West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey sets tone for administration with swift, sweeping early actions

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — Gov. Patrick Morrisey wasted no time setting the tone for his administration, unveiling a series of initiatives and appointments during his first week in office.

The governor unveiled a set of executive orders and actions on his first official day in office, has continued to name members of his cabinet and announced plans to merge some state departments.

Morrisey’s initial executive orders include:

— An order to begin the “economic backyard brawl,” a strategy for economic competition with neighboring states Morrisey described in his inaugural address.

“Now the formal process under government begins, of looking at every tax, looking at every regulation, every workforce rule, licensing rule and comparing them with every state that we touch,” he said.

— An order stating “school choice is going to [be] a top priority” of the administration.

— An order “terminating any DEI” programs in state government. DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

“We’re expressly sending a letter to all of our Cabinet officials and agency heads and indicating that there should be [a] review of any potential DEI that may exist within state government,” Morrisey said.

“We want to have a review of recruiting, of retention, of programs, of policy or any issue which might express an inappropriate preference for race, for sex, for national origin.”

— An order to review “every major spending decision” on the books for the current fiscal year.

“That means beginning July 1, 2024, to June 30 — we’re going to be going backward in time — any expenditure that occurred that was $100,000 or more, I’m asking my cabinet and agencies to look at,” Morrisey said.

— An order directing state agencies and boards to “develop a plan for more efficient government.”

“I think that every part of state government needs to be looking closely to say, ‘How can we gain more efficiencies than currently exist?’” Morrisey said. “I want to realize significant savings because that is going to have to get factored into the budget that we’ll be submitting to the Legislature next month.”

— An order to examine all of the “rules and regulations that exist in West Virginia.”

“We’re looking at items that are outdated, that are complex or regulations that may impede the flow of commerce, that actually don’t have tangible value for our citizenry,” Morrisey said.

— An order recognizing religious consensus objection exemption for vaccines.

“We’re directing the Office of Public Health to set up [a] process to recognize these differences,” Morrisey said.

— An order reviewing all past executive orders “that have existed.”

“We’re not aware of the last time people have gone back to do a wholesome review, going back in time, of whether executive orders exist from 20 years ago, 30 years ago,” Morrisey said.

In addition to the executive orders, the governor also detailed two other actions.

The first is an “intention to partner with the Legislature to be clearer on gender.”

“Men are men and women are women. We plan to work with the Legislature to introduce legislation classifying that under law,” Morrisey said. “I think that’s common sense and long overdue.”

The second is a letter to the members of the state’s congressional delegation.

“Fentanyl has ravaged our state and killed so many people,” he said. “I think we need the federal government to step in and work with us, so I’m asking our West Virginia congressional delegation to work with me, and for them to advance policies that list fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia has said the governor’s order on DEI initiatives “could infringe on the free speech rights of college educators and others.”

“This hastily written executive order represents a potential violation of educators’ free speech rights enshrined in the Constitution and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court,” said ACLU-WV Legal Director Aubrey Sparks. “Not only do we believe this order to be unconstitutional, we also can’t overstate the degree to which it is meant to create a state government hostile to people from marginalized communities.”

Mike Pushkin, chair West Virginia Democratic Party, said Morrisey’s order on vaccines “endangers public health.”

“West Virginia has long been recognized for its effective vaccination policies, which have protected our children from preventable diseases,” he said. “Eroding these safeguards will inevitably lead to increased illness and suffering among our most vulnerable populations.”

Later in his first week on the job, Morrisey announced his appointees to lead the Department Commerce, Department of Tourism and Department of Health.

Additionally, Morrisey said he plans to combine the Departments of Commerce and Economic Development, as well as combine the Department of Arts, Culture and History and the Tourism Department.

Dr. Matthew Herridge, current chair of the West Virginia GOP, will serve as secretary of commerce. Nicholas Preservati, who is currently acting secretary of commerce, will serve as deputy secretary of commerce.

Chelsea Ruby, who has led the Tourism Department since before it was elevated to a Cabinet-level position, will continue in her role.

Stephen Rumbaugh, a veteran employee the West Virginia Department of Transportation, will serve as secretary of transportation and commissioner of highways. Michael DeMers will serve as deputy secretary of Transportation.

Dr. Arvin Singh will serve as secretary of Health.

He plans to work with the West Virginia Legislature to “seek legislation” to consider “various departments and agencies,” Morrisey said.

“Today, we’re announcing that we’re planning to work with the Legislature to merge the Department of Commerce and the Department of Economic Development into one department,” he said. “We’ll also be seeking legislation to combine Arts, Culture and History with the Department of Tourism.”

These are the first of several planned consolidations and mergers, Morrisey said.

“These are not going to be the end of the consolidation proposals,” he said. “You should expect that there would be a number of additional proposals in this area in the upcoming weeks.”

Morrisey’s plan would see state departments that have already been reorganized in recent years reorganized again.

In February 2021, at the request of then-Gov. Jim Justice, the Legislature passed a bill removing the West Virginia Development Office and the West Virginia Tourism Office from the Department of Commerce. The bill, signed into law in March 2021, established each office as a separate entity within the executive branch and elevated their heads to Cabinet-level secretaries.

Last year, lawmakers fast-tracked a bill to redesignate the Department of Arts, Culture and History as a Cabinet-level agency. The bill formally redesignated the department and changed its leadership position from curator to Cabinet secretary.

In 2018, Justice signed a bill into law removing the position of secretary of the Department of Education and the Arts. The ranking officials in the West Virginia Department of Education are now the state superintendent of schools and the president of the state board of education.