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Senate approves broad package of bills on third reading, including cottage‑foods and retirement measures
Summary
The West Virginia Senate passed a series of third‑reading bills Feb. 25, 2026, advancing food‑safety updates, licensing reforms and multiple retirement and public‑safety measures; most bills passed unanimously or by lopsided margins.
The West Virginia Senate on Feb. 25 passed a string of third‑reading bills covering cottage foods, professional licensure, retirement benefits and other matters, sending the measures to the House.
The most contested measure in the early morning hours was the engrossed committee substitute for Senate Bill 44, which updates the state's cottage‑foods rules to clarify definitions of potentially hazardous and non‑potentially hazardous foods and removes the permit cost for sales at farmers markets. Sponsor the senator from Jefferson described the bill as modernizing options for small food producers. The clerk recorded 33 yays and 1 nay on final passage, and the presiding officer declared the bill passed.
Several other bills passed with unanimous or near‑unanimous support. The committee substitute for Senate Bill 580, a practice‑act update for the West Virginia Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy Technology Board that would transfer certain licensing responsibilities and align state standards with national practice, passed 34‑0 after the senior senator from the thirteenth urged adoption. The Senate also approved a bill (committee substitute for Senate Bill 676) allowing certain Capitol Police officers to participate in the West Virginia State Police retirement plan B (34‑0), and an agency bill authorizing the Division of Highways to reimburse utilities for timely relocations of facilities in the right of way (34‑0), among others.
Senators repeatedly described the retirement and public‑safety bills as employer‑requested or stakeholder‑driven and emphasized that many measures create local employer obligations rather than net costs to the state. For bills where a sponsor moved immediate effectiveness, the Senate recorded the required supermajority votes and declared those bills effective from passage.
Votes at a glance: SB 44 (cottage foods) — passed, 33 yays, 1 nay. SB 580 (medical imaging practice act) — passed, 34 yays, 0 nays. SB 676 (Capitol Police retirement) — passed, 34 yays, 0 nays. SB 691 (utility relocation reimbursement) — passed, 34 yays, 0 nays. SB 697 (state road ingress/egress permits) — passed, 34 yays, 0 nays. SB 744 (critical incident review team) — passed, 34 yays, 0 nays. SB 774 (EMS retirement participation) — passed, 34 yays, 0 nays. SB 950 (judges' mileage and expenses repeal) — passed, 34 yays, 0 nays. SB 977 (duty‑related partial disability benefit) — passed, 34 yays, 0 nays. SB 978 (municipal retirement participation window) — passed, 34 yays, 0 nays. SB 997 (state hospital employees' retirement) — passed, 34 yays, 0 nays and was moved effective from passage by recorded supermajority.
What happens next: The clerk will communicate the Senate actions to the House for consideration. Many of the measures were described on the floor as stakeholder‑driven, and sponsors said administrative rules and waiver processes would address local implementation questions.
Quotes from the floor: “Happy to answer any questions, and I urge passage,” the senator from Jefferson said when introducing SB 44. “Senate Bill 580 is a practice‑act update ... I urge passage of the bill,” the senior senator from the thirteenth said before the vote.
Ending: The Senate communicated its actions to the House and moved on to additional second‑reading business and floor debate on several education‑related measures before adjourning into recess.
