House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, and Minority Leader Pro Tempore Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, consider an amendment in the House on February 12, 2026. (Photo by Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislative Photography)
Lawmakers are halfway through the legislative session and the House has made progress toward fulfilling its promise to focus on economic development and jobs in West Virginia.
Legislation to help the state’s overwhelmed foster care system also took up much of the House’s first 30 days. The effort was led primarily by a lawmaker who is a foster parent.
So far, some of the priority bills introduced in the House to improve the state’s struggling economy are making progress. Bills aimed at this Encourage compact business growthCreate incentives for companies invest in jobs training, offer Career entry level training for children and create “Business-ready” investment sites have already been passed through the House of Representatives and are now awaiting consideration or approval in the Senate.
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, announced these priorities and several others before the start of the session. Now that the halfway mark has passed, Hanshaw said his caucus is pleased with the progress and is preparing to continue work in the final 30 days of session.
“The most important thing for our members was to continue to place as many West Virginians as possible in the highest-paying jobs we can create,” Hanshaw said during a press conference this week.
West Virginia has one of the lowest labor force participation rates in the country.
Several of the initiatives passed by the House so far have received bipartisan support. House Democrats — who hold just nine of the 100 seats in the Legislature — have said they support their colleagues’ overall focus on economic growth, but there are several issues that have yet to be addressed by the supermajority.
Before the start of the 2026 legislative session, Democrats headed toward a “kitchen table tour,” where they met with Members of the public from across the state and heard their everyday concerns. House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, said the tour helped his caucus determine its own priorities for the session.
They want something done about skyrocketing electricity tariffs, increasing workers’ wages, investing in childcare to support parents and control increasing costs related to the state’s Hope Scholarship program.
At a news conference Thursday, Hornbuckle said the economic agenda pushed by Republicans is a good start, but there is still much work to be done to help West Virginians thrive every day.
“I think we’re on the right track, I really do. But it’s not enough to provide immediate relief,” Hornbuckle said. “I appreciate those efforts and we will work together in a bipartisan manner, but there are things (on the Democrats’ agenda) that will definitely help with what we’re dealing with today.”
One of the top priorities for House Democrats is trying to control rising utility costs for residents. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, average residential electricity rates in West Virginia increased nearly 34% between 2019 and 2024.
Del. John Williams, D-Monongalia, said it’s clear a focus on jobs is good for the state. But there are thousands of people in West Virginia who have good, stable jobs and still struggle to afford basic needs.
“Creating jobs isn’t necessarily going to do anything for them, but what will do for them is lowering their electric rates,” Williams said.
Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, introduced legislation This would mean a two-year cap on electricity rates in the state. During these two years, the bill says studies should be conducted to determine where costs are rising and what initiatives could be taken to reduce costs for consumers.
“We want to bring as much relief to ratepayers as quickly as possible and for a period of time,” Hansen said.
During the 2024 session, Republicans addressed the state’s critical child care shortage a legislative priority. But during this session and in 2025little progress was made.
Hanshaw said this week that while child care is not explicitly part of House Republicans’ “jobs first” agenda, his group understands the critical role improving services can play in economic growth.
Child care laws and tax cuts face an uncertain future
Hanshaw noted that the bills affect the state Childcare desert have also begun moving following House child care legislation didn’t make it to the governor’s desk last year. Thursday agenda Three child care bills have been introduced in the House Health Committee, including a bipartisan measure – House Bill 4067 – that would provide childcare workers with a subsidy to help finance their own childcare.
“We expect at least one of them will be represented on the floor,” Hanshaw said of numerous child care proposals in the House.
Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, sits on a bipartisan task force focused on solving the state’s ongoing problems with child care services. She said that while it is hopeful that there will be some movement on the bills in the smaller committees, arduous work remains before they become reality.
“Frankly, we’re trying to do as much as we can to get around the (Republican-controlled) House Finance Committee because they’ve killed all the child care legislation that we’ve seen in a long time,” Young said. “I’m excited to see bills on the agenda, but we’ll believe it when it comes up for debate.”
The possibility of another income tax cut loomed gigantic throughout the session. Gov. Patrick Morrisey included a 5% tax cut in his budget proposal but has made that clear he expects The Republican-controlled Legislature is expected to negotiate and find another 5% through cuts to other services — bringing the total cut to 10%.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle did (*30*)was careful about the governor’s proposal. They expressed concerns about funding such a cut.
This week, Hanshaw said House Republicans are focused on addressing the bills and proposals they have actually received. So far, the governor has not introduced legislation to implement a 10% tax cut, he said.
Foster care relocation bills while the system is still struggling
House members have also prioritized overhauling the state’s troubled foster care system, which cares for nearly 6,000 children.
Del. Adam Burkhammer, R-Lewis, a foster parent, has sponsored many foster care laws.
“We recognize that this is a complex issue, so it requires a large number of bills to address specific issues and that is what we have done,” he said. “We are still working on some financial issues, understanding that budget constraints can sometimes limit opportunities, but nonetheless we are taking a collaborative approach with both leadership in the House and Senate, as well as the governor’s office, to ensure we are making strategic investments where they will produce the best results.”
House Bill 4393The bill sponsored by Burkhammer would require the Department of Human Services to implement a plan to help children, including pregnant adolescents and children with an open child welfare case, who are at risk of entering the foster care system. The House passed the bill last month and it is awaiting consideration by the Senate Finance Committee.
“(It) would ultimately reduce the number of children served. So that’s a win for families, a win for children and also a win for the budget,” Burkhammer said.
The House of Representatives has advanced a proposal from Gov. Patrick Morrisey Priority bills aimed to bring hundreds of out-of-state foster children living in out-of-state facilities back to West Virginia.
According to the Department of Human Services, West Virginia has nearly 400 foster children in out-of-state group homes and mental health facilities in states such as Florida, Minnesota, Texas and Utah Data.
House Bill 4021 would provide $6 million to repair state-owned properties to be used to house urgent care children and provide therapeutic services. The House Health Committee approved the bill and is now awaiting review by the Finance Committee.
The House of Representatives passed one House Bill 4352also sponsored by Burkhammer, which would ban cameras in nursing home bedrooms and bathrooms.
“I think this is just a representation of the efforts the House has made over the last year to continue to understand the complexities of the system and the issues we face,” Burkhammer said. “We feel like we’re confident we can improve the system and we’re taking a very direct approach to doing that. That’s allowed us to be pretty bold in our stance.”
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