2019 West Virginia Legislative Session

West Virginia State Legislature
General information
Type:	State legislature
Term limits:	None
Session start:	January 9, 2019
Session end:	March 9, 2019
Website:	Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:	Mitch Carmichael (R)
House Speaker:	Roger Hanshaw (R)
Majority Leader:	Senate: Tom Takubo (R) House: Amy Summers (R)
Minority Leader:	Senate: Roman Prezioso (D) House: Timothy Miley (D)
Structure
Members:	34 (Senate), 100 (House)
Length of term:	4 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:	Art VI, West Virginia Constitution
Salary:	$20,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election:	November 6, 2018 Senate House
Next election:	November 3, 2020 Senate House
Redistricting:	West Virginia Legislature has control via special session

West Virginia convened its legislative session on January 9, 2019, and legislators remained in session until March 9, 2019. Republicans had a veto-proof majority this legislative session, as they did in 2018 (a simple majority in each chamber of the West Virginia Legislature is required to override vetoes). Following the 2018 election, Republicans had a 20-14 majority in the Senate and a 59-41 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta.

Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.

Partisan control in 2019[edit]

See also: State government trifectas

West Virginia was one of 22 Republican trifectas at the start of 2019 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

West Virginia was one of 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof majority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the West Virginia State Legislature in the 2019 legislative session.

West Virginia State Senate[edit]

Between 1992 and 2018, partisan control of the West Virginia State Senate shifted in favor of the Republican Party. The table below shows the partisan history of the West Virginia State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

After the 1992 elections, Democrats held a 32-2 majority. Republicans gained six seats in the 1994 elections, moving the chamber to 26-8 in favor of Democrats. From 1994 to 2012, the partisan balance of the state Senate would fluctuate, with minor gains being shared by Democrats and Republicans from election to election. In 2014, Republicans gained eight seats and took control of the chamber. The GOP picked up another two seats total in the 2016 and 2018 elections, resulting in a 20-14 Republican majority.

West Virginia House of Delegates[edit]

Between 1992 and 2018, partisan control of the West Virginia House of Delegates shifted in favor of the Republican Party. The table below shows the partisan history of the West Virginia House of Delegates following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

After the 1992 elections, Democrats held a 79-21 majority. Republicans began moving the partisan balance of the state House in their favor in 2010. The GOP picked up 25 seats between the 2010 and 2012 elections. In 2014, Republicans gained 18 seats and took control of the chamber. Democrats gained five seats total in the 2016 and 2018 elections, resulting in a 59-41 Republican majority.

Leadership in 2019[edit]

Regular session[edit]

The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2019 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria yet in 2019. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

Standing legislative committees[edit]

See also: Standing committee and List of committees in West Virginia state government

A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, there were 41 standing committees in West Virginia's state government, including 5 joint legislative committees, 18 state Senate committees, and 18 state House committees.

Joint legislative committees[edit]

Senate committees[edit]

House committees[edit]

Legislatively referred constitutional amendments[edit]

In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

The methods in which the West Virginia Constitution can be amended:

See also: Article XIV of the West Virginia Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in West Virginia

The West Virginia Constitution can be modified through constitutional conventions and legislatively referred constitutional amendments.

• Section 1 of Article XIV of the West Virginia Constitution addresses how constitutional conventions can be called.

• A majority vote of both chambers of the West Virginia State Legislature is required to put a question before the voters on a statewide ballot as to whether they wish a convention to be held.
• A convention must be called if the voters agree to the convention question by a simple majority vote.
• Any proposed amendments that come out of a convention must go on a statewide ballot for possible ratification by the state's voters.

• Section 2 of Article XIV of the West Virginia Constitution lays out the process of legislatively referred constitutional amendments.^[1]

• Amendments can be proposed in either house of the state's legislature.
• The membership of both houses must support a proposed amendment by a two-thirds vote.
• A vote on the proposed amendment may take place at a general or a special election. West Virginia has a unique requirement with regard to voting on amendments at special elections: "Whenever one or more amendments are submitted at a special election, no other question, issue or matter shall be voted upon at such special election."
• A simple majority vote is required for ratification.
• Proposed amendments must be placed on the ballot in such a way that they can be voted on separately.

• "An amendment may relate to a single subject or to related subject matters and may amend or modify as many articles and as many sections of the constitution as may be necessary and appropriate in order to accomplish the objectives of the amendment."

West Virginia does not feature the power of initiative for either initiated constitutional amendments or initiated state statutes.

2020 measures:

See also: West Virginia 2020 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

No measures to list

2019 measures:

Below is a list of measures that were referred to the 2019 ballot by the legislature.

See also: 2019 ballot measures

Certified:

The following measures were certified for the ballot.

No measures to list

Historical partisan control[edit]

See also[edit]

Elections	West Virginia State Government	State Legislatures	State Politics
West Virginia State Senate elections, 2018 West Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2018	West Virginia State Legislature West Virginia House of Delegates West Virginia State Senate Governor of West Virginia West Virginia Supreme Court	State legislative elections, 2019 State legislative special elections, 2019 State legislative elections, 2018 State legislative elections, 2016	State government trifectas State government triplexes Veto overrides in state legislatures State executives State courts Ballot measures

External links[edit]

• Search Google News for this topic
• West Virginia State Legislature homepage

Footnotes[edit]

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