The West Virginia Legislature completed its 2023 Regular Session on March 11. I rate the session a disaster, but not as big of a disaster as I first feared.

Much of the session was spent on social issues. A lot of time was spent discussing bills penalizing women and LGBTQ+ people. While some of those bills eventually died, and others were ameliorated, the general mood of the session was punitive.

My award for worst bill of the session was the “campus carry” bill, that lets college students bring firearms on campus.

None of this will help West Virginia’s economy, or its image. This year’s session made us look like a nest of bigots, although I know that the vast majority of West Virginians are actually open, caring and accepting people. We already needed to repair our image, and the effects of the 2023 Regular Session of the Legislature have made the situation worse.

The Legislature punished state and public school employees. They got pay raises of about $2,300 each, but were also saddled with a 24 percent increase in their health care premiums. Workers lose money with that deal.

Once again, the Legislature failed to adopt locality pay for public employees. It’s desperately needed in the Eastern Panhandle.

The lawmakers passed an income tax cut, over 20 percent. By making the percentage the same for all income groups, the bulk of the savings will go to the wealthiest citizens. Proposals were made to restructure the cut so more money ended up in the hands of low and middle income people, but those ideas were rejected by the majority in each house of the Legislature.

On the good side, the PFAS protection bill passed. It directs the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to come up with an action plan to mitigate PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals.” These inorganic (human-made) cancer-causing chemicals are used in many products, from cookware to firefighting foam. Jefferson and Berkeley counties constitute one of the two areas of West Virginia where PFAS are primarily found (the other area is along the Ohio River). Most analysts think that the PFAS found around here come from the firefighting foam that was once used at the Martinsburg Air National Guard Base.

Jefferson County gets an extra circuit judge, and Jefferson will be its own judicial circuit, with two judges.

Until now Jefferson, Berkeley and Morgan counties were grouped in one judicial circuit. When I was growing up in Charles Town in the 1950s, the three-county circuit had but one judge (we had about 2.5 percent of the state’s population then). We had grown to six judges by 2020 (with 11 percent of the state’s population). Voters had to learn the candidates in six different circuit judge races. Beginning in 2024, Jefferson County voters will only have to familiarize themselves with candidates for two judgeships. I consider that a great improvement, and we have primarily Senator Charles Trump (R-Morgan) to thank for that change.

Also, Jefferson gets a fourth magistrate. It’s certainly necessary, as our current three are stretched to the limit.

John Doyle is a 26-year former member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. He can be reached at rjohndoyle@comcast.net.