CHARLESTON — A subcommittee in the West Virginia House of Delegates advanced a bill on to the full House Government Organization Committee on Wednesday that would penalize state departments and agencies that slowly pay private vendors for services.

The House Government Administration Subcommittee advanced House Bill 2152, the Prompt Payment Act of 2025, to its parent committee Tuesday afternoon.

The Prompt Payment Act aims to ensure timely payments to vendors by state agencies. The bill mandates that legitimate, uncontested invoices from registered vendors be paid within 45 days, Late payments would accrue interest at a rate of 3% compounded weekly, starting from the 46th day. HB. 2152 would put in place a 10-business day processing timeline for both the initial receiving agency and any other agency involved in processing the payment.

The bill’s goal is to promote efficient transactions and accountability in state government payments to qualified vendors. Wednesday was the second day for the bill in the House’s new two-day process for considering bills in committees and subcommittees. 

During testimony about the bill Monday, witnesses from various sectors emphasized the recurring problem of late payments from state agencies, such as the Division of Highways and the Department of Human Services. Brian Hoylman, the president and CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors, said his organization began working on this issue with the State Auditor’s Office last year.

“I think it is relatively straightforward what the goal of the legislation is,” Hoylman said. “This is something we worked closely with the previous auditor and his office on over the last couple of years. And this is after a lot of examples really started to come over my desk more and more of late payments by a variety of different agencies.

“This happens across multiple different agencies,” Hoylman continued. “I think one of the reasons for that is there’s not anything in statute like this that requires them to pay within a certain time period.”

Supporters of the bill said it will bring predictability for state vendors who are sometimes left hanging while the department or agency takes its time in processing invoices for payment. While a review by the State Auditor’s Office found that many departments and agencies do process invoices within a 45-day period, some have taken as long as six to eight months to process an invoice, including on six-figure contracts or more.

Jason Pizatella, CEO of the Contractors Association of West Virginia, said all of West Virginia’s surrounding states excluding Virginia have similar laws to the Prompt Payment Act.

“A recurring issue that we spent a lot of time on… is tracking down payments with the State Auditor’s Office, but more often with the state agency itself that’s responsible for submitting a warrant to the Auditor’s Office for payment,” Pizatella said. “We think it’s important that we codify a bill of this nature for predictability and for certainty within not just the construction industry, but all vendors for the State of West Virginia.”

Mia Johnson is the CEO of Burlington United Methodist Family Services. Her organization has three residential campuses and 18 offices across the state with 325 employees. Burlington United Methodist Family Services provided assistance to more than 5,000 West Virginians in 2023. Johnson told the subcommittee that invoices submitted to DoHS for grant payouts sometimes took seven months to receive.

“I want to be able to keep my doors open, and I want to be able to keep helping people in West Virginia,” Johnson said. “We have always had problems with payments, but after the pandemic, it increased…to the potential that we may have to consider closing our doors.”

HB 2152 will now go through another two-step process with the House Government Organization Committee, with day one focused on an explanation by the bill’s sponsor, agency response, and public input. Day two will focus on mark-up of the bill, amendments, and discussion before the committee recommends the bill to the full House for consideration.