Mountain State Spotlight

WV lawmakers move to weaken rules for aboveground storage tanks The West Virginia Senate passed a bill that loosens regulations on aboveground storage tanks.

Some aboveground tanks located in critical drinking water zones could be inspected by their owners instead of independent third parties under a bill passed by the Senate.

State officials won’t answer questions about ICE partnership after judges rule arrests violated the Constitution - Mountain State Spotlight State agencies have worked alongside immigration officers to make unconstitutional arrests. Elected officials wouldn’t answer questions about it.

West Virginia officials have publicly touted ICE’s arrests. But they didn’t answer questions about the agency’s repeated violations of immigrants’ civil rights.

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$38 million from West Virginia’s medical marijuana program hasn’t been spent. Lawmakers could change that. The West Virginia House of Delegates voted to unlock $38 million in medical marijuana funds for research and homeless services.

The House moved to free millions of dollars in the state’s medical marijuana fund for homelessness services and drug addiction research, including research into ibogaine, a hallucinogenic drug used in other countries to help people get through withdrawal.

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/05/m...

Lawmakers pushed out a budget with nine days to spare. But it shortchanges some key parts of West Virginians’ lives.

Lawmakers sideline clean drinking water funding as they advance income tax cuts A $250M plan to fix southern West Virginia’s water systems shrank and stalled as lawmakers prioritized income tax cuts over clean water.

Residents in southern West Virginia say their tap water runs black and burns their skin. This session, lawmakers opted to study the issue further instead of advancing major new funding to fix it.

NEW: From Medicaid to flooding, here are four needs lawmakers’ budget shortchanges — and one program it fully funds

As other states push back on rising power bills, West Virginia lawmakers double down on coal While West Virginians struggle to pay their power bills, lawmakers are rejecting or tabling proposals to help.

While regulators in nearby states have pushed utilities to lower or cap rates, West Virginia lawmakers weakened or stalled proposals to help lower power costs.

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/03/r...

WV lawmakers move to weaken rules for aboveground storage tanks The West Virginia Senate passed a bill that loosens regulations on aboveground storage tanks.

Several Republicans joined State Senate Democrats in opposing legislation that would weaken regulations placed on aboveground storage tanks. It’s the latest move in the Legislature’s chipping away at West Virginia’s water protections.

$38 million from West Virginia’s medical marijuana program hasn’t been spent. Lawmakers could change that. The West Virginia House of Delegates voted to unlock $38 million in medical marijuana funds for research and homeless services.

For months, $34 million in medical marijuana fees and taxes went unspent. State officials cited marijuana’s federal status. On the last day for bills to leave their chamber of origin during the session, the House voted to spend the money.

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/05/m...

State officials won’t answer questions about ICE partnership after judges rule arrests violated the Constitution - Mountain State Spotlight State agencies have worked alongside immigration officers to make unconstitutional arrests. Elected officials wouldn’t answer questions about it.

Late last week, a federal judge threatened fines or contempt for state and federal officials who are involved in ICE’s repeated constitutional violations.

We asked state officials who are helping ICE about the judge’s warning. They wouldn’t answer.

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/05/i...

$38 million from West Virginia’s medical marijuana program hasn’t been spent. Lawmakers could change that. The West Virginia House of Delegates voted to unlock $38 million in medical marijuana funds for research and homeless services.

NEW: $38 million from West Virginia’s medical marijuana program hasn’t been spent. A bill passed by the House could change that.

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/05/m...

State officials won’t answer questions about ICE partnership after judges rule arrests violated the Constitution - Mountain State Spotlight State agencies have worked alongside immigration officers to make unconstitutional arrests. Elected officials wouldn’t answer questions about it.

NEW: State officials won’t answer questions about ICE partnership after judges rule arrests violated the Constitution

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/05/i...

Lawmakers sideline clean drinking water funding as they advance income tax cuts A $250M plan to fix southern West Virginia’s water systems shrank and stalled as lawmakers prioritized income tax cuts over clean water.

The governor’s tax cut would cost $250 million. That’s what activists in the coalfields were asking for to get a start in fixing the water issues.

WV lawmakers move to weaken rules for aboveground storage tanks The West Virginia Senate passed a bill that loosens regulations on aboveground storage tanks.

The West Virginia Senate passed a bill that loosens regulations on aboveground storage tanks, more than a decade after the Elk River chemical spill.

Lawmakers sideline clean drinking water funding as they advance income tax cuts A $250M plan to fix southern West Virginia’s water systems shrank and stalled as lawmakers prioritized income tax cuts over clean water.

A $250 million proposal to fix southern West Virginia’s long-troubled water systems has shrunk to $20 million — and is now delayed for further study. Meanwhile, lawmakers are advancing a tax cut that could cost the state up to $250 million.

WV lawmakers move to weaken rules for aboveground storage tanks The West Virginia Senate passed a bill that loosens regulations on aboveground storage tanks.

NEW: State lawmakers chip away at water protections as Senate moves to weaken aboveground storage tank rules

As other states push back on rising power bills, West Virginia lawmakers double down on coal While West Virginians struggle to pay their power bills, lawmakers are rejecting or tabling proposals to help.

Lawmakers have put efforts to help West Virginians with their electric bills on the back burner, instead working to prop up the coal industry.

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/03/r...

Lawmakers sideline clean drinking water funding as they advance income tax cuts A $250M plan to fix southern West Virginia’s water systems shrank and stalled as lawmakers prioritized income tax cuts over clean water.

NEW: Lawmakers sideline clean drinking water funding as they advance income tax cuts

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/04/s...

After three years of lopsided wins, lawmakers seek to repeal high school sports transfer rule A 2023 law opened the door for lopsided victories in high school sports. Lawmakers are trying to close it.

Del. Marty Gearheart says open transfers have damaged competition in West Virginia high school sports, pointing to lopsided football scores and more mercy-rule games since the law took effect.

After three years of lopsided wins, lawmakers seek to repeal high school sports transfer rule A 2023 law opened the door for lopsided victories in high school sports. Lawmakers are trying to close it.

Before 2023, high school athletes who transferred without moving had to sit out a year. Lawmakers changed that rule — and now some delegates want to reverse it.

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/02/h...

As other states push back on rising power bills, West Virginia lawmakers double down on coal While West Virginians struggle to pay their power bills, lawmakers are rejecting or tabling proposals to help.

NEW: As other states push back on rising power bills, West Virginia lawmakers commit to coal

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/03/r...

After three years of lopsided wins, lawmakers seek to repeal high school sports transfer rule A 2023 law opened the door for lopsided victories in high school sports. Lawmakers are trying to close it.

West Virginia House delegates are advancing a bill to repeal the 2023 law that lets high school athletes transfer schools and play immediately. Supporters say the change has hurt fair competition.

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/02/h...

After three years of lopsided wins, lawmakers seek to repeal high school sports transfer rule A 2023 law opened the door for lopsided victories in high school sports. Lawmakers are trying to close it.

NEW: After three years of lopsided wins, lawmakers seek to change high school sports transfer rule

mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/02/h...

Will Morrisey’s foster care plan fix a broken system? Here’s what our investigation found. For many West Virginia foster kids, the issue isn’t that they’re out-of-state. It’s that they’re institutionalized in the first place.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey says he is “fixing foster care.” But our reporting shows that for many West Virginia foster kids, the issue isn’t that they’re out-of-state. It’s that they’re institutionalized in the first place.

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Will Morrisey’s foster care plan fix a broken system? Here’s what our investigation found. For many West Virginia foster kids, the issue isn’t that they’re out-of-state. It’s that they’re institutionalized in the first place.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s foster care plan would affect fewer than 400 of the 6,000 West Virginia kids in that system. And our investigation shows that focusing on shuffling those kids in out-of-state group care into in-state group care misses the point.

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Lawmakers repeatedly block efforts to return data centers control to local communities Throughout the session, lawmakers have protected data center development by blocking attempts for more transparency and input from communities.

West Virginians hoping legislators would give them some control over data centers are disappointed in actions so far, calling them more of the same – legislators turning a blind eye because of money interests.

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Will Morrisey’s foster care plan fix a broken system? Here’s what our investigation found. For many West Virginia foster kids, the issue isn’t that they’re out-of-state. It’s that they’re institutionalized in the first place.

Mountain State Spotlight investigated Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s “Bring Them Home” foster care plan. Here’s what we found.

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Trump administration seeks to undo Biden-era changes to child care funding support Federal officials want to roll back child care funding rules designed to stabilize providers and lower costs for families.

After years of child care advocates across the country pushing for changes to the federal system, the Biden administration made changes intended to support providers and families. Now, the Trump administration is preparing to undo some of those changes.

Gov. Morrisey’s big child welfare proposal focuses on renovating buildings to bring foster kids in out-of-state group homes back to West Virginia. But data shows what would really help is getting kids out of institutions in the first place.

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Lawmakers repeatedly block efforts to return data centers control to local communities Throughout the session, lawmakers have protected data center development by blocking attempts for more transparency and input from communities.

Despite a promise to constituents to revisit data centers, Senate President Randy Smith did not introduce a bill to do so. And so far, a bill in his chamber that would fix it has not been placed on an agenda.

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