PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release August 12, 2026
Republicans Can’t Rewrite the Record on HB 2014
CHARLESTON, W.Va - West Virginia Democratic Party today criticized Governor Patrick Morrisey, Speaker Roger Hanshaw, and Senate President Randy Smith for attempting to rewrite the history of House Bill 2014, calling their newly announced “Responsible Data Center Development Plan” a cynical political maneuver designed to distance themselves from legislation they championed just months ago.
“Governor Morrisey and legislative leaders are pounding their chests today about transparency, local input, and responsible data center development,” WV Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin said. “But that’s like closing the barn door after the horse has already gotten out.”
“The obvious question is this: Where was Governor Morrisey when House Bill 2014 was moving through the Legislature?”
HB 2014 was Governor Morrisey’s signature economic development legislation. It passed with the support and leadership of Speaker Roger Hanshaw and Senate President Randy Smith and dramatically reshaped how high-impact data centers and microgrid districts are approved in West Virginia.
One of the law’s most controversial provisions prohibits counties and municipalities from adopting or enforcing ordinances, regulations, or rules that would regulate or restrict these projects—effectively stripping local communities of meaningful control over development decisions.
“Today, Governor Morrisey and Republican leaders are acting as though HB 2014 never happened,” Pushkin said. “They’re pretending they’ve suddenly discovered the importance of transparency, community engagement, local control, and protecting ratepayers and water resources. But those are precisely the concerns they ignored—or legislated away—when they pushed HB 2014 through the Legislature.”
Since the bill became law, communities across West Virginia have voiced growing opposition to the legislation, expressing alarm over the loss of local control, the lack of transparency, and the potential impacts on water resources, electric rates, and quality of life. Republican leaders have watched that backlash spread across the state.
“Now they’re scrambling to get on the right side of one of the most controversial issues facing West Virginia,” Pushkin said. “Yesterday’s press conference wasn’t leadership. It was political damage control.”
Pushkin said the Governor’s so-called “Responsible Data Center Development Plan” is fundamentally backwards.
“You don’t announce a responsible development plan after you’ve already passed the legislation that gives developers sweeping authority,” Pushkin said. “The time to establish safeguards was before HB 2014 became law—not months later after communities began demanding answers.”
“The Governor, Speaker Hanshaw, Senate President Smith, and Republican legislative leaders gave away the store when they passed HB 2014. Now they’re trying to convince West Virginians they support the very protections they removed.”
Pushkin called the Governor’s announcement a smokescreen intended to distract from the consequences of Republican policy.
“This is an attempt to obscure the truth,” Pushkin said. “West Virginians aren’t asking for another press conference or another list of talking points. They’re asking why their local governments no longer have the authority to protect their own communities.”
“The people of West Virginia know who passed HB 2014. They know who celebrated it. And they know who’s now trying to rewrite history because the political winds have shifted.”
“West Virginians deserve real transparency, real local control, and real accountability—not election-year chest-thumping from the very politicians who created this mess.”
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