bills while several high-profile measures died in the final hours. Legislators approved a 5% personal income tax reduction in SB 392, a 3% pay raise for teachers, school service personnel, and State Police in HB 4765, and included a 3% raise for other state employees in the FY2027 budget (SB 250); however, Raylee’s Law (HB 5537)—which would have restricted homeschooling during child abuse investigations—passed the House 94-1 but died when the Senate did not receive the bill before adjournment.
Source: WV News
Why it Matters: The session delivered the governor’s headline priorities—tax relief and pay raises—but the late collapse of Raylee’s Law shows how procedural timing can derail even widely supported legislation.
Governor
Gov. Morrisey announced the WorkFIRST Initiative on March 14. The governor’s office said the task force will examine consolidation of employment, training, and social-service programs into a workforce-first model.
Source: WV Office of the Governor
Why it Matters: This is an executive-branch signal that welfare-to-work and program integration will stay high on the administration’s operating agenda after session.
West Virginia Government & Agencies
The standalone pay raise bill for teachers, school service personnel, and State Police completed legislative action before adjournment. Official bill history for HB 4765 shows the Senate receded on March 14 after the House refused to concur, clearing the bill for the governor.
Source: West Virginia Legislature — HB 4765 Bill History
Why it Matters: The late procedural unwind matters because it produced a clean deliverable for the governor instead of a dead conference fight.
Alex Mayer is leaving as Secretary of Human Services effective March 15, with Christina Mullins stepping in as acting secretary. MetroNews reported the change from the governor’s Friday-night release.
Source: WV MetroNews
Why it Matters: DHS leadership turnover is material for child welfare, Medicaid operations, and any implementation work tied to session-passed human-services bills.
Education
Raylee’s Law died at the midnight deadline after the House took up the bill in the session’s final 48 minutes and passed an amended version too late for Senate action. MetroNews reports the proposal—meant to temporarily block transfers from public school to homeschooling when there is a pending child abuse or neglect investigation—reached the House at 11:12 p.m. on March 14, sparked a prolonged amendment fight, and cleared the chamber 94-1 at 11:57 p.m., missing the clock.
Source: WV MetroNews
Why it Matters: The bill’s collapse shows how leadership timing and floor procedure can kill even emotionally charged child-protection legislation in the final minutes of session.
The Women’s Collegiate Sports Protection Act reached the governor’s desk on Day 60. MetroNews and the official legislative blog both reported final passage of SB 502, creating endowment-style support mechanisms for women’s collegiate sports.
Source: WV MetroNews
Why it Matters: The bill is both policy and message legislation: it signals priorities on women’s athletics without a direct general-revenue hit.
Health Care
Marshall Health Network named three veteran leaders to new vice president roles as it reshapes leadership around advocacy, branding, and growth strategy. The system announced March 13 that Kathy Cosco will serve as vice president of government and external affairs, Sheanna M. Spence as vice president of marketing and communications, and Lisa Chamberlin Stump as vice president of market intelligence and system initiatives.
Source: WV News
Why it Matters: The appointments strengthen Marshall Health Network’s government relations, public messaging, and long-range planning bench at a time when health systems are under pressure to grow smarter, not just bigger.
The West Virginia Academy of Family Physicians installed Dr. Darrin Nichols as its new president during its March 14 Annual Scientific Assembly. Nichols, chief medical officer of Coplin Health Systems, will lead the organization’s board as it advocates for patient-centered care and professional development for nearly 1,000 family physicians, residents, and medical students across the state.
Source: WV News
Why it Matters: Leadership at the state’s largest family-physician group can influence primary-care advocacy, rural health priorities, and the medical workforce pipeline in West Virginia.
Child Welfare
Raylee’s Law died at the buzzer despite a late revival and Senate passage. Lootpress reported the House failed to finish final passage of the measure before midnight after procedural fights consumed the final hour.
Source: Lootpress
Why it Matters: This is the session’s cleanest example of a politically potent bill getting kneecapped by time management, not lack of issue salience.
Federal Watch
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is touting FY2026 congressionally directed spending for West Virginia water infrastructure. Capito’s press-release page says the allocations support water projects across the state.
Source: Capito Press Releases
Why it Matters: Water earmarks remain one of the clearest federal-to-local pipelines for visible WV project wins.
Capito also highlighted a FY2026 allocation for Marshall University’s aviation division in Charleston. The same official press-release page says the funding supports the Bill Noe Flight School/Marshall aviation effort.
Source: Capito Press Releases
Why it Matters: It is a federal workforce-and-economic-development angle with a direct WV training pipeline.
Capito announced FY2026 allocations for West Virginia law-enforcement and public-safety projects.
Source: Capito Press Releases
Why it Matters: Expect local officials to lean on these awards in appropriations and public-safety messaging back home.
Sen. Jim Justice’s office highlighted West Virginia wins in the federal appropriations minibus.
Source: Sen. Justice Media
Why it Matters: Federal spending wins will be folded quickly into state-level economic-development and district messaging.
Business & Industry
The E-Verify Safe Harbor Act passed the Senate but died in the House because time ran out. MetroNews reported the Senate passed HB 4198 by a 30-3 vote on March 14, but the House did not complete concurrence before adjournment.
Source: WV MetroNews
Why it Matters: Immigration-related workplace policy remains a live issue for a special session or 2027 rerun.
The Grid (Energy/Utilities/Regulatory)
The PSC’s March 2026 orders page shows Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power IRP hearings were rescheduled from May 13–14 to May 19–20.
Source: Public Service Commission of West Virginia
Why it Matters: IRP timing matters for utilities, industrial customers, and anyone tracking future generation and rate trajectory.
Legislative Info Desk — (Committee Schedule + Floor)
Today on the House side:
No meetings or floor sessions scheduled
…and on the Senate side
No meetings or floor sessions scheduled
Legislative Bulletin Board
Official schedule
304 days until the State of the State address and 2027 Legislative Session.
The first 2026 Legislative Interim Meeting is scheduled for June 14-16 (Canaan Valley State Park)
Committee times and agendas are subject to change |
