By Matthew Young, RealWV, www.therealwv.com
The Greenbrier County Republican Club, during their regular monthly meeting on Thursday, welcomed local representatives Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, and Del. Ray Canterbury, R-Greenbrier, to discuss the upcoming legislative session.
“In a retrospective look at the last session [2025], the members of the House didn’t think the last session was all that productive,” Canterbury began. “We decided we’re going to take the bull by the horns, and we decided to set the agenda this time.”
According to Canterbury, the Republican caucus of the House of Delegates has prepared 18 bills thus far that are ready for introduction.
“These are pro-business bills that are all designed to help us encourage more businesses and economic development in the State of West Virginia, which is going to be the primary focus of the House,” Canterbury noted.
According to Canterbury, among the 18 bills introduced will be initiatives to encourage expansion within the state’s aviation industry. Part of that expansion would be the building of additional aircraft hanger space, which Canterbury said will benefit the Greenbrier Valley Airport.
“We [also] have a proposal that’s called ‘Re-charge West Virginia.’ which is going to reimburse businesses for some training for employees to improve their skills,” Canterbury said. “And we’ve got some ideas about helping high school students develop skills before they enter the work force.”
“There’s one called the ‘Construction Cost Relief Act,’” Canterbury continued. “It’s exempting construction-building projects from the state tax code in certain areas where there’s a housing [shortage]. There’s also a proposal to extend certain tax credits to small businesses. We’ve always heard a lot about, ‘Well why do you extend tax credits to companies that are new to the State of West Virginia? Why don’t you do something to incentivize companies that are already here to grow?’ So there’s going to be a shift.”
One proposal which Canterbury finds particularly interesting, he said, is called the “Collaboratory.”
“They did this in North Carolina,” Canterbury explained. “The legislature there – like all legislatures – has lots of studies, and they say we need to study this, and there’s no real organization to that. So what we’ve decided to do is establish something called the ‘collaboratory,’ and basically it will be seated at Marshall [University].”
“Basically it will be an organization that will take all of the research projects that the legislature requests – where we want to do studies on anything on pending legislation or economic development – and we send it to them and then they find academics around the state in various institutions who can take up those projects,” Canterbury continued. “They assign those and allocate resources.”
“We’re just basically looking for a way to focus research and development in the State of West Virginia around the policy initiatives of the state legislature in an organized manner,” Canterbury added.
Canterbury expressed his confidence on the passage of these proposals, as the House of Delegates maintains a 91-seat Republican majority.
Turning his attention to local issues, Canterbury addressed the impending loss of OBGYN services at CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center.
“This is going to be a huge problem for the Greenbrier Valley,” Canterbury said. “Small businesses are telling us that if we don’t have an OBGYN, it’s going to be harder to recruit young families to the State of West Virginia. You need an OBGYN.”
Canterbury noted that West Virginia is set to receive $199.5 million in funding this year through the Rural Health Transformation Fund, and at least $100 million per year for the next four years thereafter. Part of those funds, Canterbury said, are intended to incentivize medical providers to offer their services in the state’s more rural areas.
“It turns out the lack of OBGYNS is not just a local problem,” Canterbury said. “It’s statewide. […] It’s a particularly bad problem in a county that has a medical school, because if you don’t have an OBGYN then you may not be that interesting to female students who want to attend as medical students.”
“And since this particular medical school (WVSOM) is very important to the supply chain for doctors around the state – we have a problem with more placement within the State of West Virginia than any other medical school,” Canterbury added. “It’s kind of important that we address that here.”
Canterbury told attendees that he hopes to arrange a meeting between himself, the Governor, and the Republican caucus.
To begin his remarks, Sen. Vince Deeds told those in attendance, “I think this is the best thing we can do as legislators – get together and talk about these kinds of issues prior to session, and during session.”
“Now there’s going to be a lot of issues that pop up and get the headlines,” Deeds said. “If you have any questions during session – this is critically important – please reach out and contact us.”
Behind the scenes, Deeds explained, members of both the House and the Senate have been working together in a pro-jobs caucus, as an “economic development authority. According to Deeds, last month’s announcement of House of Delegates Speaker Roger Hanshaw’s, R-Clay, 2026 legislative agenda was done in the hopes that it would allow Governor Patrick Morrisey ample time to familiarize himself with the priorities of lawmakers, prior to delivering his State of the State Address.
Moving on to specific issues, Deeds said, “Whenever you talk about education, you automatically think about elementary and secondary schools, and public education. One thing we have to be mindful of is to be able to recruit and retain professionals in specialty fields.”
Deeds then addressed HB 2014 – also referred to as the “Microgrid Bill” – that paves the way for the construction of data centers throughout West Virginia. HB 2014 was signed into law at the end of last year’s legislative session.
“That’s a big economic gain,” Deeds said. “That’s a good bill. Now it’s not immediate. […] Especially when you’re dealing with these Fortune 100 companies that develop these data centers. There’s been a long negotiation.”
Opponents of HB 2014 have raised concerns over possible environmental damage, and expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of local control. Under the provisions included within the bill, a large percentage of property taxes generated by data centers would be collected by the state, and municipalities would be limited in their ability to enforce local codes and ordinances. Conversely, the bill’s supporters cite the potential for a significant financial boost to local economies, and to the state as a whole.
While Deeds said he was prevented from sharing specifics due to the existence of non-disclosure agreements, he did note that, “You will see some substantial growth in the Greenbrier Valley, as far as economic growth.”
“We’ll have some announcements about that probably during the session,” Deeds said. “We’re finalizing that now.”
The 2026 Legislative Session begins Wednesday, with the governor’s State of the State Address scheduled for 7pm Wednesday evening. RealWV will provide updates throughout the duration of the legislative session, as information is made available.
