West Virginia 2025 Regular Session Status: In Committee 11 R cosponsors

HB 2543 — Requiring economic impact statements for certain legislative rules

Last action — To House Finance

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House of Delegates
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill died with 2025 Regular Session. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.

This bill is no longer active — its legislative session has ended, so there are no live odds of enactment. It would have to be reintroduced in the current session to move again.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

91 added · 261 removed

Plain-language change summary

The revisions made to HB 2543 now require agencies to include a detailed economic impact statement for proposed legislative rules. This statement must assess various factors, including costs, job creation, and business competitiveness. By mandating these evaluations, the changes aim to ensure that lawmakers consider the economic effects of regulations on the state and its residents before finalizing decisions. This transparency helps prioritize the economic well-being of citizens and businesses in West Virginia.

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WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION Introduced House Bill 2543 By Delegates Leavitt, McGeehan, Phillips, Rohrbach, Green, Hornby, Gearheart, D.
CS for HB 2543 WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION Committee Substitute for House Bill 2543 By Delegates Leavitt, McGeehan, Phillips, Rohrbach, Green, Hornby, Gearheart, D.
Cannon, Akers, Ferrell, and Maynor Introduced February 18, 2025;
Cannon, Akers, Ferrell, and Maynor [Originating in the Committee on Government Organization;
referred to the Committee on Government Organization then Finance Intr HB 2025R2885A A BILL to amend and reenact §29A-1-2, §29A-3-11, and §29A-3-15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the submission of legislative rules;
Reported on March 25, 2025] CS for HB 2543 A BILL to amend and reenact §29A-3-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the submission of legislative rules;
requiring the inclusion of economic impact statements with certain proposed legislative rules;
requiring the inclusion of a statement of the economic impact of each legislative rule;
authorizing the request of economic impact statements;
providing for the contents of a statement of the economic impact;
and defining "economic impact statement." Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
requiring the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee to review whether the proposed legislative rule has any economic impact on the state or its residents;
ARTICLE 1.
and requiring the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee to note any failure of an agency to comply with certain submission-related requirements.
DEFINITIONS AND APPLICATION OF CHAPTER.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
§29A-1-2.
Definitions of terms used in this chapter.
For the purposes of this chapter:
(a) "Agency" means any state board, commission, department, office or officer authorized by law to make rules or adjudicate contested cases, except those in the legislative or judicial branches.
(b) "Contested case" means a proceeding before an agency in which the legal rights, duties, interests or privileges of specific parties are required by law or constitutional right to be determined after an agency hearing, but does not include cases in which an agency issues a license, permit or certificate after an examination to test the knowledge or ability of the applicant where the controversy concerns whether the examination was fair or whether the applicant passed the examination and does not include rulemaking.
(c) "Economic impact statement" means a detailed written analysis, which measures or estimates the potential costs to the public of implementation of and compliance with a proposed legislative rule, considering;
(i) regulatory or transactional costs;
(ii) business productivity, innovation, or competitiveness, including the ability of persons doing business in the state to compete with persons doing business in other states or domestic markets;
(iii) private-sector job creation or employment;
(iv) private-sector investment;
Intr HB 2025R2885A (v) economic growth;
and (vi) any other relevant factors.
(c) (d) "Interpretive rule" means every rule, as defined in subdivision (j) of this section, adopted by an agency independently of any delegation of legislative power which is intended by the agency to provide information or guidance to the public regarding the agency's interpretations, policy or opinions upon the law enforced or administered by it and which is not intended by the agency to be determinative of any issue affecting constitutional, statutory or common law rights, privileges or interests.
An interpretive rule may not be relied upon to impose a civil or criminal sanction nor to regulate conduct or the exercise of constitutional, statutory or common law rights or privileges nor to confer any right or privilege provided by law and is not admissible in any administrative or judicial proceeding for that purpose, except where the interpretive rule established the conditions for the exercise of discretionary power as provided in this subdivision.
However, an interpretive rule is admissible for the purpose of showing that the prior conduct of a person was based on good faith reliance on the rule.
The admission of the rule in no way affects any legislative or judicial determination regarding the prospective effect of the rule.
Where any provision of this code lawfully commits any decision or determination of fact or judgment to the sole discretion of any agency or any executive officer or employee, the conditions for the exercise of that discretion, to the extent that the conditions are not prescribed by statute or by legislative rule, may be established by an interpretive rule and such rule is admissible in any administrative or judicial proceeding to prove the conditions.
(d) (e) "Legislative exempt rule" means every rule promulgated by an agency or relating to a subject matter that is exempt from the rule-making provisions of §29A-3-1 et seq.
of this code, under section three, §29A-1 et seq.
of this code or any other section of this code.
(e) (f) "Legislative rule" means every rule, as defined in subdivision (j) of this section, proposed or promulgated by an agency pursuant to this chapter.
Legislative rule includes every rule which, when promulgated after or pursuant to authorization of the Legislature, has:
(1) The Intr HB 2025R2885A force of law;
or (2) supplies a basis for the imposition of civil or criminal liability;
or (3) grants or denies a specific benefit.
Every rule which, when effective, is determinative on any issue affecting constitutional, statutory or common law rights, privileges or interests is a legislative rule.
Unless lawfully promulgated as an emergency rule, a legislative rule is only a proposal by the agency and has no legal force or effect until promulgated by specific authorization of the Legislature.
Except where otherwise specifically provided in this code, legislative rule does not include:
(A) Findings or determinations of fact made or reported by an agency, including any findings and determinations that are required to be made by any agency as a condition precedent to proposal of a rule to the Legislature;
(B) declaratory rulings issued by an agency pursuant to the provisions of §29A-4-1 of this code;
(C) orders, as defined in subdivision (e) of this section;
or (D) executive orders or proclamations by the Governor issued solely in the exercise of executive power, including executive orders issued in the event of a public disaster or emergency.
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(f) (g) "Order" means the whole or any part of the final disposition, whether affirmative, negative, injunctive or declaratory in form, by any agency of any matter other than rulemaking.
(g) (h) "Person" includes individuals, partnerships, corporations, associations or public or private organizations of any character.
(h) (i) "Procedural rule" means every rule, as defined in subdivision (j) of this section, which fixes rules of procedure, practice or evidence for dealings with or proceedings before an agency, including forms prescribed by the agency.
(i) (j) "Proposed rule" is a legislative rule, interpretive rule or a procedural rule which has not become effective pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or law authorizing its promulgation.
(j) (k) "Rule" includes every rule, standard or statement of policy or interpretation of general application and future effect, including the amendment or repeal of the rule, affecting constitutional, statutory or common law rights, privileges or interests, or the procedures available to the public, adopted by an agency to implement, extend, apply, interpret or make specific the law enforced or administered by it or to govern its organization or procedure, but does not include rules Intr HB 2025R2885A relating solely to the internal management of the agency, nor rules of which notice is customarily given to the public by markers or signs, nor mere instructions.
Every rule shall be classified as "legislative rule", "interpretive rule" or "procedural rule", all as defined in this section, and is effective only as provided in this chapter.
(k) (l) "Rulemaking" means the process for the formulation, amendment or repeal of a rule as provided in this chapter.
(a) When an agency finally approves a proposed legislative rule for submission to the Legislature, pursuant to the provisions of section nine of this article, the secretary of the executive department which administers the agency pursuant to the provisions of §5F-2-1 et seq., of this code shall submit to the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee at its offices or at a regular meeting of such committee a number of copies in electronic or paper form as requested by the committee, which shall include the following information:
(a) When an agency finally approves a proposed legislative rule for submission to the Legislature, pursuant to the provisions of §29A-3-9 of this code, the secretary of the executive department which administers the agency pursuant to the provisions of §5F-2-1 et seq.
of this code shall submit to the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee at its offices or at a regular meeting of such committee a number of copies in electronic or paper form as requested by the committee, which shall include the following information:
(5) A fiscal note containing all information included in a fiscal note for either house of the Legislature, a statement of the economic impact of the rule on the state or its residents, and, if there are any adjustments to any fees or other special revenue included in the rule, a fiscal note shall include, for any fund affected by adjustments to fees or other special revenue, the fund name, Intr HB 2025R2885A the fund number, and the past five years of actual revenues and expenses of the fund;
(5) A fiscal note containing all information included in a fiscal note for either house of the Legislature, a statement of the economic impact of the rule on the state or its residents, and, if 1 CS for HB 2543 there are any adjustments to any fees or other special revenue included in the rule, a fiscal note shall include, for any fund affected by adjustments to fees or other special revenue, the fund name, the fund number, and the past five years of actual revenues and expenses of the fund;
(6) A statement of the economic impact of the rule on the state and its residents, including those doing business in the state, or an economic impact statement if the legislative rule could have an economic impact of more than $200,000 in any one year or $1,000,000 over five years on:
(6) A statement, in the electronic or paper form, of the economic impact of the rule on the state and its residents, including those doing business in the state, that considers:
(i) regulatory or transactional costs;
(A) regulatory and transactional costs;
(ii) business productivity, innovation, or competitiveness, including the ability of persons doing business in the state to compete with persons doing business in other states or domestic markets;
(B) business productivity, innovation, and competitiveness, including the ability of persons doing business in the state to compete with persons doing business in other states or domestic markets;
(iii) private-sector job creation or employment (iv) private-sector investment;
(C) private-sector job creation and employment;
and (v) economic growth.
(D) private-sector investment;
and (E) economic growth;
If the agency is an agency, board or commission which is not administered by an executive department as provided for in §5F-2-1 et seq., of this code, the agency shall submit the final Intr HB 2025R2885A agency-approved rule as required by this subsection.
If the agency is an agency, board or commission which is not administered by an executive 2 CS for HB 2543 department as provided for in §5F-2-1 et seq., of this code, the agency shall submit the final agency-approved rule as required by this subsection.
(3) Authorize the promulgation of the legislative rule with certain amendments;
3 CS for HB 2543 (3) Authorize the promulgation of the legislative rule with certain amendments;
Intr HB 2025R2885A (4) Recommend that the proposed rule be withdrawn;
(4) Recommend that the proposed rule be withdrawn;
Provided, That when the committee makes the recommendations of subdivision (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this subsection, the notice shall contain a statement of the reasons for such recommendation, and that the notice shall identify whether the agency’s proposed legislative rule followed the established requirements stated in §29A-3-11(a)(1)-(11) of this code.
Provided, That the notice shall identify whether the agency failed to comply with any requirement of §29A-3-11(a) of this code when submitting the proposed rule:
Provided further, That when the committee makes the recommendations of subdivision (2), (3), (4), or (5) of this subsection, the notice shall contain a statement of the reasons for such recommendation.
Any draft bill prepared under this section shall contain a legislative finding that the rule is within the legislative intent of the statute which the rule is intended to implement, extend, apply or interpret and shall be available for any member of the Legislature to introduce to the Legislature.
Any draft bill prepared under this section shall contain a legislative finding that the rule is within the legislative intent of the statute which the rule is intended to implement, extend, apply, or interpret and shall be available for any member of the Legislature to introduce to the Legislature.
§29A-3-15.
Emergency legislative rules;
procedure for promulgation;
definition.
(a) Any agency with authority to propose legislative rules may, without hearing, find that an emergency exists requiring that an emergency rule be promulgated and promulgate the emergency rule in accordance with this section.
The agency shall file the emergency rule, together with a statement of the facts and circumstances constituting the emergency and a listing of state agencies, professions, businesses and other identifiable interest groups affected by the proposed emergency rule, with the Secretary of State, who shall publish a notice of the filing in the State Register.
However, an agency's good faith failure to list all known state agencies, professions, businesses and other identifiable interest groups is not a basis for disapproval of the emergency Intr HB 2025R2885A rule or does not subject the emergency rule to judicial review.
The emergency rule becomes effective upon the approval of the Secretary of State in accordance with section fifteen-a of this article or upon the approval of the Attorney General in accordance with section fifteen-b of this article or upon the forty-second day following the filing, whichever occurs first.
The emergency rule may adopt, amend or repeal any legislative rule, but the agency shall state, with particularity, the circumstances constituting the emergency requiring the adoption, amendment or repeal, and the emergency rule is subject to de novo review by any court having original jurisdiction of an action challenging its validity.
An agency shall immediately file a copy of the emergency rule and the required statement with the Secretary of State and one copy with the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee.
An emergency rule is effective for not more than fifteen months and expires earlier if any of the following occurs:
(1) The Secretary of State, acting under the authority provided in section fifteen-a of this article, or the Attorney General, acting under the authority provided in section fifteen-a of this article, disapproves the emergency rule because:
(A) The emergency rule or an amendment to the emergency rule exceeds the scope of the law authorizing or directing the promulgation of the rule;
(B) an emergency does not exist justifying the promulgation of the emergency rule;
or (C) the emergency rule was not promulgated in compliance with the provisions of this section.
An emergency rule may not be disapproved pursuant to the authority granted by clauses (A) or (B) of this subdivision on the basis that the Secretary of State or the Attorney General disagrees with the underlying public policy established by the Legislature in enacting the authorizing legislation.
An emergency rule which would otherwise be approved as being necessary to comply with a time limitation established by this code or by a federal statute or regulation may not be disapproved pursuant to the authority granted by paragraphs (A) or (B) of this subdivision on the basis that the agency has failed to file the emergency rule prior to the date fixed by the time limitation.
When the authorizing statute specifically directs an agency to promulgate an emergency rule, or specifically Intr HB 2025R2885A finds that an emergency exists and directs the promulgation of an emergency rule, the emergency rule may not be disapproved pursuant to the authority granted by paragraph (B) of this subdivision.
An emergency rule may not be disapproved on the basis that the Legislature has not specifically directed an agency to promulgate the emergency rule, or has not specifically found that an emergency exists and directed the promulgation of an emergency rule;
(2) The agency has not previously filed and fails to file a notice of public hearing on the proposed rule within thirty days of the date the proposed rule was filed as an emergency rule, in which case the emergency rule expires on the thirty-first day;
(3) The agency has not previously filed and fails to file the proposed rule as approved by the agency following the close of the public comment period with the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee within ninety days of the date the proposed rule was filed as an emergency rule, in which case the emergency rule expires on the ninety-first day;
(4) The Legislature has authorized or directed promulgation of an authorized legislative rule dealing with substantially the same subject matter since the emergency rule was first promulgated, in which case the emergency rule expires on the date the authorized rule is made effective;
or (5) The Legislature has, by law, disapproved the emergency rule, in which case the emergency rule expires on the date the law becomes effective.
(b) Any amendment to an emergency rule made by the agency shall be filed in the State Register and does not constitute a new emergency rule for the purpose of acquiring additional time or avoiding the expiration dates in subdivision (2), (3), (4) or (5), subsection (a) of this section:
Provided, That the emergency amendment becomes effective upon the approval of the Secretary of State in accordance with section fifteen-a of this article or upon approval of the Attorney General in accordance with section fifteen-b of this article or upon the forty-second day following the filing, whichever occurs first.
(c) Once an emergency rule expires due to the conclusion of fifteen months or due to the Intr HB 2025R2885A effect of subdivision (2), (3), (4) or (5), subsection (a) of this section, the agency may not refile the same or similar rule as an emergency rule.
(d) An agency may not use the provisions of this section to avoid or evade any provision of this article or any other provisions of this code, including any provisions for legislative review and approval of proposed rules.
Any emergency rule promulgated for that purpose may be contested in a judicial proceeding before a court of competent jurisdiction.
(e) The Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee may review any emergency rule to determine:
(1) Whether the emergency rule or an amendment to the emergency rule exceeds the scope of the law authorizing or directing its promulgation;
(2) whether there exists an emergency justifying the promulgation of the emergency rule;
and (3) whether the emergency rule was promulgated in compliance with the requirements and prohibitions contained in this section.
The committee may recommend to the agency, the Legislature or the Secretary of State any action it determines appropriate.
(f) For the purposes of this section, an emergency exists when the promulgation of an emergency rule is necessary:
(1) For the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety or welfare;
(2) to comply with a time limitation established by this code or by a federal statute or regulation;
or (3) to prevent substantial harm to the public interest.
(g) The members of the Legislative Rule-Making Review Committee may request an economic impact statement from an agency on rules proposed pursuant to this section, in accordance with §29A-3-11(a)(6) of this code, regardless of the estimated economic impact.
The purpose of this bill is to provide for the inclusion of economic impact statements with any agency proposed legislative rule that has a potential impact to the state economy of more than $200,000 in a given year or $1,000,000 over a five-year period.
The purpose of this bill is to clarify the nature of the statement of the economic impact that an agency is supposed to provide when it submits a proposed rule to the LRMRC.
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Action History

  1. To House Finance

  2. By substitute, do pass, but first to Finance

  3. To House Government Organization

  4. To House Government Adminstration

  5. To House Government Organization

  6. Introduced in House

  7. To Government Organization then Finance

  8. Filed for introduction

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 10 co-sponsors · 141 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (10)

Not signed on (141)

141 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

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Frequently asked questions

Who sponsors HB 2543?
HB 2543 is sponsored by Tristan Leavitt (Republican), Pat McGeehan (Republican), Matthew Rohrbach (Republican), David Green (Republican), Michael Hornby (Republican), Marty Gearheart (Republican), David Cannon (Republican), James Robert "JB" Akers II (Republican), Dana Ferrell (Republican), Jordan Maynor (Republican), and Chris Phillips (Republican).
What is the current status of HB 2543?
This bill died with 2025 Regular Session. It reached “In Committee” and never advanced before the session ended, so it can no longer move — a new version would have to be reintroduced in the current session.
Where can I track HB 2543?
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