WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2026 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
Senate Bill 929
By Senators Taylor, Bartlett, Chapman, Helton, M. Maynard, Queen, and Rose
[Introduced February 12, 2026; referred
to the Committee on Education]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-9-3a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to the Taxpayer Transparency in Education Act; requiring the State Auditor to issue a notice of noncompliance to county boards that do not timely report; prohibiting a county board in noncompliance with reporting from receiving state discretionary funds; providing a short title; and setting an effective date.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
(a) The county board of every county, within 120 days after the beginning of each fiscal year, shall prepare on a form to be prescribed by the State Auditor and the state superintendent of free schools, and cause to be published, a statement providing the following information:
(1) The receipts and expenditures of the board during the previous fiscal year arranged under descriptive headings;
(2) The name of each firm, corporation, and person who received more than $250 in the aggregate from all funds during the previous fiscal year, together with the aggregate amount received from all funds and the purpose for which paid; and
(3) All debts of the board, the purpose for which each debt was contracted, its due date, and to what date the interest thereon has been paid.
(b) The financial statement shall be published either:
(1) As a Class I-0 legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of §59-3-1 et seq. of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the county; or
(c) The financial statement, if published as a Class I-0 legal advertisement, shall not include the name of any person who has entered into a contract with the county board pursuant to the provisions of §18A-2-2, §18A-2-3, §18A-2-4, and §18A-2-5 of this code.
(d) The financial statement, if published on the county board’s website, shall remain posted on the county board’s website at least until publication of the next annual statement, and shall, in addition to the information required in subsection (a) of this section, include:
(1) The name of every person who has entered into a contract with the county board pursuant to the provisions of §18A-2-2, §18A-2-3, §18A-2-4, and §18A-2-5 of this code, and amounts paid to each;
(2) Budget estimates; and
(3) A list of the names of each firm, corporation, and person who received less than $250 from any fund during such fiscal year showing the amount paid to each and the purpose for which paid.
(e) The county board shall pay the cost of publishing the financial statement, if published as a Class I-0 legal advertisement, from the maintenance fund of the board.
(f) As soon as is practicable following the close of the fiscal year, but no later than 90 days after the end of the fiscal year, a copy of the published statement herein required shall be filed by the county board with the State Auditor and with the state superintendent of free schools. The State Auditor shall issue a notice of noncompliance to any county board that fails to provide a copy of its published statement within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year. A county board that is noncompliant for more than 60 days may not receive any discretionary state funding until compliance is achieved.
(g) The county board shall transmit to any resident of the county requesting the same a copy of the published statement for the fiscal year designated, supplemented by a list of the names of all school personnel employed by the board during such fiscal year showing the amount paid to each, and a list of the names of each firm, corporation, and person who received less than $250 from any fund during such fiscal year showing the amount paid to each and the purpose for which paid.
(h) The changes made by the amendments to this section enacted during the regular session of the Legislature, 2021, shall be effective for financial statements for the fiscal year commencing on July 1, 2023. The amendments to this section made during the 2026 regular legislative session shall be known and may be cited as the "Taxpayer Transparency in Education Act" and take effect on July 1, 2026.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the Taxpayer Transparency in Education Act; requiring the timely reporting of county school boards and prohibiting a county board from receiving discretionary state funding if it fails to provide the required published statement.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.