West Virginia House of Delegates

The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature in West Virginia. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates.

Organization Regular sessions begin with an organizational day on the second Wednesday of January of each year.West Virginia Constitution, West Virginia Legislature (accessed May 29, 2013) The length of regular session is limited to 60 calendar days. The governor can call for special sessions.

Delegates are elected for terms of two years.

Legislative process Delegates submit bill proposals to the Office of Legislative Services or legislative staff counsel, who draft the bill.How a Bill Becomes Law, West Virginia State Legislature (accessed May 29, 2013) Once the bill draft is approved by the delegate, it is submitted for introduction. Bills then undergo committee review and three readings in the house of origin and then the other house of the state legislature.

An unusual feature of the West Virginia legislative process is that revenue bills can originate in either house. The state constitution also prohibits multiple subjects in a single bill.

If approved by both the West Virginia House of Delegates and the West Virginia Senate, bills are submitted to the governor, who may sign them into law or veto them. State legislators can override the governor's veto of bills with a simple majority vote of both houses, unless the bill is a revenue bill, in which case two-thirds of the members elected to each house are required to override the governor's veto or line-item veto.

Membership

Composition

AffiliationParty (Shading indicates majority caucus)TotalVacantDemocraticRepublicanIndependent81st Legislature Begin 54 460100081st Legislature End 53 4782nd Legislature 36 640 100 083rd Legislature Start 36 631100083rd Legislature End 36 64084th Legislature Start 41590100084th Legislature End 4158185th Legislature Start 24 760100085th Legislature End22 7886th Legislature Start12 880100086th Legislature End11 8987th Legislature Start9 9101000Latest voting share

District organization The House is composed of 100 members elected for two-year terms.

Prior to the 1970 Census, districts always respected county lines, with each district consisting of either a single entire county, or several entire counties. Following the redistricting cycle of the 1970 census, the state began to use smaller geographic areas.

Following the 2010 Census, the legislature was required to redistrict, with the Democratic Party in control. The Republican Party, and groups from the growing eastern panhandle and Putnam County, were among those calling for 100 single member districts. The state was divided into 67 districts, of which 47 were one-member districts, 11 two-member districts, 6 three-member districts, 2 four-member districts, and 1 five-member district. The five-member district, covering most of Monongalia County, remained among the ten largest multi-member lower house districts in the country.

In response to the 2020 Census, the legislature was again required to redistrict, this time with the Republican Party in control. The legislature abandoned the practice of multi-member districts and divided the state into 100 single member districts. Each district contains about 1/100 of the state's population, or about 17,500 persons. These changes took effect with the 2022 election.

Speaker

The Speaker of the House is selected by its members. In contrast to the tradition of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Speaker must vote unless excused. The House rules state that in some cases, the speaker is not required to vote unless the House is equally divided, or unless the speaker's vote, if given to the minority, will make the division equal. In the latter case, the question is lost.

Members 87th Legislature party leadership Position Name Party District County Speaker of the House Roger HanshawRepublican62ndClay Speaker pro temporeMatthew RohrbachRepublican98thCabell Majority Leader Pat McGeehanRepublican1stBrooke, Hancock Minority Leader Sean HornbuckleDemocratic25thCabell Majority Whip Marty GearheartRepublican37thMercer Minority WhipShawn FluhartyDemocratic5thOhio

Committee chairs CommitteeChairMinority ChairEducationJoe EllingtonAnitra HamiltonEnergy and Public WorksBill AndersonEvan HansenFinanceVernon CrissJohn WilliamsGovernment OrganizationChris PhillipsKayla YoungHealth and Human ResourcesEvan WorrellMike PushkinJudiciaryJB AkersShawn FluhartyRulesRoger HanshawVacant

Current members DistrictNamePartyStartResidenceCounties1Republican2014ChesterBrooke, Hancock2Republican2020Weirton3Republican2022WellsburgBrooke, Ohio4Republican2026TriadelphiaOhio5Democratic2014Wheeling6Republican2023WheelingMarshall7Republican2022CameronMarshall, Wetzel8Republican2025Paden CityDoddridge, Tyler, Wetzel9Republican2026PennsboroPleasants, Ritchie, Tyler10Republican1992WilliamstownWood11Republican2022Vienna12Republican2016Parkersburg13Republican2022Parkersburg14Republican2022BellevilleWirt, Wood15Republican2023SpencerRoane, Wirt16Republican2025RipleyJackson17Republican2020Point PleasantJackson, Mason18Republican2022Gallipolis FerryMason, Putnam19Republican2021BuffaloPutnam20Republican2025Winfield21Republican2022Hurricane22Aaron HolleyRepublican2026MiltonCabell23Republican2018Barboursville24Republican2022Barboursville25Democratic2014Huntington26Republican2014Huntington27Republican2025KenovaCabell, Wayne28Republican2024KenovaWayne29Republican2022Fort GayMingo, Wayne30Republican2025Alum CreekLincoln31Republican2020ChapmanvilleBoone, Lincoln, Logan32Republican2020AshfordBoone33Republican2020LoganLogan34Republican2016GilbertMcDowell, Mingo35Republican2022BrentonWyoming36Republican2024McDowellMcDowell37Republican2020BluefieldMercer38Republican2010Princeton39Republican2020Princeton40Republican2012WaysideMonroe, Summers41Republican2021BeaverMercer, Raleigh, Summers42Republican2026BeckleyRaleigh43Republican2018BeckleyRaleigh, Wyoming44Republican2024BeckleyRaleigh45Republican2022Mount HopeFayette, Raleigh46Republican2023LewisburgPocahontas, Greenbrier47Republican2025RonceverteGreenbrier, Monroe48Republican2025Hacker ValleyGreenbrier, Nicholas, Webster49Republican2025SummersvilleNicholas50William VestRepublican2026Oak HillFayette51Republican2025Fayetteville52Republican2025WinifredeKanawha53Republican2025Charleston54Democratic2014Charleston55Republican2024Charleston56Democratic2020South Charleston57Democratic2023Charleston58Republican2022St. Albans59Republican2022Nitro60Republican2020Sissonville61Republican2018Elkview62Republican2014WallbackCalhoun, Clay, Gilmer63Republican2022GassawayBraxton, Gilmer64Republican2020HornerLewis, Upshur65Republican2018BuckhannonUpshur66Republican2025BeverlyPocahontas, Randolph67Republican2022ElkinsPendleton, Randolph68Republican2018BuckhannonBarbour, Upshur69Republican2022Lost CreekHarrison, Lewis70Republican2022ClarksburgHarrison71Republican2020Bridgeport72Republican2020ShinnstonHarrison, Wetzel73Republican2025GraftonMarion, Taylor74Republican2026Marion75Republican2020Fairmont76Democratic2025Fairmont77Republican2020CoreMonongalia, Wetzel78Republican2022MorgantownMonongalia79Democratic2018Morgantown80Democratic2016Morgantown81Democratic2023Morgantown82Republican2025Morgantown83Republican2022MasontownPreston84Republican2017Thornton85Republican2018PetersburgGrant, Tucker86Republican2020FisherHardy, Pendleton87Republican2010KeyserMineral88Republican2022RomneyHampshire, Mineral89Republican2025RomneyHampshire, Morgan90Republican2020Berkeley SpringsBerkeley, Morgan91Republican2025BerkeleyBerkeley92Republican2022Martinsburg93Republican2022Martinsburg94Republican2026Martinsburg95Republican2020Falling Waters96Republican2025Inwood97Republican2025MartinsburgBerkeley, Jefferson98Republican2024Charles TownJefferson99Republican2020Charles Town100Republican2022Harpers Ferry

See also

List of speakers of the West Virginia House of Delegates List of West Virginia state legislatures

Notes

References

External links

Chronology of Women in the West Virginia Legislature