By Luanne McGovern

The 87th session of the West Legislature will kick off on February 12, 2025. Since there will be a new governor in 2025, the Legislature “officially” kicks off on the second Wednesday in January, but it will then take a recess for 30 days for the new governor to prepare their legislative agenda and the proposed state budget. The Legislature will then meet for 60 consecutive days until mid-April.

Legislative Priorities for 2025

The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy will again be partnering with the West Virginia Environmental Council to set legislative priorities and strategies for 2025. We will be meeting on September 14 at Tygart Lake State Park with other aligned organizations to exchange ideas and develop a key list of initiatives for the session. Everyone is welcome! Based on 2024, our priorities will likely continue to focus on these key topics:

• Protecting public lands from myriad threats
• Community solar, alternative energy, and preserving net metering rules
• Community air monitoring and protecting citizen rights
• Orphaned oil and gas wells responsibility, changes to above-ground storage tank rules
• Advancing Environmental Justice

Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict what new and disastrous policies will surface during the 60-day session. The West Virginia Legislature is firmly in the hands of the Republican Party, and new mandates are routinely sent down from the national party for implementation in West Virginia. Our job will be to continuously monitor the introduction of new bills and work towards defeating them before they can advance.

How You Can Help: VOTE!  

The 2024 election will decide extremely important state and federal offices for West Virginia: the US Senate, US House of Delegates, Governor, the State Senate, and the House of Delegates. With Jim Justice (R) running for US Senate (defeating Alex Mooney in the primary), the 2nd Congressional District is up for grabs—Riley Moore (R) is running against Steve Wendelin (D).  

Patrick Morrisey is the Republican candidate for governor, running against Steve Williams, Mayor of Huntington. If Morrisey is elected, he is likely to be a much more active and aggressive governor than Justice.  As West Virginia Attorney General, he has made a name for himself, bringing lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency, fighting against clean water, clean air, and climate change mitigations.  

In 2024, the West Virginia Legislature contained only three Democratic Senators and 11 Democratic Delegates out of a total of 134 members (10%). It is possible that this “super-minority” may shrink even further in 2025. Supporting your local Democratic candidates is critical to ensure some opposing voices at the Capitol. If you are a resident in the eastern panhandle, two former West Virginia Environmental Council lobbyists are running for the House of Delegates – Lucia Valentine (97) and Maria Russo (100).

It may seem daunting, but please get out and vote and make your voice heard.  Early voting starts on October 23 and runs until election day on November 5.

Get Involved!

There are many ways that you can help before and during the Legislative session:

• Help us set priorities, either by attending the meeting in September or just sending us your thoughts.
• Volunteer to be part of the WVHC Legislative Committee. We are always looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help monitor the session and provide lobbying and support for our efforts.
• Contact your elected officials on a regular basis, either in person, by phone, or by email.  They are elected to work for you and, in most cases, will at least listen when citizens contact them. It can seem intimidating at first, but personal contacts and personal stories can be very effective at influencing legislators.
• Keep updated on key issues on a timely basis. WVHC will be issuing Action Alerts and requests for support throughout the session. Since the session is only 60 days long, time is always of the essence.
• Attend committee meetings and legislative sessions and visit your legislators in person. Most of the sessions are also available online. The West Virginia Capitol building is extremely accessible, and it is quite simple to call your Legislator’s office and request a meeting. In-person is the most effective!