U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., provided an update to reporters Thursday morning from Capitol Hill, remaining optimistic that her Senate colleagues can make quick work of their agenda items.

“While it looks like it’s too much and some of (the bills) may fall off, I think the core ones will get done or we’re going to stay here until we get them done,” Capito said.

Capito said the priorities for the Senate Republican majority include passing a continuing resolution, the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nomination of Todd Blanche as attorney general and a separate nominations package.

The latest continuing resolution would fund the federal government through Dec. 11, avoiding another government shutdown in October, one month prior to the November mid-term general election.

“The deadline for funding is Sept. 30, but we want to take the possibility of a shutdown off the table,” Capito said. “It looks like we’ll be able to pass that through before we leave, and we must pass that through before we leave.”

The Senate was set to vote on a package of nominations made by Trump for various federal positions, including judges, ambassadors, cabinet undersecretaries and deputy secretaries, and other federal officials. By Thursday evening, the Senate will have confirmed more than 590 civilian nominees, more than the number confirmed at this point during Trump’s first term for office.

“We are also passing this evening a large nominations package of over 75 nominations which will put us further ahead than we’ve been … in the history of the country on presidential nominations,” Capito said.

The big nomination fight will be for acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to serve as the official attorney general. The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Blanche’s nomination in a 12-10 vote Tuesday, but it was unclear Thursday morning whether Blanche had enough support among Senate Republicans to clear a 51-majority vote.

Other votes that could happen before the end of the week include passing a third budget reconciliation package, which includes funding for farm aid, rearmaments to deplete stocks dwindling from the Iran war and elements of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, election reform package.

A standalone SAVE America Act has failed three times in the Senate, not getting to the 60 votes needed for full consideration and not having the full support of the Republican caucus. Trump has demanded the Senate cancel its recess to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to show proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, in order to register to vote and put in place a national requirement for voters to show photo IDs in order to vote.

Also, the Senate Democratic minority has communicated to Republican leadership they would be willing to quickly pass the continuing resolution and Blanche nomination if votes on reconciliation and the SAVE America Act can be delayed until after recess.

“We’ll look at reconciliation and the SAVE Act, the parts of the SAVE Act that’s important to a lot of people, particularly the president,” Capito said. “I’m very much in support of it. That one is going to be a steeper hill to climb, so I’m not sure we’re going to be able to get to that.”

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.

The West Virginia State Firemen’s Association has been holding its 98th annual conference Thursday through Saturday at the Wood County Resiliency Center. The event is being co-hosted by the Williamstown Volunteer Fire Department and the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department.

There are around 88 firefighters (and a number of guests) attending the conference from 33 departments across the state, including five who have not been to the annual convention before, said Doug Miracle, president of the West Virginia State Firemen’s Association and member of the Williamstown Volunteer Fire Department.

The conference is seeing more people come and more departments represented as there were 27 departments represented at last year’s conference in Charles Town, he said adding there are 427 fire departments across the state.

“We are covering all of our needs and how we are going to fund them,” Miracle said. “We are also looking at the laws that are being pushed on us that we are trying to maneuver through.

“We are trying to get the state legislators to see our point-of-view.”

He said that there are a number of lobbyists employed by paid departments who are trying to influence lawmakers and those points aren’t always good for all departments across the state.

“In this area the volunteer and the paid departments work great together,” Miracle said. “There are places in the state where it is not that way.”

They are working on a number of issues throughout the conference to be able to have something to present to state lawmakers to be able to take action on, he said.

“Funding is a big thing,” Miracle said. “We are working on getting funds and keep them to be able to have a steady stream of money.“

Miracle is hopeful that those attending the conference will get an understanding of what the association does for them as a whole across the state.

The cost of insurance and the cost of equipment is going up.

“It is skyrocketing and keeps going up and our funds aren’t going up as fast as the costs are,” Miracle said. “We have to figure that out. We are working with different companies trying to get help.

“One of our main topics will be fundraising.”

Mike Voshel of the Williamstown Volunteer Fire Department and past president of the Wood County Fire Board, said overall equipment costs have gone up 40 percent.

“This association is what helps these departments get their funding through the state,” he said. “The state doesn’t just hand it to us.”

They work on a lot of issues and have their own people in Charleston pushing for certain laws and legislation to be passed that are important to many fire departments and how they want state lawmakers to understand those needs.

“A lot of volunteer departments don’t realize how much strength the state association has in acquiring those funds,” Voshel said. “We are trying to get the word out to the smaller departments about how important the state association is, for them to be members of and participate in the conventions like this.

“The fire service changes daily on different things we do. This association is able to put everything together and to make it all working smoothly.”

Both men said one of the biggest challenges has been for volunteer departments to recruit members. With all the demands people have these days, it is hard to find people who have the time to be able to serve.

“That is a big issue across the state,” Voshel said of finding the people who can put in the time and serve their community.

Williamstown VFD use to have a roster of around 40 people with people on a waiting list, but now they have 22 people, he said.

The convention is held in a different location every year and it gets different departments statewide involved in hosting the event. Next year, the conference will be in McMechen and it will be held in Canaan Valley in 2028.

“It is a very important organization to be involved in,” Voshel said.

Tonight, the keynote speaker will be Retired Chief Gary Morris who started his career as a volunteer firefighter at 16 in Williamstown in 1964. He had served as a chief in the Seattle, Washington area and as a Deputy Chief in Phoenix, Az.

“You can come up from a small department and it is a possibility that you can become the chief of a large department,” Voshel said.

On Monday, August 3, 2026, during the early morning hours, deputies responded to the Macfarlan area of Ritchie County, West Virginia, regarding a suspicious death, according to a press release from the department.

Deputies from the Ritchie County Sheriff’s Office, along with members of the West Virginia State Police, arrived on scene and immediately began an investigation.

“At this time, the cause of death remains undetermined, and the investigation is ongoing,” the press release said.

The identity of the deceased has not been released.

The sheriff’s department said further updates will be made when the information becomes available, according to the press release.

Anyone with information related to this investigation is encouraged to contact the Ritchie County Sheriff’s Office at 304-643-2262.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, Pritt voluntarily withdrew as a Republican candidate for the House District 50 in Fayette County after resigning last week from his House seat.

The official withdrawal notice received Tuesday afternoon. According to State Code, candidates wishing to withdraw from the general election ballot must file a notarized statement of withdrawal by Tuesday, Aug. 11, in order to be removed from the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

The State Election Commission is scheduled to meet Friday, Aug. 7, at noon. According to its agenda, the SEC was slated to consider requests to disqualify Pritt as a candidate and allow the Fayette County Republican Executive Committee to replace Pritt on the general election ballot. The Secretary of State’s Office confirmed Tuesday that with Pritt’s withdrawal, the agenda item would no longer be considered.

Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, filed charges against Pritt last month of one count of enticement of a minor. Pritt waived his preliminary and detention hearings last week and remains in federal custody awaiting indictment by a federal grand jury. If convicted, Pritt could face a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in a federal facility.

Pritt is accused of using several social media platforms, including Roblox and Snapchat, to coerce a minor into illegal sexual activity beginning when the minor was in eighth grade and continuing when the minor entered high school.

Investigators said the relationship between the minor and Pritt, a public school teacher, became physical, with the minor meeting Pritt in his classroom at Oak Hill High School in late 2025 to engage in sexual activity. Pritt continued to exchange messages with the minor into 2026, including urging the minor not to tell anyone about their prior contact.

Pritt was first elected to the House as a Democrat in 2022 and switched to a Republican in 2023. He was one of five assistant majority leaders in the House and served on the House Education Committee.

A law passed in 2025 will prevent the Fayette County Republican Executive Committee from replacing Pritt on the November general election ballot. House Bill 4350, passed by the legislature in 2024, only allows from replacing a party nominee on the general election ballot in the event of a disqualification, such as in the instance the candidate is convicted of a felony.

“The Office of the Secretary of State serves a ministerial role for candidate filing, and has very little authority to exercise discretion in candidacy matters,” said Secretary of State Kris Warner in a statement Tuesday. “The law in this instance is clear. Because the Legislature removed the opportunity for political parties to select replacement candidates on the ballot when a vacancy is created by withdrawal, there is no alternative option to replace the candidate on the ballot.”

Candidates on the ballot for House District 50 include independent Tom Louisos, Jeannie Carpenter (no party affiliation), Constitution Party candidate Stacey Hensley, and Democratic Party candidate Mathew Anderson, a special education teacher in the Fayette County school system. Write-in candidates have until Tuesday, Sept. 15, with the Secretary of State’s Office.

The West Virginia Republican Executive Committee voted unanimously to disavow Pritt during its summer meeting last Saturday.

Morrisey was at Marshall University in Huntington Tuesday morning to begin his listening tour of water systems in the southern part of the state. But most of the questions from the press were about TANF, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program also called WV WORKS.

In May, Morrisey announced a structural deficit for TANF for the new fiscal year that began July 1. The Governor’s Office estimates there is a $38 million gap between available federal TANF dollars and approximately $137 million in TANF-funded expenses, with less than 13 months left in TANF carryover funds from previous fiscal years.

“I think a lot’s been misconstrued, quite frankly, in the media, and I want to take the opportunity to address that,” Morrisey said Tuesday when asked about TANF. “I started asking questions because we know that there were some challenges fiscally that go back decades for Human Services. And so, we asked the question, ‘Well, what’s going on here?’ And as we look deeper into it, what we found is a program that was in crisis.”

West Virginia receives approximately $110 million for the state’s federal TANF block grant. According to the Governor’s Office, 10% of that TANF block grant goes towards certain social services, leaving $98.8 million in federal TANF funding for monthly cash assistance, as well as funding for the School Clothing Allowance program, family support centers, child care subsidies, West Virginia 211, assistance for low-income college students, assistance with purchasing used vehicles, healthy lifestyles programs and more.

Morrisey has said the state used federal COVID-19 funds to increase spending on TANF programs. When those one-time monies went away, TANF spending did not decrease, causing the state to use TANF carryover funds to bridge past structural deficits, decreasing those funds from $141 million three years ago to $41 million available for the current fiscal year.

“If you have that $98.8 million … you have to make sure you’re sticking within that budget,” Morrisey said. “More resources came from the federal money repeatedly … Over a period of time, since they were relying solely on federal money and there wasn’t a close review, that number got down to about $40 million.”

The Governor’s Office estimates that a $38 million gap exists between the $98.8 million in federal TANF dollars and $137 million in expenses, causing the Department of Human Services to tap into TANF carryover funds.

“It does appear that we have been spending more than we’ve been bringing in, and that is what’s led to this using reserve funds and now running out of reserve funds,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley. “A decision has to be made: Do we go back to pre-COVID level spending? Because we’re now not receiving all those additional COVID dollars. So that’s a decision that I think is ultimately on the Governor’s Office, on the administration, and on the Department of Human Services.”

This gap does not include the state’s share ($25.8 million) of TANF spending, called maintenance of effort, which brings total TANF dollars to $124.6 million, shrinking the gap from $38 million to $12.4 million.

House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, questioned the governor’s understanding of the state general revenue budget.

“I believe that when they start looking at the numbers, and they create this quote unquote structural deficit … I don’t believe that he understands the budgeting process, and I welcome him to attend the tutorial that we do for incoming freshmen delegates … on how the budgeting process works in the Legislature,” Criss said. “If he would like, we could set up a private tutor for him to understand how we do our process so that he can understand how he can be more effective in his spending towards running the administration.”

The Legislature amended and approved the governor’s recommended general revenue budget line item for TANF for fiscal year 2027 for $177.1 million, which represents the amount the Legislature authorizes the Department of Human Services to spend if federal awards and expenditures occur as estimated.

“That’s an authorization. That’s what you’re allowed to spend for the federal program,” Morrisey said.

“Those are federal dollars that come in, and the Legislature’s role is to grant spending authority on those federal dollars,” Barrett said. “And this year in the budget, it was in the governor’s proposed budget request of the Department of Human Services to give them spending authority in the $170 million range. We granted that spending authority request from the agency and from the governor.”

In a press release Monday, the Morrisey administration directed DoHS to maintain TANF program spending levels through the end of fiscal year 2027, June 30. The Governor’s Office will also seek between $10 million and $15 million through the Legislature in a supplemental appropriation for TANF programs.

According to the Department of Revenue, the state has $175 million in unappropriated surplus balances across the General Revenue, Lottery and Excess Lottery funds as of the end of fiscal year 2026, following back-of-the-budget surplus expenses. July general revenue fund tax collections of $388 million was 3% more than the $377.6 million revenue estimate, providing an additional $11.4 million in surplus for the current fiscal year.

“If the governor wants to do a supplemental appropriation to backfill some TANF dollars … then that’s certainly something that I think the Legislature would give a lot of consideration to,” Barrett said.

Since May, the Governor’s Office has been reviewing TANF-funded programs, including the $11.4 million School Clothing Allowance program, which did not open for applications until July 20 and was shut down seven days later on July 27, before the Aug. 15 deadline. The program – which provides $200 per eligible child for clothing and back-to-school supplies – served approximately 57,000 families last year. As of Monday, more than 52,000 applications had been processed.

“We all know as parents and grandparents that some of the most important days that a child goes through is their first day of school,” Criss said. “Being able to have proper clothing and shoes and supplies that they need to start school gives them a better attitude towards that first day of school. What has happened to these 5,000 kids that did not get involved simply because (the Governor’s Office) changed their artificial deadline from Aug. 15th to July 27th? I don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand why this governor is manufacturing a TANF crisis on the backs of children when any potential issues are premature and relate to next year’s budget,” said Senate Assistant Minority Leader Joey Garcia, D-Marion. “The governor’s math and rationale do not add up or justify the knee-jerk decision to cut off the clothing voucher program after just one week.”

Morrisey said he believes TANF programs, such as the School Clothing Allowance program, need further review to root out waste, fraud and abuse. Morrisey alleged Tuesday that School Clothing Allowance funds, which is distributed to families through EBT cards, are being used for unauthorized purchases, such as tobacco and alcohol, but presented no evidence for this claim. Unauthorized purchases are blocked on EBT cards, though the cards can be used at certain ATMs to withdraw cash.

“This program for school clothing allotment, we want to make sure that the money goes to the kids for clothing,” Morrisey said. “One thing we’re doing is we’re trying to ascertain the exact amount of money that’s in cash. Because I don’t want a penny of the money that should go for school clothing to be spent for cigarettes, to be spent for beer, to be spent for all these things.

“I want to work with the Legislature to change that. I want the money for school clothes, not for beer or cigarettes,” Morrisey continued. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to push for that and I’m not going to let people change the topic … I want the kids to get the clothing allotment, but I want to make sure we’re tightening up our systems.”

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.

Lars Dalseide, communications director for the governor’s office, released a statement Monday morning providing an update on the state’s ongoing review of TANF spending and the recent halting of the TANF-funded School Clothing Allowance initiative due to running out of allotted money.

Morrisey first announced a potential $43 million structural deficit for the TANF program, also called WV WORKS, in May. The Governor’s Office estimates TANF carryover funds will be exhausted within the next 13 months or less.

“When this Administration began reviewing West Virginia’s TANF-funded programs, the first data we received described a program in crisis,” Dalseide said. “The state was spending far more each year than the federal grant provides, and the savings that had covered the difference were nearly gone.”

Dalseide said Morrisey was directing the state Department of Human Services to maintain normal spending levels for TANF-funded programs through the end of the current fiscal year. The Governor’s Office also plans to ask the Legislature in the near future for between $10 million and $15 million through a supplemental appropriation to help through June 30, 2027, when the fiscal year ends.

TANF is a federal block grant that distributes more than $16 billion nationally, with states providing a certain percentage of matching funds called “maintenance of effort.” In West Virginia, the federal TANF block grant is traditionally $110 million, with the state’s maintenance of effort for the current fiscal year budgeted at $25.8 million.

However, the Governor’s Office claims it only receives $98.8 million in its federal TANF block grant. According to Dalseide, 10% of the $110 million grant is transferred to a social services block for child welfare, adult protective services and assistance for individuals with disabilities programs.

The Legislature amended and approved the governor’s recommended general revenue budget line item for TANF for fiscal year 2027 for $177.1 million. The budget for the previous fiscal year was $176.7 million. But the fiscal year 2025 budget for TANF during the final year of former Gov. Jim Justice’s second term was $134.7 million, $42.4 million less than the current fiscal year.

Dalseide accused media outlets of being misleading in explaining the TANF line item in the general revenue budget, which merely represents the amount the Legislature authorizes the Department of Human Services to spend if federal awards and expenditures occur as estimated.

“That is a ceiling the Legislature sets – the most the state would be allowed to spend if it had the money in hand,” Dalseide said. “It is not money.”

According to Governor’s Office estimates, the state is spending $137 million on TANF-funded programs with only $98.8 million in federal TANF block grant dollars (not including the state’s $25.8 million) creating a $38 million gap, which is being filled with available TANF carryover funds from previous fiscal years.

“That gap – about $38 million a year – has to come from somewhere, and it has been coming from those savings,” Dalseide said. “The account has fallen from roughly $141 million three years ago to about $41 million today. It is almost gone.”

West Virginia’s TANF program provides monthly cash assistance to eligible families, as well as funding for the School Clothing Allowance program, family support centers, child care subsidies, West Virginia 211, assistance for low-income college students, assistance with purchasing used vehicles, healthy lifestyles programs and more. Since May, Human Services has conducted reviews of TANF-funded programs.

“Every dollar still in it is already committed to child care for working parents, cash assistance, family support centers and the other programs paid for out of this same grant, so money spent on any one of them is money taken from the others,” Dalseide said. “When those savings are exhausted, all of these programs are in jeopardy – and the West Virginians who rely on them are the most vulnerable people in our state.”

According to media reports, family support centers are only funded through the end of September, when the federal fiscal year ends. The application period for the School Clothing Allowance was delayed until July 20 but closed seven days later due to available funding being exhausted.

According to the Governor’s Office, Human Services spent approximately $11.4 million in the previous fiscal year that ended on June 30 on the School Clothing Allowance, with nearly 55,000 applicants benefiting from the program that distributes $200 per eligible child to purchase clothes and back-to-school items.

Approximately 52,000 applications were received between July 20 and July 27 this year, though the Governor’s Office stressed that that number could increase as DoHS processes additional applications received by midnight July 27 and determines eligibility.

“Our goal was to keep support consistent with last year while making sure the state’s capped federal TANF funding can still cover the other programs that depend on it,” Dalseide said. “Applications for this year are still being processed and verified, and we expect this year’s program to match or exceed last year’s level of support.”

The Morrisey administration has placed the blame for the projected TANF structural deficit on an influx of federal dollars that came into the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, with previous state officials using the one-time funding to expand spending and temporary TANF carryover balances masking the problem.

Another problem cited was the West Virginia People’s Access to Help system, an online management system used to determine the eligibility of families applying for TANF assistance and other programs. The nearly $400 million system was begun under the Justice administration but has been criticized for not working properly.

“The eligibility system the state depends on – a system that has cost West Virginia nearly $400 million and still does not work properly – cannot tell us reliably what is being spent while it is being spent,” Dalseide said. “A state cannot manage what it cannot measure. That is why the governor ordered a comprehensive review: not to reduce support for families, but to establish what West Virginia actually spends, what it actually receives and what it can sustain.”

Dalseide did not mention former Gov. and current U.S. Sen. Justice by name, but he did single out State Treasurer Larry Pack, who served as Justice’s Department of Revenue cabinet secretary during the last year of his second term in 2024.

“The prior administration committed West Virginia to permanent, long-term obligations using one-time, temporary federal money in the savings account the state was only ever going to have once,” Dalseide said. “Larry Pack was that administration’s acting revenue chief when those commitments were made. He kicked the can down the road, and it landed on these children.”

In a statement last week after news of the closing of the School Clothing Allowance first broke, Pack criticized the pause and called on Morrisey and the Legislature to work on a fix to ensure that TANF-funded programs are fully funded.

In a statement released Monday in response to Dalseide, Pack said the Morrisey administration has the resources it needs to address TANF issues. The state has available surplus tax dollars left over from the fiscal year that ended June 30, and Human Services has the authority to move funds around within its budget to address short-term needs.

“The governor can cast all the stones he wants to put blame elsewhere, but at the end of the day, this is his administration,” Pack said. “As governor, he has the opportunity to make needy children a priority. So do it. We will never stop fighting for supporting children and families who need it most. We look forward to (continuing) dialogue with state leaders to better serve West Virginia’s most vulnerable families.”

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Monday afternoon that Trump and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved $4.5 million in expedited Individual Assistance for Lewis and Upshur counties while federal disaster officials review storm damage in five other West Virginia counties. Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social platform.

“I just spoke with Patrick Morrisey, the GREAT Governor of West Virginia … and told him I am approving 4.5 Million Dollars for severe storms, winds, tornadoes, flooding, landslides, and mudslides they experienced, and are still recovering from,” Trump wrote.

“I spoke to President Trump this afternoon and thanked him for acting quickly to approve this request and deliver help to the people of West Virginia,” said Morrisey. “Families in our hardest-hit communities have endured tremendous hardship, and this expedited approval will provide critical assistance as they begin the difficult process of rebuilding their lives.

According to the National Weather Service, storms in Lewis and Upshur counties dropped between 4 to nearly 8 inches of rain July 21. The storms caused catastrophic damage, washing out roads, homes and businesses. Two deaths reported in Upshur County.

The storms two weeks ago also caused extensive flood damage in Randolph County. Multiple tornadoes tore through parts of Pleasants, Tyler, Ritchie, Doddridge, Randolph and Barbour counties, snapping trees and power lines and destroying homes.

Morrisey said FEMA staff and state emergency management officials continue to document damage in effected counties, which could allow additional FEMA Individual Assistance to flow to the state.

“This is an important first step,” Morrisey said. “Approximately $4.5 million is available now, and we expect that amount to grow as additional damage information is reviewed.”

Last week, U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Jim Justice, R-W.Va., along with U.S. Reps. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., and Carol Miller, R-W.Va. sent a request to the White House for expedited disaster relief.

The West Virginia Republican Executive Committee met for its annual summer meeting Saturday afternoon at Embassy Suites in downtown Charleston.

The committee voted by acclamation to give Holstein a full four-year term as chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party, giving him a standing ovation.

Holstein was elected as party chairman last summer in a special election, succeeding state Department of Commerce Cabinet Secretary Matt Herridge, who resigned to focus on his state government role. Holstein was chosen over two other candidates: Pocahontas County resident, businessman, and author Michael T. George; and Brooke County resident and U.S. Army veteran Wes Parry.

One year later, no other nominations were made, with the party quickly uniting to support Holstein unanimously.

“That was a heck of a lot easier than the first time,” Holstein said. “It’s my same honor to be your chairman. I’m so grateful for the opportunity … I’m hopeful that we can continue to do greater things, bigger things, and expand across the state and bring each other together.”

Holstein, 24, was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2020 and is in his third two-year term representing the 32nd House District in Boone County. He serves as vice chairman of the House Legal Services Subcommittee and is a member of the House Energy and Public Works Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. He is a 2022 graduate of Marshall University.

Saturday’s meeting was the first for many new members of the WVREC, who were elected during the May 12 Republican primary, the first primary closed to unaffiliated and independent voters since 1986.

The WVREC voted to close its primaries to non-Republican voters in 2024 beginning with the 2026 primary. Efforts have been made by some members of the WVREC to re-open the primary to unaffiliated voters nearly every meeting since. But committee members voted Saturday to approve a bylaw change to only consider re-opening future primary elections every four years beginning with the committee’s summer meeting in 2027.

According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, out of the nearly 1.2 million registered voters in the state, there are 519,949 Republicans, an increase of 79,318 registered Republicans since the 2022 primary. By comparison, the number of registered Democratic voters decreased by 57,574 over the same time period, with 326,963 registered voters to date.

Over the last 11 years, Republicans have become supermajorities in the House of Delegates and state Senate; the governor and entire Board of Public Works are Republicans, and the entire congressional delegation are Republicans. Holstein said 52 out of 55 counties now have majorities in Republican voter registrations.

“Communities that were once considered Democrat strongholds are proudly electing Republicans by the largest margins.” Holsteins said. “The Democrats can’t stop this anymore. Not at this point, unless we allow them to by dividing ourselves.”

The WVREC also voted unanimously to disavow former Fayette County Republican delegate Elliott Pritt following charges filed last month by federal investigators of one count of enticement of a minor. WVREC Co-Chairman Tony Hodge, who presented the motion, said the move was unprecedented but warranted.

“We’ve never voted to disavow any candidate, and that alone should tell you how rare and how necessary this moment is,” Hodge said.”

Pritt is accused of using several social media platforms, including Roblox and Snapchat, to coerce a minor into illegal sexual activity beginning when the minor was in eighth grade and continuing when the minor entered high school. Pritt waived his preliminary and detention hearings last week and remains in federal custody. He resigned from the House of Delegates last week in a one-sentence letter.

“The allegations are very detailed in the criminal complaints,” Hodge said. “They’re very serious, and they describe conduct that has no place anywhere near the public trust, no place in this party, no place in the life of any child in West Virginia, or anywhere for that matter.”

Pritt was first elected to the House as a Democrat in 2022 and switched to a Republican in 2023. He was one of five assistant majority leaders in the House and served on the House Education Committee.

Pritt remains on the ballot in Fayette County, and if Pritt withdraws his from the ballot, a 2024 law would prevent Pritt’s replacement on the ballot in the short term. A special meeting of the State Election Commission is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 7, to consider requests to disqualify Pritt as a candidate and allow the Fayette County Republican Executive Committee to replace Pritt on the general election ballot.

“It is also our intent, and our expectation, that this action be presented to the State Election Commission as clear evidence that Mr. Pritt no longer carries this party’s endorsement, and, in fact, that we are disavowing him, so that the commission may act with the full knowledge of where we stand as the West Virginia Republican Party,” Hodge said.

Omnis Pleasants LLC, the operators of the former Pleasants Power Plant south of Belmont, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy July 26 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company cited a need to restructure its operations, resolve pending litigation and governance disputes, and prepare the plant for a possible sale. Omni Pleasants has $70.8 million in debt.

In an accompanying declaration filed Monday, Omnis Pleasants CEO David Hindman accused prior management, led by Simon Hodson of Omnis Fuel Technologies, of engaging in gross misconduct, including the diversion of millions in state-funded loans and the pursuit of speculative hydrogen and cryptocurrency ventures that starved the facility of capital.

“The Plant suffered from severe financial and operational distress as the result of gross misconduct by prior management,” Hindman wrote. “Pleasants is burdened by the defaulted debts of affiliated entities … through guarantees and liens granted by prior management. Pleasants has thus been placed in default under several major debt obligations for many months … This has had a crippling effect on the Debtor’s ability to move forward as a going concern.”

Hodson’s Omnis Fuel Technologies purchased the Pleasants Power Plant from Texas-based ETEM in 2023. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the transfer of the merchant coal-fired power plant which generates electricity exclusively for PJM Interconnection, the wholesale energy transmission company serving West Virginia, 12 other states and Washington, D.C. The plant had been slated to close under former owners Energy Harbor, previously named First Energy Solutions, in 2018 and 2023.

Omnis Fuel Technologies bought the 1,278-megawatt coal-fired power plant to retrofit it to be powered by hydrogen produced through Hodson’s “quantum reformer” technology, burning coal at high temperatures to extract hydrogen for the power plant and graphite to be sold to various manufacturers.

“They promoted a purported hydrogen-production technology known as the ‘Reformer,’ raised hundreds of millions of dollars from lenders, investors, and governmental agencies, and promised potential investors that the Plant would become the centerpiece of a revolutionary energy platform. Those promises never materialized,” Hindman wrote.

According to Hindman, the quantum reformer project was used as a platform to raise money from investors by misrepresenting its capabilities. Hindman also said Omnis Fuel Technologies attempted to create a “behind-the-meter” data center on the site of Pleasants Power in the form of a cryptocurrency mining operation, bypassing the PJM transmission system.

Despite warnings, prior management entered into a power purchase agreement in December 2025 with Element H, an affiliate owned by the Hodson family, at prices below the cost of generation, potentially resulting in $1 billion in losses.

Under the name Quantum Pleasants, company officials sought and received a $50 million loan in November 2023 for a 30-month term at 1% interest. The loan matured on June 15. According to the bankruptcy filing, the company’s largest creditor is the state Economic Development Authority at more than $50.8 million.

According to an agreement with the EDA, the state loan was given in order for Quantum Pleasants to secure an $800 million U.S. Department of Energy Title 17 Clean Energy Financing loan. The Wall Street Journal later reported that the company was denied the ability to apply because the quantum reformer technology did not meet the minimum requirements for number of hours for a clean energy demonstration project.

According to Hindman, the EDA had disbursed the full $50 million to Omnis Fuel Technologies by June 2024. As part of the loan agreement, the company was required to provide “dollar-for-dollar project funding and demonstrate qualifying expenditures in advance of requesting matching disbursements.” Hindman wrote that instead funds were allegedly moved between Omnis Energy and StarSource, an entity controlled by Hodson, to create the appearance of qualifying expenditures.

Hindman also said that $114 million in invoices were issued by Industrial Accessories Company. While these invoices claimed IAC received $50 million in advance payments from the debtor, investigators found less than $4.2 million in actual payments. Approximately $39.6 million of WVEDA funds were transferred to IAC with no meaningful accounting provided.

AIC, which built the quantum reformer demonstration project, was listed as a creditor with the amount owed “undetermined.” According to a March 27 materialman’s lien – a legal document used by suppliers to secure payment for construction materials – Omnis Pleasants owed Industrial Accessories more than $4.4 million out of a $10.7 million contract for work that was completed on Dec. 18.

Since February, the previous management of Omnis Pleasants, including Omnis Fuel Technologies’ Hodson and Randall Smith, had been replaced by Hindman as CEO and Gilbert Nathan as director and independent manager.

“By late 2025, prior management could no longer avoid the consequences of their conduct,” Hindman wrote. “Their broader Omnis Parties group of entities, together with the Debtor, was in default under multiple financing arrangements; critical vendor relationships for Pleasants had deteriorated from non-payment; operational reliability had suffered from a lack of funding; and government agencies were investigating alleged misconduct.”

Omnis Pleasants operates independently from Omnis Fuel Technologies, though Omnis retains minority ownership (43%) in the former Pleasants Power Plant. In his filing, Hindman said the new management team has worked to fix the company.

“Since February 2026, new management … has worked tirelessly to right the ship,” Hindman wrote. “Those efforts resulted in significant financial and operational improvements to date. But the Debtor’s vast array of direct and inherited debt obligations and corresponding defaults still require a restructuring.”

Hindman accused Hodson and Omnis Fuel Technologies of allowing coal supplies at Omnis Pleasants to drop to critical levels, reaching less than five hours of run time at one point; creating forced outages and reducing generating capability; and the loss of an ash-disposal landfill due to non-payment, causing coal combustion residuals to accumulate on-site.

Attorneys with Omnis Fuel Technologies filed objections Wednesday, arguing that the Chapter 11 petition was filed in bad faith by the current management to prevent Hodson and Omnis Fuel Technologies officials from regaining corporate control. Omnis Fuel Technologies is asking the federal court to dismiss the bankruptcy case or deny emergency administrative relief.

According to the filings, Omnis Fuel Technologies attempted to pay off the company’s secured debt in full, which they say should have legally terminated the governance of Nathan as independent manager. The filings claim that Omnis Pleasants is not in financial distress, possessing sufficient cash reserves and no imminent creditor threats.

“It is my understanding and belief that, upon Payment in Full of all Obligations, the Forbearance Agreement and underlying loan agreements terminate automatically by their own terms, all liens are released, and the governance restrictions – including the Independent Manager structure – cease,” wrote Charles Gassenheimer, the president of Omnis Fuel Technologies since July 2025, in a separate declaration.

According to Gassenheimer, Omnis Fuel Technologies began seeking a payoff letter from TRAG LLC/RG Energy LLC, both connected to motivational speaker and investor Tony Robbins. According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, Robbins has invested $200 million in the former Pleasants Power Plant project.

In his filing, Gassenheimer said that a check for $75.6 million was sent to TRAG/RG Energy on July 16 to pay off the obligations of Omnis Fuel Technologies and restore its management of Omnis Pleasants, with Nathan refusing to approve the transaction. Gassenheimer claims that Nathan is no longer the independent manager and no longer has authority at the plant.

Omnis Fuel Technologies also filed a civil suit against Nathan and TRAG/RG Energy on July 8 in Pleasants County Circuit Court.

Morrisey was in Greenbrier County Wednesday announcing the sales tax holiday, taking place today through Monday, Aug. 3., when the state drops the 6% consumer sales and use tax on qualifying back-to-school purchases. The sales tax holiday has been in place since the legislature passed House Bill 206 in 2019.

“As families across West Virginia prepare to send their children back to school, I know this time of year brings both genuine excitement and real financial stress,” Morrisey said in a statement. “Between new shoes, clothes, backpack essentials, and modern classroom tech, the costs stack up quickly. As your Governor, my mission is to get government out of the way and put more of your hard-earned dollars back in your pocket.”

However, on Monday, the state Department of Human Services (DoHS) announced that the School Clothing Allowance program had to shut down after the application period opened seven days earlier on July 20 due to running out of funding.

“The 2026 School Clothing Allowance application period has closed effective 11:59 PM on July 27, 2026, since program funding has been exhausted,” according to a statement on the website for DoHS’ Bureau for Family Assistance. “Applications submitted by 11:59 PM on July 27, 2026, will be approved if eligibility requirements are met. Applications received after 11:59 PM on July 27, 2026, will be denied. DoHS appreciates the strong response to this year’s School Clothing Allowance program.”

DoHS announced on July 10 that it would begin accepting applications for the School Clothing Allowance program on July 20 after service providers were left in the dark when the program did not begin on July 1. The deadline to apply was Saturday, Aug. 15.

“It’s alarming that the state stopped accepting applications for school clothing assistance after just one week and appears to have reduced funding for the program,” said Jim McKay with Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia, a part of the Legislative Action Team for Children and Families (LAT). “Families shouldn’t lose access because the application window closed before many parents even knew it was available. At a time when families are facing higher costs for groceries, gas, rent, and other necessities, reducing the number of children who receive clothing assistance makes it even harder for parents to prepare their kids for school.”

The School Clothing Allowance is one of several programs funded through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), also called WV WORKS. TANF is a federal block grant that distributes more than $16 billion nationally, with state’s provide a certain percentage of matching funds.

According to the Governor’s Office, DoHS spent approximately $11.4 million in the previously fiscal year that ended on June 30 on the School Clothing Allowance, with nearly 55,000 applicants benefiting from the program that distributes $200 per eligible child for purchase clothes and back-to-school items.

By comparison, approximately 52,000 applications were received between July 20 and July 27, though the Governor’s Office stressed that that number could increase as DoHS processes additional applications received by midnight July 27 and determines eligibility.

“We won’t know the final amount spent on the program until all applications have been processed and vouchers have been redeemed,” said Lars Dalseide, a spokesperson for Gov. Morrisey. “Our goal was to make funding available at the same level as last year.”

Legislative reaction to the halting of the School Clothing Allowance was bipartisan in disappointment.

“TANF services our most vulnerable families in West Virginia, and I was disappointed by the delay in implementation of the program for this fiscal year, and even more disappointed with the pause,” said state Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, a member of the Senate Finance Committee.

“I think we’re failing our children,” said House Finance Committee Minority Chairman John Williams, D-Monongalia, Oliverio’s Democratic opponent in the 13th Senatorial District general election race. “I don’t think it’s been explained exactly what the problem that the governor’s office is having, and t’s hard to be helpful when you’re unsure of what the problem is.”

The issues with the School Clothing Allowance are just the latest in a line of issues with TANF since Morrisey first announced a potential $43 million structural deficit for the program in May. Morrisey placed the blame for the alleged structural deficit on an influx of federal dollars that came into the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, with previous state officials using the one-time funding to expand TANF spending, with temporary TANF carryover balances masking the problem.

The Legislature amended and approved the Governor’s recommended general revenue budget line item for TANF for fiscal year 2027 beginning on July 1, which is $177.1 million. The budget line item for the previous fiscal year for TANF was $176.7 million. But the fiscal year 2025 budget for TANF during the final year of former Gov. Jim Justice’s second term was $134.7 million, or $42.4 million less than the current fiscal year.

The Governor’s Office has argued that the $177.1 million TANF line item is spending authority and not indicative of how much the program has, with the program receiving $98.8 million in federal funding but expenses topping $137 million. The Governor’s Office estimates TANF carryover fund will be exhausted within the next 13 months. House Finance Committee Chairman Vernon Criss pushed back on these claims.

“The dollars that were asked for in the budget that started July 1 were appropriated by the legislature as the governor had asked for,” said Criss, R-Wood. “We are in the first month of that new fiscal year. There should be no reason that in less than 31 days that he has, quote unquote, run out of money. None at all.”

State Treasurer Larry Pack, a former Republican lawmaker and former Department of Revenue secretary, called on Morrisey and the legislature to come together to fix the issues with TANF, including moving some of the available surplus tax collections left over from the end of fiscal year 2026 into the School Clothing Allowance.

West Virginia ended fiscal year 2026 with a $370 million general revenue budget surplus, covering the $245 million in appropriations placed in the surplus section in the current general revenue budget and leaving $125 million in unappropriated surplus collections for FY27.

“It is outrageous and unacceptable that, as we celebrate millions of dollars in surpluses, we claim we lack the proper funding for programs that protect our most vulnerable children,” Pack said. “Providing for these needy children is a fundamental duty of government. With rising costs, we must do more to ensure that needy families have the resources required to give their children a real chance at success.”

But lawmakers said that Morrisey and DoHS has flexibility within State Code to move funding around within the DoHS budget to address short-term needs, such as fully funding the School Clothing Allowance

“These are matching dollars for federal drawdowns, and therefore, if they have mismanaged their drawdowns or have mismanaged the money in 30 days, that is an administrative problem and not a legislative problem. And we will not cover him if he’s mismanaged the situation,” Criss said.

“I know that the Governor’s Office does have the discretion to move money around,” Williams said. “We could have this thing fully funded tomorrow if we really wanted to. I think it’s just another example of us having our priorities out of whack.”

“The administration has cash flow management tools available to them to meet the needs of these citizens,” Oliverio said. “I hope they will take advantage of those opportunities and begin meeting the needs of these families during this summer season.”