House of Delegates

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the House of Delegates began the process of completing a balanced state for the next state Fiscal Year, which begins July 1, 2025.

The House passed its budget bill, House Bill 2026, by a vote of 80 to 17 with three Delegates absent Friday afternoon. The total General Revenue budget in the bill is $5,113,274, 982 with an expected General Revenue surplus of $128,750,000 reserved for what is commonly referred to as the “back of the budget.”

The House Finance Committee built the budget using the Fiscal Year 2025 budget as its starting point and guide. The bill used long-standing vacancies in many agencies to effectuate a small 2% savings as well as roughly $300,000 savings in salaries as a result of department mergers. House Bill 2026 increased the employer share to PEIA for all agencies by about $40 million. The House budget put back the broad 10% cut made to the Department of Human Services last year, as well as an increase to the Department’s line items based on its requests for a total of about $90 million. The Department of Health’s Birth to Three program sees an increase of $7 million and the Division of Corrections receives a $30 million increase over the previous year’s budget in House Bill 2026. Another increase from the previous budget included in this year’s budget bill is $5 million going to appointed counsel as well as a new $1.8 million to court-appointed special advocates. The measure now goes to the Senate for debate.

The House passed Senate Bill 458, the Universal Professional and Occupational Licensing Act of 2025, by unanimous vote Monday. The measure would require the board of any profession regulated under W.Va. Code Chapter 30, which includes dentists, funeral directors, practical nurses, accountants, architects, foresters and physical therapists, to issue an occupational license to a resident of the state who is licensed in at least one other state in the same discipline and who meets several requirements for good standing. The bill currently is with Gov. Morrisey for action.

House Bill 2002, Establishing the One-Stop Shop Permitting Process, also passed the full House Monday by unanimous vote. It has gone to the Senate for debate and would streamline the state’s permitting processes while making them more accessible through a public dashboard. All 100 Delegates voted Tuesday to send House Bill 2152, the Prompt Payment Act of 2025, to the Senate for deliberation. It would require state agencies to pay legitimate and uncontested invoices within 45 days of receipt and late payments would be reported to the State Auditor, who would be required to publish and online list of noncompliant agencies.

The 60-day, regular legislative session ends at midnight April 12.