Latest West Virginia state government News

Appeals panel asks West Virginia court whether opioids distribution can cause a public nuisance

Mar. 18, 2024 20:11 PM EDT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court asked West Virginia’s highest court Monday whether opioid distributions can cause a public nuisance as it reviews a landmark lawsuit against three major U.S. drug distributors accused of causing a health crisis in one of the state's counties. ...

West Virginia Legislature ends session with pay raises, tax cut and failure of social issue bills

Mar. 10, 2024 03:45 AM EDT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia's Republican-dominated state Legislature on Saturday concluded a 60-day session marked by budget disputes and controversial social issue bills that advanced but ultimately didn't go anywhere. Lawmakers conferenced behind closed doors Saturday...

West Virginia lawmakers OK bill drawing back one of the country's strictest child vaccination laws

Mar. 09, 2024 22:45 PM EST

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia's GOP-controlled state Legislature voted Saturday to allow some students who don't attend traditional public schools to be exempt from state vaccination requirements that have long been held up as among the most strict in the country. The...

Sex ed classes in some states may soon watch a fetal development video from an anti-abortion group

Feb. 22, 2024 12:13 PM EST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Baby Olivia isn't a real baby. It's an animated fetus that develops over the course of a three-minute video that has become a new front in state-level abortion politics. Bills in the Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia legislatures would require...

West Virginia advances bill requiring foundation distributing opioid money to hold public meetings

Jan. 11, 2024 16:41 PM EST

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The private foundation in charge of distributing the lion's share of West Virginia's hundreds of millions of opioid-settlement dollars would be required to make its proceedings public under a bill advancing in the state Legislature. Just under...

West Virginia GOP delegate resigns to focus on state auditor race

Jan. 02, 2024 15:02 PM EST

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A 24-year-old Republican state lawmaker in West Virginia is resigning to focus on his campaign for state auditor. Del. Caleb Hanna of Nicholas County was first elected to the state Legislature in 2018 when he was 19, becoming the youngest African American...

West Virginia starts distributing funds from the settlement of opioid lawsuits

Dec. 29, 2023 17:16 PM EST

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia is issuing the first checks from a fund established by the settlement of opioid lawsuits in the state, which has by far the nation’s highest drug overdose death rate. The Kanawha County Commission said Thursday it received a $2.9 million...