The West Virginia Capitol in Charleston, W.Va. (West Virginia Legislative Photography)
Gov. Patrick Morrisey has signed dozens of Republican-backed bills into law, including measures officially eliminating the state’s Office of Equal Opportunity and rolling back work permit requirements for some teenagers.
The bills were among 73 measures signed by Morrisey April 25 ahead of the governor’s bill signing deadline by the end of the day Wednesday.
In total, the governor has signed 161 bills, and on Monday, Morrisey said in a post on social media platform X that another 48 bills will be signed and shared in the coming days.
“The final 40 bills are under close review, as we continue to research them and see whether there are adequate arguments to approve these bills to determine whether they should become law,” Morrisey wrote.
“For the future, folks should know that if your bill costs taxpayers money and you haven’t provided an offset (a saver) for your proposed program, the odds of your initiative getting approved will be slim,” he continued.
Office of Equal Opportunity officially eliminated
Morrisey approved Senate Bill 837, sponsored by Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, that will formally eliminate the state’s Office of Equal Opportunity by repealing its mandate in state code. The office was tasked with complying with federal disability rights and investigated discrimination and harassment claims from public employees.
While vetting the bills, members of the House of Delegates learned that the OEO seemed to already be gone without lawmakers’ required approval. The office doesn’t have any employees or a website.
Lawmakers opted to keep the office’s director position within the Division of Personnel, though the position is currently vacant. Rucker said the bill was an effort to streamline state government since the OEO’s work was already being done by the Division of Personnel.
Morrisey also signed another measure sponsored by Rucker that will terminate the “Employee Suggestion Award Board” by terminating five sections of code, including a program that provides cash or honorary awards to state employees whose adopted suggestions result in substantial savings or improvement in state operations.
“We heard that this is not really helping the state. We were very hopeful when this got passed years ago that employees would be able to give us ideas that would really significantly find waste and we could reduce cost to the state. But that is not what has happened,” Rucker said during bill debate March 20 in the Senate. “Unfortunately, It has been years since there’s been a single suggestion.”
Rucker said they encouraged state agencies to still accept suggestions from employees regarding cost savings.
New law rolls back teen work permit requirement
The governor signed Senate Bill 427 that will roll back work permit requirements for 14- and 15-year olds in West Virginia. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Rupie Phillips, R-Logan.
Current state law requires 14- and 15-year-olds who want to work to get a permit from their school superintendent; the new law, which goes into effect in July, no longer requires that permit.
Employers seeking to hire the teenagers will still be required to obtain an age certificate verifying the child’s age from the state Division of Labor and the written consent of the child’s parent or guardian.
The age certificate would include the child’s age, name and date of birth, as well as information about the job they’re seeking, among other things.
Controversial DEI bill not yet signed
The governor still hasn’t signed off on a number of high-profile Republican-backed measures from this year’s legislative session, including a bill tightening the state’s already-strict ban on gender-affirming care for minors and a measure requiring school employees to alert parents when a child requests to be referred to by a different name or pronouns that are different from the student’s biological sex.
While Morrisey issued an executive order eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state government, he hasn’t yet signed a bill that would codify that order. The measure is facing a potential legal challenge after the Senate’s Democratic members said the bill was not legally passed on the final night of session because of a “series of procedural irregularities.”
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