How to testify before the West Virginia legislature

This page covers what's specific to West Virginia. For the general steps of signing up and speaking, see the general guide.

How West Virginia does it

Testifying here changed in 2025. In February that year, the House of Delegates adopted House Resolution 1, ending the longstanding practice of holding a public hearing whenever one was requested. Under the current process, bills move through committee over two meeting days. On the first day, the committee chair or vice chair decides who is invited to speak, whether a member of the public, a lobbyist, or a subject-matter expert. There's no guaranteed open floor and no minimum advance-notice requirement for when a committee will meet or what it will consider.

Anyone who can't attend in person, or isn't invited to speak, can still submit written testimony, which committee staff distribute to members. Outside of closed executive sessions, all committee meetings remain open to the public to observe, and many are streamed live. Because there's no fixed statewide sign-up process, the most reliable path is contacting the relevant committee clerk or the bill's sponsor directly, as soon as the bill is referred to committee.

Deadlines and numbers

• 2026 regular session: convened January 14, 2026, adjourned at the constitutional 60th day, March 14, 2026
• Regular sessions always convene the second Wednesday of January. A 30-day recess after day one applies only in years a new governor is inaugurated (next: 2029)
• Public testimony before House committees: by invitation of the chair or vice chair, decided on the first of two required meeting days for a bill
• No published fixed per-speaker time limit and no guaranteed minimum notice period for when a committee posts its agenda

Where to go

• Bill status, committee rosters, legislative calendar: wvlegislature.gov and wvlegislature.gov/Bulletin_Board/calendar/calendar_2026.cfm
• Citizen's Guide to the Legislature: wvlegislature.gov/educational/citizens/com_process.cfm
• House and Senate committee pages: wvlegislature.gov/committees/house/main.cfm and wvlegislature.gov/committees/senate/main.cfm
• Live audio/video: wvlegislature.gov/live.cfm
• Member rosters: wvlegislature.gov/House/roster.cfm and wvlegislature.gov/Senate1/roster.cfm

Rules

There is no single statewide sign-up form, deadline, or time limit for committee testimony in West Virginia. Under the 2025 House rules, participation is by chair or vice chair invitation rather than a public sign-up sheet, so contacting the committee clerk or sponsoring member's office directly is the only confirmed way onto a speaking list. Whether the Senate has adopted an equivalent rule change to the House's is unconfirmed. No dedicated online portal for written testimony was found either. Send it directly to the clerk or member office. Route anything unclear to /engage.