photo by: W.Va. Legislative Photography

Del. Dave Foggin unsuccessfully attempted to amend House Bill 2008 to maintain civil service protections for new and existing employees in the reorganized Department of Commerce and Department of Tourism.

CHARLESTON — Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s bills to fold the Department of Economic Development and the Department of Arts, Culture and History into existing cabinet-level departments were approved Tuesday by the House of Delegates.

The House passed House Bill 2008, returning the Department of Economic Development to the Department of Commerce as a division, in a 61-37 vote Tuesday afternoon. The House also passed House Bill 2009, eliminating the Department of Arts, Culture and History (WVDACH) and transferring its divisions, boards, and agencies to the Department of Tourism, in a 72-25 vote.

The two bills were originally one, but the House Government Organization Committee moved the WVDACH reorganization into its own originating bill. Both had been moved by the Rules Committee to the House’s inactive calendar one week ago until being put back on the active calendar Monday.

The Department of Economic Development was previously the West Virginia Development Office, a division within the Department of Commerce. But former governor Jim Justice and the Legislature split off the West Virginia Development Office and the Division of Tourism from the Department of Commerce in 2021, with both becoming cabinet-level departments.

According to the committee substitute for HB 2008, the current cabinet-level position of secretary of the Department of Economic Development would become an executive director position beneath Department of Commerce Cabinet Secretary Matt Herridge. Mike Graney, who was appointed the acting Department of Economic Development cabinet secretary last year by Justice, is now listed as executive director.

HB 2009 would completely eliminate WVDACH and its cabinet-level secretary, transferring its various divisions, agencies, boards, and commissions to the Department of Tourism. Morrisey retained Chelsea Ruby to continue leading the Department of Tourism.

In 2018, Justice renamed the Department of Education and the Arts to the Department of Arts, Culture and History, elevating former Division of Culture and History commissioner Randall Reid-Smith to the new cabinet-level title of curator. The Legislature changed Reid-Smith’s title last year to secretary. Reid-Smith retired effective Feb. 14.

HB 2008 originally included a provision to give the adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard the duo role of cabinet secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, but the House Government Organization Committee did not include that provision in the amended HB 2008 or the new HB 2009.

Both HB 2008 and 2009 would prohibit new hires or those promoted within the reorganized departments of Commerce and Tourism from being protected by classified civil service protections beginning in July. An effort to amend HB 2008 Tuesday to keep classified civil service protections in place for existing state employees who change positions failed, with a similar amendment to HB 2009 being withdrawn.

“The purpose of this amendment is to maintain civil service protections to all of our state employees even though the merger may take place,” said the amendment’s lead sponsor, Del. Dave Foggin, R-Wood. “I was sent here by 18,000 people. Not all of them voted for me, but I was sent here by those people in my district because they knew that I would try to do what I felt was right to protect them and help them. And I feel that amendment does that…I want to try to help the workers of West Virginia.”

While the amendment failed, support for it was bipartisan, raising concerns about returning to a time when public employees were hired and fired for political reasons when new governors came to power.

“We got 1,800 people that took a job based on having some protection,” said Del. Scot Heckert, R-Wood. “In my book, this bill and a lot of other ones like it, are ways for the man from New Jersey (Gov. Patrick Morrisey) to bring back people that aren’t from this state to run this state.”

“What you’re about to pass is the state’s version of DOGE, which has already cut 62,000 federal jobs,” said House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell. “We’re going to allow just mass firings at the governor’s will to do this? None of us were put here for this.”

But a majority of the Republican House of Delegates opposed the amendment, arguing that it prevents the governor from being able to streamline and right-size the departments.

“It doesn’t add any further protection for the people that are being transferred other than if they take a different position within the department, and it does block more efficient and leaner government going forward,” said House Government Organization Committee Chairman Chris Phillips, R-Barbour.

“(The amendment) undermines the principles of at-will employment and burdens the government with unnecessary and costly protections for public employees,” said Del. Chris Anders, R-Berkeley. “We must ensure that government operates efficiently, just like the private sector, where accountability and performance determine job security, not bureaucratic entrenchment. Carrying over civil service protections creates a class of employees who are shielded from accountability, making it difficult to remove underperforming workers.”

A successful amendment to HB 2008 offered by House Deputy Speaker David Kelly would move the Division of Natural Resources law enforcement officers from the Department of Commerce to the Department of Homeland Security, which includes state law enforcement arms, such as the West Virginia State Police.

Both bills now head to the state Senate.