Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, speaks on the Senate floor March 4, 2025, in Charleston, W.Va. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography)
Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, one of two Democrats in the Senate, is calling out Gov. Patrick Morrisey, claiming the governor is telling Republican Senators to vote down any amendments sponsored by Democrats.
It’s an overreach of power, Woelfel said.
“These are separate, co-equal branches of government. We’re not some errand boys and girls for people downstairs,” Woelfel, D-Cabell, said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “We are all here to work for the common good of the people of the state of West Virginia.”
Woelfel’s comments follow some House of Delegates members’ complaints that Morrisey has taken a heavy-handed — and at times “threatening” — approach to getting his policy priorities through the legislature.
“There’s a virus that is spreading in this building, and I’m going to stop it,” Woelfel said.
In response, Drew Galang, deputy press secretary for Morrisey, told West Virginia Watch that, “The governor has never told the Legislature to vote against Democrat policies, although that’s probably sound advice.”
Woelfel called Galang’s response “childlike and a lie.”
His fiery comments to Senators followed a committee meeting where lawmakers discussed a measure that would create a universal professional and occupational licensing reciprocity in West Virginia. The bill was requested by Morrisey, and Woelfel said his proposed amendment wasn’t considered due to interference from the governor.
“We have always been respected in this chamber. Our amendments have been respected, you win some, you lose some … No hard feelings,” Woelfel said.
Senate President Randy Smith told the Parkersburg News and Sentinel that he was unaware of any pressure coming from Morrisey’s office regarding Democrats’ amendments.
“I just talked to a couple of my committee chairs, and they said that no one has contacted them,” said Smith, R-Preston.
Woelfel also acknowledged that Smith and other senators weren’t to blame for the pressure.
“Gov. [Jim] Justice left us in a pile of crap, it was not a rocket ship ride,” Woelfel said. “I respect the new governor. I want to work with the new governor, but the people of West Virginia are in dire straits, and we have no wiggle room for Washington politics.”
Morrisey’s legislative-session-governing style is different from his predecessor Justice, whose absenteeism at the Capitol largely left lawmakers to set their own priorities. The GOP-heavy Legislature last year didn’t pass Justice’s key piece of legislation, a gender definition bill dubbed the “Women’s Bill of Rights.”
By contrast, Morrisey has been seen physically present in the Capitol during the session and working behind the scenes. His approach has ruffled feathers, particularly in the House, after representatives from Morrisey’s office allegedly threatened Republican lawmakers with primaries if they didn’t get behind the governor’s push to repeal the state’s Certificate of Need health care law.
The House of Delegates Health Committee voted down Morrisey’s Certificate of Need repeal bill, in part, because of Morrisey’s heavy-handed push in the whole thing. While several House members maintain that the governor’s office made a delegate cry while trying to force votes, Morrisey denies their accusations, saying he’s still hopeful the bill can make it through.
Woelfel said that should Morrisey’s interference continue in the Senate, he will request that the Senate Clerk read full bill texts on the Senate floor beginning Monday. Lawmakers usually hear a summary of the bill before voting instead of hearing what could be hundreds of pages of legislation read in full.
“If I have the perception we are going to have two classes of Senators — the Ds and the Rs — then we’re going to read bills on Monday, and we’re going to read bills every day,” Woelfel said. “I’m going to need assurances — not from anyone in this chamber — that we’re going to have a government for all West Virginians.”
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