What passed, and died, during WV’s raucous 2025 legislative session?

CHARLESTON – After 60 long days, the West Virginia Legislature closed sine die seconds before midnight Saturday, April 12. With a new governor and bolstered Republican supermajority, leaders had a flurry of bills they hoped to pass. 

2,460 bills were introduced this legislative session, but, like many years, just a fraction–249 bills–were adopted by both houses. Here’s a look at what did–and didn’t–make it. 

LGBTQ+ and anti-DEI bills

Culture war talking points were a major touchstone of the 2024 Presidential Election. 

West Virginia lawmakers spent the session taking a precise aim at the LGBTQ+ community and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies. 

One anti-LGBTQ+ bill, Senate bill 456, was signed and approved very early in the session. It defines the terms “male” and “female” and strips protections for and recognition from transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex people. Senate Bill 456 was a legislative priority for Governor Patrick Morrisey,  who has used much of his first few months in office attacking what he calls “the woke virus.”

Senate Bill 154 heads to the governor’s desk after passing the House on the last day of the session. It prohibits instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools. The bill requires educators to out students who appear to express themselves in a way that differs from their gender assigned at birth. Educators also have to tell parents if students use a name not on their birth certificate. Failure to make such reports could see teachers face civil penalties or lose their jobs. 

Senate Bill 299 was also adopted Saturday. The bill strikes minimal exceptions in the state’s already broad ban on gender affirming care passed by the same body two years earlier. It removes the ability for transgender youth to receive care if they have severe gender dysphoria, despite several testimonies showing gender affirming care reduces suicidality for these minors. 

With minutes left before session ended, lawmakers also rushed through Senate Bill 474, a ban on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives. The broad bill prohibits government agencies and sponsored institutions, including schools, from hosting initiatives billed by proponents as offering preferential treatment to LGBTQ+ people, people of color, and veterans, among other groups. It also bars schools from using a student’s preferred pronouns. 

While these bills passed, a controversial ban on local nondiscrimination ordinances protecting LGBTQ+ people, Senate Bill 579, failed to complete its legislative journey. The bill saw broad support in the state Senate, but failed to make it out of the House Judiciary Committee. 

Health and healthcare bills

The state legislature also sought broad changes to healthcare regulations in West Virginia. While a few made it to the finish line, most expired at midnight on the final day of session. 

West Virginia made history earlier this session as the first state to ban certain dyes and additives from food products–a mission spearheaded by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The ban takes effect on August 1, 2025, for the state’s schools and statewide in 2028. 

The Legislature also tried several times to amend current law requiring students to be vaccinated at certain critical ages, a legislative priority for Gov. Morrissey. 

Senate Bill 460–seeking to create religious and philosophical objections for vaccines–saw broad support in the Senate, but failed in the House with 56 members rejecting the measure. With days before the end of session, Senate Health Committee members resurrected the bill by amending it into an unrelated House Bill 2776. That measure failed, too. 

With Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program making national headlines, state legislators took aim at the popular programs, too. Senate Bill 249 would have expanded work requirements for recipients of SNAP, also known as food stamps, from 20 hours per week to 30. House Bill 3518 would have eliminated the state’s Medicaid expansion if the federal government cut spending to West Virginia by any amount. Both bills failed to pass. 

Two abortion related bills–House Bill 2712 and Senate Bill 85–also failed to pass. HB 2712 would have removed exemptions for victims of rape and incest from the state’s near-total ban on abortion. SB 85 would have banned abortifacients, like mifepristone, from the state. Both died in the House Health and Human Resources Committee.

Voting, Statesmanship, and More 

Two big election-related bills completed their legislative trajectories, with a third failing. House Bill 3016 amends the state’s voter ID laws. To cast a ballot, West Virginians must now present IDs that display their photographs. Senate Bill 50 requires all municipalities to hold their elections on the same day as statewide primary or general elections. 

Senate Bill 521 would have required now-nonpartisan judicial candidates to declare their party affiliations, but the bill failed to make it out of the House Judiciary Committee. 

House Bill 3297 raced to adoption on the final day of the session. It establishes the Washington Center for Civics, Culture and Statesmanship at West Virginia University to promote constitutional studies, western history and culture, and republican self-government. Similar legislation has been passed in other states, promoting conservative speakers and professors. 

Gov. Morrisey’s microgrid legislation, House Bill 2014, sailed to adoption after struggling through stormy waters. The bill streamlines the process for data centers to be built in the state, skirting local ordinances and regulations. Taxes collected from the sites will be split as follows: 50 percent to a fund to eliminate the state income tax, 40 percent to the home county, and the remaining 10 percent split between low-income energy assistance programs, other counties on a per capita basis, and a grid stabilization fund. 

In the rearview mirror…

As legislators fled the Capitol after a busy 60 days, eyes now turn to the governor, who will decide what bills he signs or vetoes in the coming days. There may be special sessions throughout the year, too, as already prophesied by Gov. Morrisey.

Whether it be during special sessions, interim sessions, or next year’s regular session, Black By God: The West Virginian will be there to shine a light on the stories that matter most.