West Virginia Senate expedites and unanimously approves multiple supplemental appropriations; refuses House change to open-captioning bill

The West Virginia Senate, meeting March 14, 2026 in Charleston, refused to concur in a House amendment to Senate Bill 493 on open captioning for motion pictures and then moved through a series of expedited supplemental appropriation measures by unanimous or recorded machine votes.

Senator from Lewis moved that the Senate "refuse to concur in the house amendments to senate bill 4 93 and request the house to recede," saying the House changes "contradicted the intent of the bill and refusal to concur as appropriate." The presiding officer put the question and declared the motion adopted.

The chamber then considered a string of supplemental appropriations sent from the House. Junior Senator from the 16th summarized House Bill 52-77 as "This supplemental appropriates $8,704,000 from the unappropriated surplus balance of general revenue to the Department of Health Facilities," with line-item allocations of $1,000,000 to Welch Community Hospital, $3,400,000 to William R. Sharp Hospital and $4,304,000 to Mildred Mitchell Bateman Hospital. The Senate voted 34-0 to pass the bill and, by the same margin, made it effective on passage.

The Senate also took up and passed the following measures under dispensed-reading rules:

- Engrossed House Bill 52-88 (Department of Agriculture, Spay/Neuter Assistance Fund): a $200,000 special revenue supplemental appropriation; passed 34-0 and made effective on passage.

- Engrossed House Bill 53-07 (Division of Culture and History, Department of Tourism): a $10,000,000 supplemental appropriation; passed 34-0 and made effective on passage.

- Committee Substitute for House Bill 53-17 (Division of Natural Resources): a $10,000,000 supplemental appropriation; passed 34-0 and made effective on passage.

- Engrossed House Bill 56-94 (Department of Education): a supplemental appropriation to remove unnecessary budget language; passed 34-0 and made effective on passage.

For the county-officials pay bill, the Senate adopted an amendment proposed by the Senator from Lewis that "would retain the 5% increase, but would reinsert the language allowing counties to have control over their future pay increases." The chamber then concurred in the House amendment as amended and passed Senate Bill 587; a recorded machine vote showed 34 yays, 0 nays. The Senate voted to make that bill effective July 1, 2026; the presiding officer announced the two‑thirds threshold for effectiveness was met on a 34-0 machine vote.

Many of these items were taken up for immediate consideration after the clerk read House messages and senators asked unanimous consent to dispense with committee reference and the three-day reading rule. Where measured votes were recorded, the transcript shows 34 yays, 0 nays, 0 absent or not voting.

The actions taken were procedural and legislative rather than the product of extended floor debate; the chamber moved repeatedly to advance bills through second and third readings in the same sitting before voting. Several measures were referred to the finance committee for consideration where required (for example, a supplemental appropriation to the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation was referred to finance after receipt of the House message).

The clerk was directed to communicate the Senate’s actions to the House after each passage, and several motions to make bills effective took the required two‑thirds votes recorded on the machine.

What happens next: The clerk will send the Senate’s communications to the House. Measures that were made effective on passage will proceed to whatever administrative steps are required for execution; the referral to finance for the corrections appropriation remains pending committee action.