Earlier this year, Republican House lawmakers unveiled their “Jobs First Agenda” in an effort to attract more businesses and get West Virginians working. And Gov. Patrick Morrisey celebrated tax cuts and economic development wins. 

Morrisey said his administration has announced over $12 billion in new investments, which is set to bring more than 12,000 new jobs to the state. 

“The momentum is real,” he wrote on social media this month. 

But Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, says the data tells a different story. 

The state’s largest advocate for businesses has repeatedly warned that employment is declining, the labor force is shrinking and West Virginia is falling behind competing states. 

Lars Dalseide, a spokesman for Morrisey’s office, said the administration believes the recent investments will position the state for stronger job growth in the future while acknowledging some sectors have “experienced challenges.”

Mountain State Spotlight asked Roberts why he believes the governor’s narrative is wrong. 

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

MSS: Steve, after the March jobs report, you said, “With each new jobs report, we are seeing a clearer picture of where West Virginia stands and where we risk falling behind.” What economic indicators are you watching closely, and what are they telling you? 

Roberts: What we’re seeing in West Virginia is a disturbing trend. We are seeing a trend that suggests that we are not creating jobs as fast as we’re losing jobs, and we’ve been losing jobs in the private sector. We are seeing declines in mining jobs, manufacturing jobs, hospitality and tourism and retail. 

I think that a good, hard look at the numbers is what we need to be doing, and understanding these numbers. West Virginians need to know what direction our job picture is going. 

We also pay attention to household income, wage growth and gross domestic product growth. For the last year measured, West Virginia’s domestic output was the 48th slowest-growing gross domestic product in the country.

MSS: This spring, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said: “The ‘Backyard Brawl’ for our state’s future is being won both at the kitchen table and in the marketplace.” He was pointing to billions of dollars of announced investments and thousands of promised jobs as evidence that the state is moving in the right direction. So why have you and the Chamber said that West Virginia is “not keeping pace” with the region or the nation?

Roberts: Let me say, this is not new for us. We have tracked jobs reports, income growth, and GDP for years and years, if not decades and decades, so we’re not doing this because of any one political opponent or anything like that. 

We are simply saying, what does the data show in terms of job creation and economic growth? We will continue to talk about what the data shows. We’ve actually participated in some of those announcements, and we love it when there are good news announcements. But we’re simply looking at what the data says.

MSS: What are you hearing from businesses about the state’s economy that state leaders and rhetoric from the governor are missing? 

Roberts: Well, I just came from a meeting in South Charleston, as an example, where I spoke to employers, community leaders, and so on. One of the first questions that came up was related to the workforce. 

Where do people who are looking for a job go for information? How can we help people get connected? We have a program through our foundation, which is called Workforce Unifiers. 

The Workforce Unifiers program is going out throughout the state and meeting with local groups, economic development, and education representatives of workers and others to say, ‘What are you hearing? What are your needs?’ 

And consistently, what we hear is that employers are having trouble finding workers to replace the workers who are retiring or otherwise leaving the workforce, and that the pipeline, the connecting system, needs to be improved. 

MSS: For decades, West Virginia has had a smaller share of working-age adults employed or looking for work than in any other state. Despite years of proposed fixes from governors, lawmakers and business leaders, that number hasn’t moved much. Why?

Roberts: I think many of our jobs in West Virginia have been in

industrial settings, and those jobs tend to be male-dominated jobs. And I think that over time, we developed a culture in West Virginia that one spouse could work, and the other spouse could stay home. 

There are also people living in rural areas who don’t have transportation, and who don’t have public transportation. So, the ability to get to work or get to a job is an aspect. 

We also don’t have adequate childcare. If a family has children, in many places in West Virginia, there is no choice but to have somebody stay home and take care of the children, because there’s no other place for the children to be.

I’ll give you an example. In my neighborhood, there is a young woman who walks her baby in a stroller, who is a pediatrician. If a child needs a doctor at night, unless her parents are available to take care of the baby, she can’t go to the hospital.

What she points out is that she’s very fortunate; she lives close to her parents. In other words, there’s somebody to care for that baby while she goes to work. So, this is not limited to low-wage, low-skill kinds of jobs. 

An additional factor that I have thought a great deal about is that, because West Virginia’s economy has been distressed over a period of decades, there are simply fewer opportunities for a working spouse. I think one of the reasons our workforce participation rate is low is that we don’t have that many places to work.

MSS: The Chamber has become increasingly vocal about the state’s progress on childcare policy. Why do business leaders see childcare as an economic issue rather than simply a family issue? 

Roberts: We have a declining population, and I think we’re the second-oldest population in the nation, so we have a lot of people who are not available to be in the workforce. 

If you are an employer, and you need workers and you can’t get them, you start asking the question, if you’re working in our workplace and you’re going to leave, why are you leaving?

Well, if the answer is because somebody needs to stay home to take care of children, you as an employer, are just simply motivated to try to find a solution to that. Employers have been pretty vociferous with us in saying that childcare is a real issue, and the lack of childcare is keeping people out of the workplace.

MSS: In a column you submitted to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, you wrote that “policies are the driving force behind the reality you experience” and that policy choices determine whether communities grow or shrink. What policy decisions made in Charleston over the last few years do you think have helped West Virginia’s economy, and what decisions have made growth harder?

Roberts: I think policies such as eliminating the business franchise tax and reducing the corporate net income tax rate are policies that have helped West Virginia’s economy. 

I think when West Virginia passed a right-to-work law, it really sent a positive signal to employers that West Virginia wanted to do things differently and was open to a new way of looking at job creation and economic development. 

I think the failure to pass Amendment Two, which would have eliminated the property tax on business equipment and inventory, sent the wrong signal to businesses because we’re the only state in the nation that has this particular tax. 

When this was all going on, I was visiting my dentist. I was just in the dentist’s chair, and the dentist was saying to me, “I sure hope Amendment Two passes because I pay a whole lot anytime I buy a new piece of equipment to make your dental procedure go faster or be less painful. I’m being taxed for upgrading.” 

We also need to reassure the county emergency services and the county bus services that we’re not trying to defund them or take money away from them. We simply have to look at another way of funding them than by penalizing businesses for growing.

Also, passing the child tax credit bills over the past couple of years has helped because we have businesses that are taking advantage of that, and they are adding childcare to what they offer to employees to come to work here. 

MSS: Gov. Morrisey recently said West Virginia needs to invest in schools and workforce training programs to meet future demand for construction workers and other skilled trades. You have argued that the jobs of the future will require more education and specialized skills. How is West Virginia preparing workers for those jobs?

Roberts: We think there are some noteworthy examples that we should take a look at and learn from. 

There is a combined Jackson-Roane County Community Technical Education Center. They are producing more welders than any other program at the high school level, than any other program we have in the state. That, by all accounts, is a successful program, and it’s somewhat unique in West Virginia. 

It is a program for multiple counties, and it is also very focused on skills that are needed in that community. For instance, in Jackson County, where there’s Century Aluminum, they are focusing on the kinds of jobs that companies are creating and are in need of. 

What we need to do is ramp up those models.

MSS: You’ve written that businesses won’t move to a state unless they can find workers with the skills they need. State leaders are betting heavily on manufacturing projects, energy development and data centers. Does West Virginia currently have the workforce to support that vision?

Roberts: It’s a mixed bag. The answer depends on where.

For instance, take a look at Monongalia County, which is now second in population. Monongalia County is graduating people from high school, people from community and technical education, and people from West Virginia University, and we see economic growth without question. 

We also see economic growth in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Where we’re not seeing growth is in the more isolated and rural communities of West Virginia. 

I gave a talk at Glenville State University about six or eight months ago, in which I talked about the “hollowing out” of West Virginia. The central part of West Virginia is hollowing out, but the border communities are where there is opportunity for growth. 

MSS: The Chamber and Republican leaders generally agree on issues like taxes, regulation and economic development. But there appears to be a growing divide over diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Gov. Morrisey has said “No more DEI,” while the Chamber has pledged to oppose legislation that “promotes or allows discrimination.” Is this an area where the business community and state leaders are moving in different directions? 

Roberts: I think realistically, the answer is yes. 

Employers say that they want to be able to hire the best people, regardless of their race, gender, or country of origin. Frankly, business is just better at running business than government. Regardless of who is in charge, the government doesn’t need to tell businesses how to run their business.

So this is nothing new for us. This is not a new position we have created. We’ve always opposed discrimination in the workforce. 

We’re not saying that the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion is automatically discrimination. There are those who would argue that it isn’t. But we do not think we should give any signals or vibes that we want to be a discriminatory state or a state where discrimination is encouraged. 

One of the most obvious ways to discourage discrimination is to support diversity and openness and a welcome for all. I have long said, if you had a sick child and you needed a doctor, you wouldn’t ask what that doctor’s race is, or what that doctor’s gender is, or what country that doctor is from. 

That’s all we’re really asking: that the state acknowledge that business wants to be able to make its own decisions without undue government interference.

MSS: If you were sitting down with Gov. Morrisey and legislative leaders tomorrow, what are the most important things you would tell them they could do over the next two years to strengthen West Virginia’s economy? 

Roberts: I would start with education, and I would say helping educators do their jobs, both at the higher education level and K-12. 

For instance, we need to assure teachers that if they enter the teaching profession, they’re going to make a minimum salary of at least $50,000 a year. That is, that is something the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce believes in, our members believe in, and they are willing to support it. 

Second, I think without spending any money, we could have a better, stronger workforce effort in West Virginia. West Virginia’s workforce efforts are largely paid for by federal dollars, but we need to examine the effectiveness of our workforce programs. 

Frankly, we need businesses to have a bigger voice and a better seat at the table for workforce development.

Q&A: Gov. Patrick Morrisey says West Virginia’s economic momentum is real. The state’s top business advocate thinks the state is falling behind. appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia’s civic newsroom.

About a week after Mountain State Spotlight wrote about Clay County’s only childcare center, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw visited Taylor Tots Daycare to hear firsthand about challenges faced by the childcare provider in his district. 

Workers at the Wallback center told Hanshaw about rising costs, a lack of available staff and the growing difficulty families faced in finding care in the county. 

Hanshaw told the staff he wanted to continue discussions about the challenges facing the childcare industry and to schedule another meeting.

But Taylor Tots will close at the end of June, leaving Clay County without a licensed childcare center for infants and toddlers.

Owner Allie Taylor said she made the difficult decision to close because it became too expensive to operate, and she isn’t sure what’s next for her, her staff or the parents she serves. 

“Parents are panicked because we were the only ones around,” she said. 

The closure comes as West Virginia’s childcare system faces mounting pressure, leaving thousands of children without access to care and many families with few options. Over 200 centers have closed within the past two years.

At the same time, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said the state’s primary fund for assisting needy families has been supporting programs it can no longer afford. 

He said he would be specifically looking for changes with childcare assistance, among other areas, as officials search for millions of dollars in budget savings.

In 2023, West Virginia spent about $22 million in funding on childcare assistance, making it the assistance program’s second-largest spending category.

Providers across West Virginia say low worker pay, staffing shortages and rising operational costs have made it increasingly difficult to keep centers open, especially in rural communities where families already have limited options for care.

Taylor Tots served up to 27 children in a county where more than 90% of young children lack access to care.

“We’ve had to send parents information for centers in Kanawha and Braxton counties,” Taylor said. “We gave them a month, and we hope it’s enough time.” 

Morrisey is reviewing childcare funding 

Last week, the Morrisey administration announced it was searching for savings within the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, commonly known as TANF. 

During a press conference, Gov. Morrisey announced his administration had identified millions in potential savings through agency audits. 

As part of that process, he said he discovered West Virginia’s TANF program was facing a $43 million funding gap. 

Kelly Allen, director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said on social media that she was concerned about lawmakers and the governor needing to use TANF funding reserves to keep the state budget flat. 

She said the money could be used for multiple programs, but it is primarily for child welfare. But because lawmakers haven’t put enough regular state funding into childcare, the state is now using that money to plug budget holes that years of underfunding created. 

Childcare providers have repeatedly warned that cuts to subsidies or unstable funding could make it harder for low-income families to afford care and place more financial pressure on centers already struggling to stay open.

But House Finance Chair Del. Vernon Criss, R-Wood, said lawmakers weren’t warned during state budget discussions about major TANF funding problems. 

Criss questioned whether the administration’s projected shortfall represented an immediate budget emergency.

“I’m inclined to believe this is an artificial crisis,” he said. 

The debate over the assistance funding comes as West Virginia’s childcare system has already struggled. Over 28,000 children lack access to childcare across the state, while families struggle to afford care costs and providers are underfunded. 

Hanshaw said two years ago that childcare was one of his top priorities for the Legislative session. But he introduced no legislation to fix it, and though he is the speaker of the House with a Republican supermajority, the legislature passed no childcare proposals, and the 2024 session ended without any plan to help parents and providers. 

During this year’s Legislative session, a Mountain State Spotlight reporter stopped Hanshaw outside the House chamber and asked him how state leaders planned to address child care shortages. 

He requested we direct our questions to his spokesperson. She did not respond to our questions.

Hanshaw did not respond to additional requests for comment this week about the center’s closure.

For parents like April Taylor, the closure leaves more uncertainty about how they will continue working while finding care for their children. April Taylor is a nurse who needs care for the seven-month-old child she is fostering.

Without another center nearby, she said, she has no other options. 

“I’m now a desperate mother.” 

Henry Culvyhouse contributed reporting.

‘I’m now a desperate mother’: Clay County’s only daycare center is closing as Morrisey looks to cut assistance for childcare appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia’s civic newsroom.

West Virginia’s childcare system is under growing strain: The cost of care is more than many families can afford, the wages for childcare workers are inadequate and the number of spots for kids is shrinking. 

Providers are struggling to hire workers, expand capacity and keep their doors open, leaving more than 28,000 children without access to care.

Business leaders, providers and parents say the shortage is a workforce issue, keeping some parents from working and making it harder for employers to retain staff.

The problem persists as West Virginia continues trying to increase the number of people actively working and participating in the labor force, which remains the lowest in the nation.

Here are a few challenges faced by West Virginia’s childcare industry and the families it serves, visualized in three charts:

Childcare consumes a significant share of household income

The average cost of childcare in West Virginia can set families back over $10,000 a year, almost a fifth of the state’s median household income.

To help families afford the cost, the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant subsidizes care based on household income through West Virginia’s Connect program. 

Those payments are sent directly to childcare providers as reimbursements from the state.

About 6,500 children receive subsidies for care through the program. Families whose childcare is subsidized pay an average of $120 a month. 

Childcare workers earn less than a living wage

Though the cost of childcare is high, childcare workers aren’t reaping the benefits. 

One of the biggest challenges facing West Virginia’s childcare industry is retaining workers.

The median hourly wage for childcare workers in the state is about $13 an hour, according to federal labor data. That is only slightly higher than the median wage for fast food and counter workers and well below the estimated living wage.

A living wage is the measure of how much it would cost to support a household with at least one full-time income. In West Virginia, it’s about $20 an hour for a single adult with no children. 

Providers say low wages make it difficult to recruit workers into an industry already facing high turnover and staffing shortages.

The shortages can have ripple effects throughout the system. When providers cannot hire enough workers, they may have to close classrooms, reduce enrollment or stop expanding, even when demand remains high.

Part of the reason workers aren’t paid competitively is reimbursement rates.

The state reimburses childcare centers serving infants and toddlers with subsidies 42% of what it costs to provide care.  

But those rates don’t often reflect the actual cost of care for childcare centers. That means centers are often reimbursed for less, which lowers revenues and leaves centers less to pay workers. 

And recent changes to how the state reimburses for childcare have cost some providers thousands of dollars a month, while the Trump administration works to rewrite Biden-era rules that helped steady the industry. 

Several other states have created programs offering childcare workers stipends, free healthcare or free childcare in an effort to buoy their workforce.

Many counties lack enough childcare access

Childcare access varies widely across West Virginia. 

In some counties, the demand for childcare outpaces the supply of licensed providers, leaving children without care and parents stuck on months-long waiting lists. 

In rural central West Virginia, multiple counties only have one or two providers to serve hundreds of children. For example, Calhoun, Clay and Wirt counties have some of the highest gaps of access. 

In Clay County, parents only have one provider. That means, if the center is full, parents have to drive out of the county for care. 

Meanwhile, over 200 childcare centers in the state have closed since 2024. 

Other states have found innovative ways to address the challenges of a lack of childcare. 

Michigan lawmakers implemented a cost-share program that would help parents afford care by splitting costs with employers, providers and the state. And New Mexico became the first state in the country to provide universal free childcare for low-income families, funded by oil and gas industry revenue. 

Business leaders at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce have argued for expanding childcare access to increase the number of parents in the workforce. 

They have offered several proposals to lawmakers, many of which have not been put on committee agendas by the Republican supermajority or signed into law. 

But lawmakers did pass a bill that would expand the state’s childcare tax credit and clarify how providers are reimbursed.

Del. Bob Fehrenbacher, the bill’s sponsor, said the lack of childcare access for families has increasingly affected the state’s economy and workforce. 

He said lawmakers are still trying to understand the true cost of providing childcare in the state and whether providers are being reimbursed enough to remain sustainable.

“And if there is a gap — and I expect there to be a gap — what do we do about that?” he said.

Childcare in West Virginia is costly, scarce and workers are poorly paid. Here’s what the data shows. appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia’s civic newsroom.

Voters rejected judges who were appointed to West Virginia’s high courts, despite hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by outside groups to keep them on the bench. 

Voters in both parties had the opportunity to elect judges to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and to the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals. And in all three races, West Virginians opted to oust the judges on the bench. 

On the state Supreme Court, Gov. Patrick Morrisey had appointed Gerald Titus and Thomas Ewing to the bench last year after death and retirement opened two vacancies. Then-Gov. Jim Justice appointed Dan Greear to the Intermediate Court of Appeals in 2022.

A political campaign organization with links to conservative activist Leonard Leo spent thousands of dollars to keep Titus and Greear on the bench. Leo is credited with helping pick a U.S. Supreme Court that would overturn abortion rights and the Voting Rights Act.

Titus, who started hearing cases in January, faced a crowded field of four other attorneys vying for a seat on the state’s highest court. On Tuesday night, retired Raleigh County Circuit Court Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick rose to the top, defeating Titus by around 10,000 votes. 

Kirkpatrick led a folksy style campaign, appearing in social media advertisements discussing his recipe for cornbread. But he also brought experience — nearly 30 years on the bench — having first been appointed by Gov. Gaston Caperton in 1996 to serve in circuit court. 

He will serve for six years before he will be up for election again for a full 12-year term. 

Black Bear PAC, a group that spent millions helping Morrisey’s election in 2024, also pushed thousands of dollars to help Titus. 

The same PAC spent money to support Ewing. Del. Bill Flanigan, R-Ohio, beat Ewing by more than 30,000 votes.  Flanigan will be up for reelection in two years to vie for a full 12-year term. 

Over the last two decades, outside interests have helped shift the state Supreme Court to the right, starting with the ouster in 2004 of progressive justice Warren McGraw after coal baron Don Blankenship funded attack ads against him. 

How the new judges will steer the state’s high court remains to be seen. Flanigan, who served two non-consecutive terms in the House of Delegates, has broken ranks with his party before. 

In the 2025 session, he pushed to amend a bill closing an exception to gender affirming care for minors to allow for children to gradually wean off their medication.  He also voted against an attempt to undermine the state’s vaccine requirements for school children. 

Kirkpatrick said he would fit in with the current makeup of the state Supreme Court. He described his judicial philosophy as being like a referee. 

“I had a good friend that was a football and basketball official, and he always gave me this advice:  He said, call them like you see them. Make your ruling based on your experience and your knowledge, and go on.” 

Kanawha County Family Court Judge Jim Douglas beat current Intermediate Court Justice Dan Greear by 30,000 votes. 

Douglas will be the first justice of the Intermediate Court with a family law background. Around a quarter of the court’s docket is family law appeals. 

“People have to say, we’ve had enough,” Douglas said in an interview before the election. “We’ve had enough of this out-of-state money. And we’re not going to elect people that took out-of-state money.” 

Correction, May 14, 2026:  This story was updated to reflect corrections in the title of the Voting Rights Act and the spelling of Leonard Leo’s name. The update also corrects that Judge H.L. Kirkpatrick appeared in social media advertisements discussing his recipe for cornbread, not his recipe for pinto beans.

West Virginians vote out high court judges despite heavy spending by conservative groups appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia’s civic newsroom.

Voters across West Virginia approved most school levies and bond measures on Tuesday’s primary ballot, giving millions of dollars in local funding to support employee salaries, meal programs and school construction projects. 

Voters approved seven out of the 10 school funding measures on ballots across the state in several counties, including Tyler, Wetzel and Wirt counties. 

In Berkeley County, voters approved a new$115 million bond levy to support renovations across the school district and construction of a new middle school and career and technical education center. 

But others were rejected.

Voters in Summers County nixed a $4 million levy to hire more teachers and upgrade playgrounds. Another $32 million bond levy, which would have funded the construction of a new athletic complex and new stadium, was rejected by voters in Braxton County. 

Most of the measures on Tuesday’s ballot were renewals of existing excess levies rather than new taxes.

Districts face growing financial strain

The votes come as public schools across West Virginia face financial pressures, with some districts laying off teachers and encountering budget shortfalls. About 235,000 children are enrolled in the state’s public school system.

Earlier this year, lawmakers commissioned a study that concluded the state should increase its investment in public schools and direct more money to students in poverty or with disabilities. 

Instead, lawmakers kept funding the same while fully funding the Hope Scholarship program, which provides public money for private education. 

The levy results also highlighted how districts increasingly rely on local tax dollars to fund services beyond what the state’s school aid formula can adequately support.

“The school funding formula is a bit outdated and doesn’t reflect the needs of school students nowadays,” said Kelly Allen, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.

Allen said school nurses, counselors and social workers are among the positions local districts must help fund beyond what the state formula provides. 

She said differences in property values between counties can also affect how much funding districts can generate through excess levies.

“People broadly are supportive of their local schools and want to make sure students in those places have all the resources that they need,” she said.

The stakes of the levy votes varied by county, but many districts tied the funding directly to operational services and student support programs. 

In Tyler County, voters renewed a $123 million levy that funds transportation and free meal programs, a year after the West Virginia Board of Education intervened in the district over concerns about district leadership and oversight. 

Some voters said they viewed the levies as investments in their communities and local schools.

Peter Mathieson, who recently moved to Berkeley County from New York, said he heard concerns from some community members about whether parts of the district’s proposed career and technical education expansion were necessary, but ultimately decided to support the bond.

“I’m a strong supporter of public education,” he said.

West Virginia voters approved most measures to fund public schools during the 2026 primary election appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia’s civic newsroom.

Two workers died and another 19 were injured last week after a chemical leak in Kanawha County at a silver-based manufacturing plant. The response from emergency responders, regulators and residents was swift. 

But the state has a long history of incidents where West Virginians have died on the job. Forty workers died at their workplaces in 2024, the most recent year for which federal data is available.

The state remains one of the deadliest places to work in the country, ranking seventh worst nationwide, according to the AFL-CIO’s Death on the Job report. 

The report tracks workplace injuries, deaths and illnesses in each state, as well as how often employers are inspected. 

And even though fatalities had dropped slightly from the previous year, labor leaders warn federal cuts to workplace safety agencies could leave workers with fewer protections.

Labor leaders say the Trump administration’s efforts to repeal safety regulations and downsize federal agencies that investigate unsafe working conditions in industries are undermining protections for workers.

“It is clear that health and safety for America’s workers is not a priority for this administration,” officials wrote in the AFL-CIO report. 

During a memorial ceremony in Barboursville, West Virginia, AFL-CIO President Josh Sword read the names of the workers who died on the job last year, pausing as a bell tolled after each one. 

He said there was no shortage of dangerous jobs in West Virginia, but there is a shortage of accountability needed to protect workers at the state and federal levels. 

“We have to hold the line against attacks on worker safety and demand stronger enforcement of the laws meant to protect people on the job,” he said. 

Trump administration threatens workplace safety

Last year, federal officials proposed eliminating more than 90% of the workforce at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an agency that studies workplace hazards. 

The layoffs were later reversed, but the move jeopardized the research scientists and engineers at the agency were conducting. 

The cuts are part of a broader move to scale back federal workplace safety protections and shrink the size of the federal government. 

The administration has proposed reduced funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, limiting its ability to enforce safety rules and inspect job sites.  

U.S. Department of Labor officials requested a decrease of 89 full-time employees and a $46 million reduction in OSHA’s budget. 

In West Virginia, where the federal OSHA agency oversees workplace safety, enforcement is already stretched thin. 

Only six federal inspectors are available to ensure the safety of over 695,000 employees and review over 60,000 employers. It could take 186 years to inspect every workplace in the state at least once, according to the report. 

In 2011, there were 10 inspectors.

An OSHA spokesperson did not respond to questions about proposed funding cuts to the agency and the implications of fewer inspectors in West Virginia.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has also halted certain mine safety inspections and proposed eliminating independent investigations into chemical accidents. 

Labor leaders warn that together, the changes could weaken federal oversight in a state that already ranks among the most dangerous places to work. 

At the end of Tuesday’s ceremony in Barboursville, the bell rang again, a final reminder of the workers who never made it home. 

Sword said the goal was simple. 

“We will not stop,” he said. “Until one year, on this day, no names will be read.” 

West Virginia is one of the deadliest states for workers. Federal safety rollbacks could make things worse. appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia’s civic newsroom.

WALLBACK — When her husband worked in another state, Autumn Mays had to give up her job at the nearby Family Dollar. There was no one to watch their son, Oliver, and nowhere in Clay County to take him. 

Now, instead of clocking in at the store, she spends her mornings helping kids at the Taylor Tots Daycare Center trace letters, shout out their favorite colors and finger paint under-the-sea animals. 

Oliver finally made it off the center’s months-long waitlist, and Mays took a job at the center so she could work while he learns. 

“I had a management job, good pay and all,” she said. “But it’s not great when you have to pay for childcare. It’s just hard to work as a mom.”

Taylor Tots is the only licensed provider in Clay County, with room for about  27 children at a time. 

In a county where more than 90% of kids lack access to formal childcare, and in the home district of House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, one of West Virginia’s most powerful lawmakers, parents are either stuck on waitlists or have to travel to other counties for care.

As he and other lawmakers run for reelection, parents in his home district say they’re still waiting for meaningful action and lasting fixes to West Virginia’s childcare crisis. 

Mays said she wants lawmakers to invest in more childcare centers, after-school programs and grow the number of childcare workers in the industry. 

“It’d be really nice if we had a bigger daycare and more employees,” she said.

Behind one small center in Clay County is a statewide childcare problem

The shortage isn’t unique to Clay County. More than 26,000 children lack access to childcare across West Virginia, because there aren’t enough available slots, and parents often wait months or even years for openings, if they find one at all.

Meanwhile, nearly a hundred providers have closed in the past year, as rising costs, staffing shortages and policy changes make it harder for centers to stay open.

Two years ago, House Speaker Hanshaw, R-Clay, said childcare was one of his top priorities for the Legislative session. But he did not introduce any legislation, and the session ended without any initiatives to expand access. 

Hanshaw did not respond to questions about childcare in his district. 

In his county, more than 160 children don’t have access to childcare. That shortage shows up in daily life for parents like McKenzie Osborne, a special education teacher who lives just a few minutes from Taylor Tots. 

She put her daughter, Collins, on the waitlist as soon as she found out she was pregnant. Collins was born prematurely at 33 weeks, and Osborne hoped to keep her home for at least a year because of health concerns. 

But after five months, the family’s patchwork plan of texting relatives and friends each week to see who could fill gaps had fallen apart. 

“It was chaos,” she said. “Sometimes my husband would have to stay home from work, or I would have to stay home from work.”

They briefly looked into in-home care in another county and even discussed moving closer to more centers. 

“Teachers are needed everywhere,” Osborne said. “If it had come to it, we would’ve had to move just so we could both keep working.” 

Osborne finally got a spot for Collins last year. 

She said there aren’t enough opportunities for other parents who aren’t as fortunate to find childcare, and she wants lawmakers to invest resources and funding to help create more centers in the area. 

Owner Allie Taylor has been the only licensed childcare provider in Clay County for over five years. Her building can hold at most 27 children at a time, which is a tiny fraction of the kids who live there. 

She said the center currently has seven or eight toddlers waiting for care, with little space left for infants and newborns. 

“For some families, they have to go to Charleston if they work that way,” she said. “It’s not easy to find people around here that can babysit your kids Monday through Friday.” 

Families who live on the far ends of the county face an even tougher choice. Getting to Taylor Tots can mean a 30-to-45-minute drive each way, and if the center is full, the next closest option is often in Kanawha or Braxton County. 

Kayla Keen, a nurse who works in Charleston, makes that drive every day from  Clendenin to drop her son off at the center before heading to work because it’s more affordable.  

“To me, it’s worth the big loop I’m making every day, because this is the best place for him,” she said. “We checked Charleston, but it was double the price.”

Taylor Tots charges private-pay families $165 a week for childcare. However, it accepts subsidy payments through the state’s Connect program, and 13 children are enrolled.

Lawmakers slow to pass childcare solutions 

In Charleston, lawmakers across party lines have acknowledged West Virginia’s childcare problems and the role it’s played in keeping people out of the workforce. 

But in recent years, few proposals aimed to stabilize the childcare industry have made it across the finish line. 

This year, lawmakers again introduced a handful of bills to address the issue. 

Sen. Ben Queen, R-Harrison, introduced legislation to increase and retain childcare workers by subsidizing their own childcare costs.  

But Sen. Brian Helton, R-Fayette, never put the bill on the agenda for the Senate Health and Human Resources committee, which he chairs. During the session, Helton said it was a “good bill,” but he was focused on child welfare reform. 

Del. Bob Fehrenbacher, R- Wood, backed a bill to create a new childcare tax credit for employers and clarify how providers are paid, which became law. He said the changes were meant to bring stability.

Still, he said, more work was needed to address the broader shortage and keep parents in the workforce. 

“If we don’t support childcare, the impact to families, employers and the state’s economy will be felt,” he said.

But broader proposals to lower costs for families or increase state funding have continued to stall; lawmakers never put them on agendas for discussion. 

Meanwhile, childcare deserts have persisted. 

In places like Clay County, that lack of action shows up in daily decisions families and providers have to make. It leaves Taylor and her staff trying to solve a math problem they say they can’t fix on their own. 

She said she’s tried to grow to meet demand. She recently raised tuition and hired more staff, but still struggles. 

“Everything is so expensive, and it’s hard to keep staff,” she said. “Our pay is not great, but if we charge parents more, we’ll lose them. The whole system is tough, and daycares are struggling.”

Because Taylor Tots is a for-profit business, Taylor said many grants are out of reach, limiting her ability to expand even as demand grows.

For parents in Clay County, the shortage determines whether they can work, where they can live and whether they can stay.

And as lawmakers campaign for reelection, many say they’re still waiting for solutions that match the scale of the problem.

In a county with just one option, parents say even small changes could make a difference. Foster parent April Taylor said she wants lawmakers to invest more money into childcare.

“If there were funds for a bigger facility or more facilities in the county, we could get more people working,” she said. 

Some workers at the center say low wages and a lack of state support are driving childcare workers out of the field. 

Macaiah Hensley, who works in the infant room and brings her own toddler, Everleigh, to the center, said she wants lawmakers to support bigger centers or more centers in the county, along with better pay and training for staff.

“We definitely don’t make the money that we should watching kids all day long,” she said. “We’re basically helping raise these children and get them ready for school, but it’s hard to find people who can afford to do this work.”

26,000 West Virginia kids lack childcare access. These Clay County parents want answers from their lawmakers. appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia’s civic newsroom.

TRIADELPHIA — On June 14, 2025, Ashlie Howard was cooking bratwursts on the grill at her home on the east side of Triadelphia along U.S. 40. 

It was a summer day, with a little bit of intermittent rain, Howard recalled. Her step-mother called, concerned there would be flooding. 

“I thought she was overreacting.  I was like, everything’s fine,” Howard said. 

Howard took the brats off the grill, took them inside and fixed some plates for her and her children. When she came back outside, the creek behind her home had risen 6 feet. 

That’s when the alerts went off on her phone, warning of the coming flood. 

Howard acted fast, packing her kids in the car and raced to get away from the creek. She sped towards Roney’s Point, a high spot where some family lived. The water had risen over the road. 

“I busted a u-ie on Route 40,” she said. 

Fording through the waters, she made it to a motel up on the hill — without power, with nowhere to go, her family sought shelter in the lobby. 

The flooding took nine lives and destroyed dozens of homes and businesses, including Howard’s, in the small town of Triadelphia. Ten months later, the community is still going through the slow and difficult process of rebuilding. 

The flood, and the aftermath, have shown residents in Triadelphia all sorts of issues that lawmakers could address in the state. From identifying bridge ownership to additional training for volunteer firefighters, those who lived through the flood have ideas on what could help the next community. 

Quicker action on the ground

At the beginning of the 2026 Legislative session, flooding was top of mind for lawmakers after Gov. Patrick Morrisey pitched an early warning system pilot program — something Howard agrees might’ve prevented her from having to risk driving her car through high water with her two kids and three cats. 

But the measure failed to pass. Lawmakers did put $5 million into the Flood Resiliency Fund, the first time it’s ever been funded. That money will go to prevent or mitigate flooding. None of it went into the fund for recovery, leaving recovery efforts to the federal government.

That could be a problem in the future. 

Since taking office in 2025, President Donald Trump has said he wants to reduce the role of FEMA in responding to disasters, leaving more of those responsibilities to the states. 

Pastor Mike Palmer, of the Triadelphia United Methodist Church, has been involved in relief efforts since the morning after the floods. After spending all night camped in a gas station parking lot, he was able to get to his church in the middle of town, only to find it had been spared. 

The preacher pulled out a grill and started flipping hamburgers for rescue workers, residents and anyone in need. Quickly, his church parking lot turned into one of several supply hubs in the area, handing out food, water, clothing and cleaning supplies. 

Palmer now serves on the long-term recovery committee, a group of volunteers who help coordinate the rebuilding process. 

The lack of a quick response — the President didn’t sign a disaster declaration until 38 days after the flood — is a sore spot for some of those who lived through it. 

He said one thing that stands out to him is how long the recovery response takes. While he’s forgiving about the months-long delay for a FEMA Disaster Declaration — shaking his head, only saying, “it is what it is” — he does want to see quicker action on the ground in these types of events.   

“I think some better legislation is needed to eliminate some of the red tape you have to go through. Something like this should come down to I think one phone call, and act on it now,” he said. 

Twenty-five-year-old Niamh Coomey, who lives in Wheeling, said she volunteered for two weeks at the disaster site with a local group called Ohio Valley Mutual Aid. She helped coordinate volunteers for “muck-outs” — removing the unsanitary mud from houses to help prevent molding. 

“There was kind of like a running joke — not really a joke — that we were kind of like the FEMA of the area when that happened, because FEMA wasn’t there — and that’s insane,” she said. 

State Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio, is running for reelection in the First District, which includes Triadelphia. She said she’s supportive of efforts like an early warning system and more funding. 

“I will say that the governor does have a civil contingency fund for these types of situations, and so we need to make sure that’s funded in a healthy way and accessible in a timely manner,” she said.  

Planning ahead

On an early April morning, Palmer drives around Triadelphia, cataloging the catastrophe. He points to houses, saying how this one is slated to be knocked down, then pointing to the next, saying the home owner is trying to rebuild. 

He pulls his Ford sedan down a gravel road and points over at a metal bridge, connecting the town to six houses dotted across a steep hill. 

“They had to walk their kids across the creek to get to school,” Palmer said. 

Up that hill lives Sarah Hall. She runs a small homestead, raising chickens and produce for market. On the day of the flood, she watched two shipping containers careen down the stream and slam into the bridge she and her neighbors used to get on and off the hill for years. 

“You could hear the steel screeching, like it echoed when that bridge broke — I’ll never forget that sound,” she said. 

For three days, Hall and her family were stuck on the hill without running water or electricity. But the real work began after the flood waters receded. Rebuilding the bridge was tricky, because ownership of the bridge was unclear, since it was a remnant from an old coal mine. 

Hall said she worked the phones up and down the line trying to get help from the state, federal and county governments. Messages went unanswered, or she was passed off to someone else who would tell her it wasn’t their problem. 

In the meantime, Hall and her family had to schedule trips to the grocery store based on the level of the creek, always packing light to get their supplies up the hill. If heavy rains were forecasted, the family had to stock up. 

“This really got me interested in politics, because I see how little our elected officials actually help,” she said. 

Hall said the $5 million in the flood resilience fund is a good start, but she wants to see more resources directed toward preparing for floods. And she would like laws to clarify ownership on old bridges. 

Democrat Shawn Fluharty, who currently serves in the House of Delegates and is now running for Chapman’s seat, said that money in the flood resiliency fund is just a start. 

“We have to have the ability to stand up on our own and protect our people, and part of that is making sure the flood resiliency fund is properly funded,” Fluharty said. 

Directly across the creek, at the Triadelphia Volunteer Fire Department, the rebuild process continues. Inside the station, bunk gear hangs on racks, with no lockers to put them in. 

Assistant Fire Chief Kera Allietta said when the flood hit, it ripped through the back wall, sending gear down U.S. 40, the main thoroughfare in town. 

“It ripped all of that metal up, and the water came in, and it got so high in that room that it ripped the whole wall out, and everything went right out the front,” she said. “Tool boxes, stuff you would never think should be moving like that.” 

In the months following the flood, Allietta said the department leaned on other fire companies to fill the need while Triadelphia rebuilt. She said they had discussions about whether to move the station, which is butted up against the creek banks. 

Triadelphia is one of many fire stations throughout the state built in a flood plain. She said while getting to higher ground is ideal, all available higher ground would’ve been outside the city limits, and the charter of her department mandates it remains in the town. 

“We did all the things that we could do, as far as putting everything up now – the hot water tanks, the electrical and just making sure the drains are good, to try to mitigate any damage should something this bad ever happen again,” she said. 

Allietta said looking back on the flood, she believes there needs to be more training for volunteer firefighters to work with FEMA. 

“You start looking at specialized training with FEMA and emergency management issues,” she said. “I don’t believe we were as prepared as we could be.” 

Joe Eddy, who is challenging Chapman in the Republican primary, said issues both big and small — from setting aside money in case the feds pull back from disaster management, to regulating the storage of shipping containers to prevent them becoming projectiles in a flood — require funding and implementing the existing state flood resiliency plan.  

“It sounds like a really expensive program,” he said. “So is clean up, and so is loss of life.” 

For people in Triadelphia, the surest bet for help is each other. Howard, the mother who braved the waters for safety, said she has since relocated to a more elevated part of town. While she received help from FEMA, she said most help came from the community itself. 

“I had people just reach out. It’s just so many people like people on Facebook, people through the churches, people through OV Mutual Aid did a lot,” she said. 

But some things can’t be replaced — pictures, baby clothes, momentos. Howard lost all those in the flood. An early warning system could’ve helped her at least grab a few of those things. 

“If there was more time, I would have at least grabbed memorable things, my kids’ things,” she said. “But there was just no time, no time at all.” 

A Northern Panhandle town is still recovering from flooding. They have some suggestions for elected officials. appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia’s civic newsroom.

Despite promises such facilities would provide a significant economic boost, data centers that locate in West Virginia could avoid paying any state taxes, under a proposal making its way through the Legislature.

The tax credit under consideration would apply to warehouses and factories, but is being promoted specifically as a way to help ensure West Virginia lands data center projects that are being considered for locations across the country.

Department of Revenue officials cautioned that the bill could result in a decrease in general tax collections “of some significance,” but in a report to lawmakers, did not attempt a specific estimate of those losses.

In its own report, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy took a stab at providing such an estimate. They found the proposal could “potentially offset all state taxes” for data centers.

The proposal would allow businesses investing at least $2.5 million or creating 10 jobs to receive a tax credit, or reduction in their state tax bill for a decade. But job creation is not a requirement. And the bigger the investment, the larger the credit. 

If the tax credit became law, it could cause a significant loss in tax money according to a report from Mark Muchow, a deputy revenue secretary. Muchow did not provide an estimate as to how much. 

But his assessment found the bill would open the door for affiliates of a company to take advantage of the credit, too, which means a company with multiple subsidiaries could use the tax break repeatedly. 

The tax credit is intended to bring in businesses, and its sponsor, Del. Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, said the amount the state would bring in as a result would offset any losses. 

Tax money from data centers was supposed to go toward reducing personal income tax and to help county coffers. Last week, the Morrisey administration touted the tax revenue stream.

Del. Chuck Horst, R-Berkeley, said he was concerned that data centers provide few jobs, so giving them a tax break makes them less economically valuable to the state. 

“What is attractive about them is simply the amount of revenue they generate for the state,” Horst said. “And I have concerns that we’re going to give them tax breaks on that revenue, so we reduce the amount that the state would receive.” 

West Virginia isn’t alone in looking into tax breaks for data centers.

Thirty-seven states provide tax breaks for these projects. Neighboring Virginia and Maryland, for example, have exempted data centers from paying sales tax.

But some states are rethinking their tax breaks due to concerns over water and power usage and public sentiment against the centers. Last year, Minnesota rolled back a sales tax exemption on electricity purchases for data centers. Maryland and Arizona are contemplating similar legislation. 

And subsidies for data centers, or any large scale project, aren’t usually the determining factor in why a company locates to an area, according to  John C. Mozena, president of The Center for Economic Accountability.

“Data centers will locate in West Virginia if it makes good business sense to do so, based on fundamental factors like electricity prices and reliability, site availability and infrastructure quality,” he said. “Nobody’s going to build a data center on a site that doesn’t make sense, and there aren’t enough sites that make sense that states need to bribe data center operators to build there.” 

In Tucker County, residents have spent nearly a year organizing against a proposed data center. There, they have rallied against West Virginia’s original data center law, which stripped away local control over where data centers could be built and sucked up 70% of local taxes. Last week, the state Air Quality Board ruled against those residents in their challenge to a key environmental permit for the project.

Shaena Crossland, who owns Sister Witches Crafting Company in Davis, said news of the proposed tax break was disheartening. 

“It’s definitely a slap in the face,” she said. 

Public comments filed in the House of Delegates have largely rebuked the bill. 

House Finance Chair Vernon Criss, R-Wood, said they are continuing to work on the bill in the committee. 

West Virginia could get nothing in taxes from data centers for a decade under proposed bill appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia’s civic newsroom.

At 93, Anna Lee Pettit lives alone in a first-floor apartment at Morgantown’s Unity House Apartments, where she can get her mail indoors and avoid hauling garbage outside in the winter. 

She survives on Social Security benefits and said she wouldn’t have made it without affordable housing after her husband died. She now pays $435 a month for rent on top of her electric and phone bills. 

Pettit said she was fortunate that subsidized housing was available for her.

“They need to build more of them here in Morgantown,” she said. “So they can help seniors and those with disabilities.”

Across the state, more than 60,000 West Virginians rely on federal rental assistance. Most of them are seniors, children and people with disabilities. 

But many of them could lose the help, because a growing share of those properties is nearing the end of the federal restrictions that keep rents low. 

Over the next 5 to 10 years, the state is projected to lose more than a quarter of its federally subsidized low-income rental units as incentives to keep rent affordable expire, according to a new statewide housing report. 

Nearly 200 properties, 28% of the state’s total, are scheduled to reach the end of their federal affordability period between 2029 and 2034, according to data from the National Housing Preservation Database.

Whether that housing remains affordable will largely depend on state policy choices. 

Other states have stepped in 

As federal affordability restrictions expire, many states have moved to protect low-income renters by creating their own state-level housing tax credits.  

About 30 states have adopted state-level low-income housing tax credits or similar preservation programs, which supplement the federal credit. These state credits are often used to fund repairs, new construction, or to extend affordability agreements with property owners after federal requirements expire.

Neighboring states like Ohio and Virginia are among the states that have implemented their own housing tax programs, allowing them to be proactive. 

Ohio’s low-income housing tax credit was created in 2023 and is modeled on the federal program. It allows property owners to claim state credits for 10 years, and can be combined with the federal credit. Virginia’s housing credit was created in 2021 and can be claimed for between 10 and 15 years.

However, West Virginia has not implemented a similar program, and lawmakers have instead prioritized tax incentives for higher-cost housing developments in recent years.

House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, and Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston, did not respond to Mountain State Spotlight’s questions about the state’s role in preserving affordable housing costs as federal subsidies expire. 

In the absence of state-level housing incentives, preservation efforts have largely fallen to the agency that administers federal programs.

The West Virginia Housing Development Fund, the state’s housing arm, disperses federal housing credits to approved properties. But as a state agency, its tools are largely limited to federal resources. 

Nate Testman, the fund’s interim director, said the agency has ramped up efforts to preserve properties by working with owners and using tax-exempt bonds to help finance renovations.  

“In our experience, many owners want to renew or extend affordability periods, and the WVHDF tries to make it as easy as possible for them to do so with available resources,” he said.

Still, Testman said those resources are limited, and federal tax credits are highly competitive. The agency often receives double or triple the number of applications than the number of credits available. 

The housing preservation challenge is mostly driven by how federal housing tax credits were designed.

West Virginia already faces a shortage of affordable housing

West Virginia needs more than 20,000 additional units for households earning about half the median income. 

For many renters, especially seniors and low-income families, there are few alternatives when rents rise. 

At the same time, a large share of the affordable housing that does exist is tied to federal subsidies that weren’t designed to be indefinite. 

The largest of those subsidies is the Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, which is given to landlords who operate low-income housing units. The credit provides tax incentives to developers in exchange for limiting rents for low-income tenants, but only for a set period of time. 

Under the program, developers receive tax credits over 10 years, and agree to keep rents affordable for 15 years, with many properties committing to affordability terms for up to 30 years. 

When those credits expire, property owners can keep units affordable or switch to market-rate rent prices. The median rent for an apartment including utilities is $850 per month in West Virginia. 

For Pettit, the debate over tax credits and expiring restrictions is less about policy and more about stability.

Living on a fixed income, she said she doesn’t have room in her budget for rising rent. If her apartment were to lose its affordability protections, she’s not sure where she would go.

“I’m getting by,” she said. “I don’t know how people do it.”

Low-income West Virginians could lose access to 28% of affordable housing unless lawmakers step in appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight, West Virginia’s civic newsroom.