photo by: W.Va. Legislative Photography

Sean Whelan, general counsel for the Governor’s Office, explains Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s bill to consolidate several state departments.

CHARLESTON — Gov. Patrick Morrisey wants to consolidate six executive branch departments into three, but lawmakers are concerned about efforts to remove employment protections for new hires.

The House Government Organization Committee heard testimony Tuesday afternoon on House Bill 2008, the executive branch reorganization bill. HB 2008 will be up on markup and discussion phase later this week.

The bill, introduced on behalf of Morrisey, would return the Department of Economic Development as a division within the Department of Commerce. It would eliminate the Department of Arts, Culture and History and place its divisions and agencies within the Department of Tourism. And the bill would give the adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard the duo role of cabinet secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

“House Bill 2008 reorganizes three sectors of state government to streamline delivery of services, better coordinate operations of the affected departments, and reduce waste, inefficiency, and redundancy,” said Sean Whelan, general counsel for the Governor’s Office.

Morrisey first proposed his executive branch consolidation plan in January during two press conferences after taking office on Jan. 13 as the state’s 37th governor. The Governor’s Office is also looking at other ways to consolidate or streamline state departments and agencies.

“The bill is an essential first step in right-sizing state government and ensuring that the people of West Virginia’s tax dollars aren’t wasted on clunky and inefficient operations,” Whelan said. “Waste is not only attached to individual contracts and purchasing decisions but exists in many of the ineffective structures of government. This bill is a needed step in reducing some of those wasteful structures.”

Former governor Jim Justice first proposed splitting off both the West Virginia Development Office and the Division of Tourism away from the Department of Commerce, with the Legislature approving the changes in 2021. The West Virginia Development Office became the Department of Economic Development, and the Division of Tourism became the Department of Tourism with both department secretaries raised to cabinet-level positions.

Morrisey appointed Matt Herridge, the chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, as the new cabinet secretary of the Department of Commerce. Herridge, a Vienna businessman, has served as state GOP chairman since January 2024. The recombined two departments would have more than 1,860 employees.

In 2018, Justice renamed the Department of Education and the Arts to the Department of Arts, Culture and History, elevating former Division of Culture and History commissioner Randall Reid-Smith to the new cabinet-level title of curator. The Legislature changed Reid-Smith’s title last year to secretary. Reid-Smith retired effective Feb. 14.

Morrisey retained Chelsea Ruby to continue leading the Department of Tourism. The combined two departments would have more than 222 employees.

The Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety was renamed the Department of Homeland Security in 2020, removing the West Virginia National Guard and making it a separate agency. An effort by the Justice administration in 2019 to move the former Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management permanently beneath the National Guard received pushback from county-level emergency managers.

Morrisey appointed Brig. Gen. Jim Seward as the new adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard. Putting Seward in charge of the Department of Homeland Security would put him in charge of more than 4,721 department employees as well the 6,800 guard members and civilians under his command.

If the Legislature approves HB 2008, the changes would go into effect July 1. But provisions of the bill would eliminate new hires in the combined departments – excluding the West Virginia State Police – from being protected by classified civil services protections beginning in July. The bill would also exempt all future new hires from state grievance procedures.

“The idea here is to try to create a merit-based system so that good employees rise to the top and to encourage that type of merit reward,” Whelan said. “I think the governor wants to make sure that good employees are rewarded for their good service, and so that’s the goal behind this.”

“Isn’t the definition of civil service a merit-based system?” asked Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha.

“It is merit-based, but because of the structures and because of pay scales, it doesn’t function that way,” Whelan said.

“As this stands here, somebody could work there five years, think they’re doing a pretty good job, and if this is stripped, management could come in and hire somebody over top of them, and they would not have any grievance or way to appeal that,” said Del. Dana Ferrell, R-Kanawha.

Whelan explained that the exemptions only affect new hires and not current employees hired under state employment protections. Whelan also pointed out that Department of Tourism employees are already exempt, and some Department of Economic Development employees are already exempt.

“When these cabinet secretaries are making decisions about hiring and firing, they have to be aware of not only the exempt classification, but also the civil service classification, the different rules that attach to those things,” Whelan said. “This is partly an attempt to align that.

“I do not expect we’re going back to a situation where a new administration comes in, everyone cleans house, all the employees are fired, because you can’t operate government that way,” Whelan continued. “But you do want to encourage the good people to be, you want to have the flexibility necessary to reward good people’s work, and not to be stuck in a stricture where you can’t do that.”