As West Virginia’s 134 elected lawmakers strap in for the final week of the 2025 regular legislative session, they would do well to consider the words of Wheeling businessman David H. McKinley, in what should be their primary focus: “It’s all about jobs. It’s all about advancing the economy. I have little interest in turning to the more divisive social issues that do nothing to advance our economy.”

Unfortunately, much of the first 53 days of this legislative session have focused on issues that will do little, at best, to grow the economy or advance opportunities for all West Virginians. Instead, much of the work this session has centered on issues that simply won’t move the state forward — gender, attempts to loosen vaccine requirements, eliminating dye from foods, and even public squabbles between lawmakers and Gov. Patrick Morrisey.

In fact, most of Morrisey’s plans for an economic “Backyard Brawl” with our neighboring states — a solid idea, for certain — seemingly have been forgotten. Lawmakers did pass legislation making certain occupational licenses reciprocal with other states, and there are energy bills moving that might be beneficial to businesses (yet potentially not to residents), but at the same time border-state Kentucky lowered its personal income tax to 3.5%. Ohio and Pennsylvania also have lower personal income tax rates.

How does West Virginia compete with that? Surely no one in the Legislature believes making the state’s vaccines laws weaker will bring people here?

That’s where McKinley comes in. He’s formed the Mountaineer Freedom Alliance Action Fund with the goal of “fortifying the state’s economy, creating job opportunities, and establishing a future that retains and attracts its residents.” Imagine if lawmakers, when the session began in February, would have followed those ideals? What legislation might have been presented that could have moved West Virginia onto a different path? As it stands now, these past 53 days have amounted to little.

In this final week of the 2025 session, we implore lawmakers to focus on bills that will move West Virginia forward. Use McKinley’s litmus test — growing the economy, creating jobs, putting forth a vision of the future — to ensure meaningful legislation gets passed. It’s going to take all of us — Republicans, Democrats, Independents — to ensure our state’s future is bright.