|Photo courtesy of WV Legislative Photography| House Speaker Roger Hanshaw bangs the gavel to call the House of Delegates into session Wednesday.

CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Legislature began its annual regular session Wednesday, kicking off 60 days of debates over bills and the budget, balancing the desires of its members with the agenda of a new governor.

House Speaker Roger Hanshaw and state Senate President Randy Smith gaveled their members into session at noon Wednesday for the 87th session of the Legislature, beginning a two-year cycle where lawmakers will meet in annual 60-day sessions between now and the 2026 midterm elections.

This year marks 10 years since Republicans first took the majorities in the House of Delegates and state Senate. Speaking Tuesday during the annual Charleston Area Alliance’s Issues and Eggs – the traditional kickoff of the legislative session – Hanshaw acknowledged how far the state has come while admitting West Virginia still has significant challenges to overcome.

“There are still grand challenges. There are still grand ideas that we as a state need to confront and need to face, and that’s what the House of Delegates intends to take up,” said Hanshaw, R-Clay. “We are very proud…of things we have done over the past decade to put the state on a good course. But now what remains are challenges that aren’t easily solved for. What remains now are challenges that are perhaps not solved for by a single piece of legislation.”

Hanshaw said some of those challenges that the House will tackle this year include making reforms to the Public Employees Insurance Agency to address the continued issues of rising premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, and reform of the state Board of Risk and Insurance Management which provides state agencies with liability insurance and is facing fiscal issues. But these issues may not be fixed in one legislative session, he said.

“When you visit the Capitol this year, what you will see is substantial more dialogue…on the problems that confront the State of West Virginia; problems that require a solution, but that may require a solution broader and more comprehensive and more complex than any one single bill may require,” Hanshaw said.

Hanshaw said to expect bills making the state attractive to investment by tech companies for data centers that need dependable access to electricity and the state’s energy sector as these companies develop artificial intelligence platforms. The House and Senate also plan to review possible reforms to the school aid formula which directs state tax dollars to county school systems.

Lawmakers are also gearing up to consider repealing West Virginia’s certificate of need program for health care providers and making changes to West Virginia’s requirements for school-age immunizations. Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order allowing for religious and conscientious objections to vaccines for school-age children.

But much remains up in the air after Morrisey announced a $400 million projected hole in the fiscal year 2026 general revenue budget. That combined with unpredictability caused by executive orders for tariffs and the now-paused freeze on federal grant funds which West Virginia relies heavily on could mean lawmakers might have to temper their expectations for legislation.

“Every year, everybody asks what’s your agenda? What do you think will be the main topics coming up in the session? And I always say, well, total chaos,” said Smith, R-Tucker. “Because every year…we put a plan together and come up with the agenda of what we’re going to do. And we’re excited. We’ve got this agenda. We’re going to push it. And then we get to about the second or third day of session, and it just blows up something. So, it’s kind of hard, and this is not a normal year.”

Smith, who will be leading the Senate for the first time as its presiding officer and lieutenant governor, said priorities for the Senate this year include broadband expansion, infrastructure development, directing more state resources towards small businesses and families.

“I’m all for bringing in…the large employers that we’ve brought in over the years, and we’re going to continue to do that,” Smith said. “But going forward, I think we need to focus on the people that we represent here in the State of West Virginia. And the majority of our employment is West Virginia small businesses. That’s something I’m very passionate about.”

While the Senate floor session went quickly Wednesday, the House spent nearly an hour debating amendments to the rules – House Resolution 1 – that govern how the House operates during committee meetings and floor sessions. The House changed its committee structure, creating six standing committees with multiple subcommittees within those standing committees.

The House also changed how bills move through the committees, a new three-day process for reviewing introduced bills, including agency reviews and comments on day one, changes to the bill on day two, and a vote on the bill by the committee on day three.

“The House rules exist to help us create public policy in an open, balanced, and efficient manner,” said Del. Evan Worrell, R-Cabell. “The committee process has changed to require a hearing on each bill placed upon its agenda…A hearing requires a sponsor to explain the legislation, and then the committee shall accept testimony concerning the legislation.

“In addition to in-person comments on a bill, a person may also submit a prepared statement, which will be placed in the chamber automated system for every member to review,” Worrell continued.

Members of the House Democratic caucus offered multiple amendments to HR 1 concerning committee processes, public participation, floor procedures, and media access., with all amendments failing by voice vote. Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about whether the new rules provided sufficient notice for public participation with proposed legislation and amendments. The rules also do away with the public hearing process.

“The public hearing is not going to slow stuff down, but what it does do is it allows people to be engaged in their legislative process,” said Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia. “It provides people with some faith in their local government, something that a lot of people don’t have anymore.”

HR 1 also places restrictions on demonstrative materials in the House Chamber, such as charts, graphs, and enlarged photos. House Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, used a photo last year of Raylee Jolynn Browning, a child in Oak Hill who died in 2018 due to child abuse by her father after he pulled her from public school, to draw attention to an amendment to a bill to allow county boards of education from rejecting certain requests for homeschooling when there is a pending child abuse investigation.

“You were elected here to come down and voice your district’s concerns, whether that is through debate or through using demonstrative devices like signs and placards,” Fluharty said. “Now all of a sudden, it’s been just fine here in the statehouse for a decade plus since I’ve been here, but now all of a sudden we’re doing away with it?