Federal funding for arts and culture has been curtailed. Trey Kay looks at the reasons in the latest Us & Them. Also, the state board of education has approved another round of school closures and consolidations, the state Legislature is expected to take up several bills in the coming session to address foster care and children who are homeless, and U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was laid to rest Tuesday at the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton.
Members in the House voted on a bill Thursday that would terminate the West Virginia Women’s Commission and put roughly $150,000 back into the general revenue budget.
The West Virginia Women’s Commission was created by the state Legislature in 1977. It’s a small, bi-partisan program under the state Department of Health and Human Resources that advocates, educates, and promotes women’s issues.
The Commission also advocates at the legislature for the passage of certain bills, and encourages women to run for political offices by holding recruiting and training events.
House Bill 2646 would eliminate the agency, which several Republican women in the House say would help the state budget. Those women also argue the services provided by the commission are duplicative.
Credit Perry Bennett / WV Legislative Photography
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WV Legislative Photography
Del. Linda Longstreth, D-Marion.
Delegate Kayla Kessinger, a Republican from Fayette County, is the bill’s lead sponsor. She argues the commission is inefficient and not something women need to have a voice.
“To assert that women need a commission to run for office or to be successful undermines women and does nothing to empower us as a demographic in our nation and in our state,” Kessinger said.
Delegate Linda Longstreth of Marion County is one of two Democratic women in the House. She opposed the bill. Longstreth says the bill cuts an important asset.
“You know, we’re 51 percent in this state. I think we are the majority. We may not look like the majority in this House, but we’re still the majority in this state,” Longstreth said.
After more than an hour of debate, the bill passed 58 to 41 and goes to the Senate for consideration.
The pay raises proposed by Morrisey will apply to state employees who are funded through the general revenue budget, which includes the vast majority of state workers. This category covers teachers, State Police, corrections officers and many other essential public servants.
For some Americans, this year’s political earthquakes hit close to home. Trey Kay reflects on federal budget cuts, the elimination of programs and agencies and the resulting layoffs of hundreds of thousands of workers. 2025 was also a year highlighting escalated immigration enforcement, and the deployment of National Guard troops in U.S. cities. One of those missions resulted in the tragic loss of a West Virginia National Guard soldier. On this end-of-year episode of Us & Them, we examine how today’s culture-war battles are reshaping the nation’s foundation.
Federal funding for arts and culture has been curtailed. Trey Kay looks at the reasons in the latest Us & Them. Also, the state board of education has approved another round of school closures and consolidations, the state Legislature is expected to take up several bills in the coming session to address foster care and children who are homeless, and U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was laid to rest Tuesday at the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton.
