The West Virginia Legislature has dealt a death knell to the office it created just a few years ago to protect residents from discrimination.
On Friday afternoon, the West Virginia House of Delegates voted 90 to 9 to pass Senate Bill 837, which would eliminate the West Virginia Office of Equal Opportunity.
Two weeks earlier, the bill passed the West Virginia Senate by a vote of 29 to 4. Lead sponsor Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, has argued the office’s work already falls under the West Virginia Division of Personnel.
Established by lawmakers in 2022, the office is tasked with ensuring the state complies with non-discrimination and disability accommodation laws. The bill mandating its creation passed both the House and Senate unanimously, and was sponsored by former Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, on behalf of then Gov. Jim Justice.
Despite its fairly recent bipartisan approval, the office became ensnared this year in a push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives on both the state and federal levels. Gov. Patrick Morrisey has set the repeal of DEI as a central priority for his first year in office.
Photo Credit: Perry Bennett/WV Legislative Photography
“We’re going to root out DEI and eradicate the woke virus,” Morrisey told lawmakers at the start of this year’s legislative session.
While Senate Bill 837 still has not yet become law, nonprofit newsroom West Virginia Watch reported April 5 that state officials have already moved to dissolve the office entirely, in possible violation of the West Virginia Code.
The office’s website is no longer publicly accessible, and its personnel have been reassigned elsewhere within the state government — despite state law still mandating the office’s operation.
On the House floor, Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, asked about the status of the office and its state obligations.
“During the committee process, we learned that this office was eliminated, obviously without our authorization,” Lewis said.
Del. Chris Phillips, R-Barbour, said that “responsibilities of the office were moved” elsewhere within the West Virginia Department of Administration, which contains the Division of Personnel.
All of the office’s duties “are still being taken care of,” Phillips said.
The state legislature is scheduled to adjourn April 12. To become official, the bill eliminating the Office of Equal Opportunity must be okayed once more by the state senate, then signed off by the governor.