Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography The West Virginia Senate began Saturday’s floor session with prayer led by doorkeeper and Bishop Joe Thomas as it began to work through bills on the last day of the 60-day legislative session

CHARLESTON — While children hunted for Easter eggs on the lawn of the Capitol Saturday, the West Virginia Legislature worked to get its remaining bills into the basket on the final day of the 2025 regular session, though the process on the bill eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion got scrambled.

The House of Delegates and Senate adjourned at midnight Saturday after first gaveling in on Feb. 12, finishing a 60-day session that saw 1,516 House bills and 944 Senate bills introduced. By the midnight chime, lawmakers sent 246 bills to the desk of Gov. Patrick Morrisey, 10% of the total bills.

MICROGRIDS AND

DATA CENTERS

Among the bills that went back and forth between the House and Senate throughout the day Saturday was House Bill 2014, the Power Generation and Consumption Act introduced on behalf of Morrisey.

HB 2014 focuses on attracting high-impact industrial businesses and data centers to West Virginia along with microgrids to power the data centers using both fossil fuels or renewable energy generation. The legislation aims to streamline development, offer regulatory exemptions within designated microgrid districts, establish a special valuation and tax distribution framework for high-impact data centers and create a fund for electric grid stabilization.

Instead of having data center property values assessed by the county, the bill as it came from the House required owners to file tax returns with the Board of Public Works by May 1 of each year covering the preceding tax year.

The Senate on Friday night amended the formula for distributing the revenues from the tangible personal property taxes, with 50% going to the personal income tax reduction fund, 40% going to the county where the data center is located, 5% going to the remaining 54 counties based on a per capita basis using the most recent U.S. Census, 3% going toward low-income energy assistance and 2% going into the new Electric Grid Stabilization and Security Fund.

The House amended the Senate’s amendment to HB 2014 Saturday afternoon in an 82-16 vote, sending the bill back to the Senate. The House amended the tax distribution formula, with 50% going to the personal income tax reduction fund, 30% going to the county or counties where the data centers are located, 10% going to all counties on a per capita basis, 5% going to the state Economic Enhancement Grant Fund and 5% Electric Grid Stabilization and Security Fund.

HB 2014 would send a signal that West Virginia is a good place for data centers to locate and receive the electricity they need, House Finance Committee Vice Chairman Clay Riley, R-Harrison, said.

“The world doesn’t know a lot of things about West Virginia. They look down on us. But again, we have the location, we have the energy, and we have the grit,” Riley said. “And I’ll say it again. Give West Virginia an opportunity to compete and West Virginia will win.”

“We want to be the most impactful place in the nation to be able to put these data centers, and we want to be on the forefront of being able to get this construction done,” Delegate Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, said.

But members on both sides of the political aisle continued to raise concerns about the bill stripping away local control from local zoning ordinances and other local rules.

“One of my concerns is still about the local control,” said Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia. “It also prohibits counties and municipalities from imposing or enforcing local laws and ordinances concerning the creation or regulation of any certified microgrid district or certified high-impact data center therein. So, the cities and the municipalities and counties will no longer have any jurisdiction, and I think that’s a concern for things related to setbacks and noise ordinances and things like that.”

“There are significant concerns of taking away the local zoning,” said Delegate Joe Funkhouser, R-Jefferson. “It’s generally a good thing, but the devil is in the details, and I’m just sort of expressing the concerns that my constituents have with the details.”

The Senate concurred with the House’s changes to the bill Saturday night and passed it again in a 32-1 vote, sending the bill to the desk of Gov. Morrisey, who was present outside the Senate chamber just prior to the vote. In an interview after the vote, Morrisey commended the Legislature for passing the bill he called “historic.”

“This legislation gives us an opportunity to lift up our standard of living, dramatically reduce our state’s income tax, grow economically, and do it to prepare another generation, the next generation of West Virginians, for success,” he said.

“This is the economic development bill of the session, and I applaud the Legislature for acting on it,” Morrisey continued. “If you have a data center, West Virginia should be your location for a few reasons. We have abundant forms of energy, coal, natural gas, we have a lot of water. We’re going to be able to move quicker than virtually any state in terms of building.”

TRANSGENDER ISSUES

The West Virginia House of Delegates worked through two bills Saturday aimed at closing loopholes for medication gender affirming and ending state programs linked to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The House passed Senate Bill 299 modifying state regulations on pubertal modulation, hormonal therapy and gender reassignment in an 86-12 vote after two hours of debate on proposed amendments. The bill, once the Senate receives the message for the House, will be sent to the governor.

SB 299 would further restrict certain medical practices related to gender transition for individuals under age 18 beginning Aug. 1. The bill prohibits physicians, physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses from providing these interventions to minors, with specific exceptions for certain medical conditions unrelated to gender dysphoria.

SB 299 also mandates a legislative rule regarding telehealth to include a prohibition on prescribing or dispensing gender altering medication. Violations would be considered unprofessional conduct subject to license revocation and the bill outlines legal recourse and enforcement by the attorney general.

The bill closes an exemption that was included two years ago in House Bill 2007 prohibiting physicians from providing irreversible gender reassignment surgery or medication for gender-affirming care, such as hormones or puberty blockers, to a person who is under 18 with certain exceptions.

HB 2007 included guardrails to limit use of medication gender affirming care to adolescents who have been diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria by multiple physicians to address psychological issues and prevent self-harm and as long as the medication is limited to the lowest doses necessary.

“When (HB 2007) went over to the Senate, it was amended to preclude medications. So, anything that would not be surgery but would be a medication was still active,” said Delegate Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh. This bill, Senate Bill 299, was the answer to that. The purpose of this bill was to go back to what the House had originally sent to the Senate in that original bill and ban the use of gender altering medications, for lack of a better term.”

The House rejected the House Health and Human Resources Committee’s primary amendment to the bill that would have removed a new cause of action against a health care provider and included several provisions protecting physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses from employer discipline.

Another unsuccessful amendment offered by Delegate Bill Flanigan, R-Ohio, would have made the bill’s provisions effective July 1, 2026. Opponents of Flanigan’s amendment claimed that by allowing children an additional seven months to come off the medication gender affirming care would cause harm. Flanigan argued that the risk of attempted suicide by children with severe gender dysphoria outweighed those concerns.

“What I was trying to do, I thought, was helping kids. That was it,” Flanigan said. “I heard somebody say something that (transgender children) might become sterile. They might not be able to have a child. And that is very unfortunate. I would never want to see that. You know what’s worse? That kid being dead. Because I guarantee you they can’t have children then.”

Delegate Michael Amos, R-Wayne, is a board-certified family medicine physician and a member of the House Health Committee. He said the provisions of SB 299 would affect about 100 children receiving medication gender affirming care under the provisions of HB 2007.

“I get flummoxed by the discussions that happen by non-medical individuals and how we can say that this is not what it is,” Amos said. “We are taking them off and just need some time. If you wanted to poison pill this thing, then they could just say that they’re doing it for the mental health of the kids. And that’s a poison pill enough. This is the furthest thing from it.”

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND

INCLUSION

The House passed Senate Bill 474 ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs in an 87-12 vote, sending that bill back to the Senate for concurrence. But Republicans in the Senate pulled some parliamentary strings to get to bill across the finish line.

SB 474 aims to eliminate DEI programs and related positions across the state’s executive branch, public schools and higher education institutions. DEI is defined as actions that influence hiring based on race, color, sex, ethnicity or national origin except through color-blind or sex-neutral processes, the promotion of special benefits based on these characteristics or the implementation of policies or training referencing these characteristics.

The bill establishes prohibitions on DEI offices, officers, preferential treatment and mandatory DEI training. It also outlines complaint and appeals processes for alleged violations in schools and requires reporting on DEI elimination efforts in higher education.

The legislation addresses preferred gender pronouns in schools and mandates the reallocation of unspent DEI funds in higher education towards student aid or tuition reduction. The bill emphasizes equal treatment, nondiscrimination, and the protection of free speech, while allowing for legal compliance offices and the discussion of certain concepts in an academic context.

“This concept regarding elimination of DEI and DEI offices has been taken up in other states across the country,” said Delegate Joe Ellington, R=Mercer, House Education Committee chairman. “Of note, there are 12 states that have already adopted this language and there are another 10, including West Virginia, with pending legislation.”

More than 20 amendments were rejected to the bill, many offered by members of the nine-member House Democratic caucus. Debate on amendments was limited to an hour, but debate stretched more than two hours before debate on the main bill began. The House’s only three Black lawmakers rose to speak against the bill.

“We just keep going back to this and I’m just asking you when is it going to stop,” said House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell. “What is it that you’re seeking? Because there is no problem. Diversity, equity and inclusion has never and will never be about somebody who is not qualified, skipping the line. It is always and will always be about qualified people just getting an opportunity.”

“Diversity, equity and inclusion matters,” said Delegate Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia. “If we don’t embrace these principles, we don’t have a bone in the race of this Backyard Brawl. We’ll continue to lose every year. I just pray that we can not only abolish this legislation, we can abolish the mentality and ideology that goes along with it, and the energy.”

“Bills like this will inhibit our students from knowing our history,” Delegate Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, said. “We have a beautiful, great history…but now possibly our students won’t get to know about it, because our teachers and educators and administrators will say the risk isn’t worth the award.”

Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, had 15 amendments to SB 474 pending. But with less than 30 minutes until the midnight deadline, the Senate adopted a motion to suspend Joint Rule No. 3 that governs the process for how disagreements over bills are resolved between the House and the Senate to quickly concur and pass the bill in a 31-2 vote without considering Garcia’s amendments.

“I don’t understand what the motion is,” said Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell. “People are watching us all around the state and I would like to know what is going on.”

But after further consideration, the Senate reconsidered the vote on SB 474 then moved the previous question, closing off debate on the reconsideration motion. Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, then withdrew the motion to suspend Joint Rule No. 3 and moved to concur and pass SB 474. Another motion to move the previous question was called, to which Garcia objected.

“I have amendments in the system to the concurrence, so those amendments need to be taken up,” Garcia said.

The Senate then passed SB 474 again in a 31-2 vote 10 minutes prior to the midnight deadline, sending the bill to the governor. SB 474 codifies an earlier executive order issued by Morrisey in January