---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to clarifying the ability of the Economic Development Authority Board of Directors to enter into any contracts necessary to carry out its duties"
description: "Relating to clarifying the ability of the Economic Development Authority Board of Directors to enter into any contracts necessary to carry out its duties"
jurisdiction: "us/states/wv"
legislature: "West Virginia Legislature"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 4959"
citation: "West Virginia HB 4959 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Howell"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 34
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2020-02-20"
last_action: "2020-04-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/670f47a5-a36e-4bcf-ad04-944de4b6c046"
source_url: "http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/Bills_history.cfm?input=4959&year=2020&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill"
source_hash: "029f3eff03874e482ffd3b656e148f0de3b0b5a57c3e868d840f6e270d726cf3"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-wv"]
---

# West Virginia HB 4959 (2020) — Relating to clarifying the ability of the Economic Development Authority Board of Directors to enter into any contracts necessary to carry out its duties

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Enrolled Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4959%20ENR.htm&yr=2020&sesstype=RS&i=4959)
2. **Originating in Committee** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=HB4959%20ORG.htm&yr=2020&sesstype=RS&i=4959)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **97–2** (pass) · lower
- Passage — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- EFFECT FROM PASSAGE — **96–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Howell — primary (person)
- Barnhart — cosponsor (person)
- Jennings — cosponsor (person)
- Martin, C. — cosponsor (person)
- Staggers — cosponsor (person)
- Tomblin — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-02-20** Originating in House Government Organization
- **2020-02-20** Do pass
- **2020-02-21** On 1st reading, Special Calendar
- **2020-02-21** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-24** On 2nd reading, Special Calendar
- **2020-02-24** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-25** On 3rd reading, Special Calendar
- **2020-02-25** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-25** Passed House (Roll No. 331) `passage`
- **2020-02-25** Communicated to Senate
- **2020-02-26** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2020-02-26** Immediate consideration
- **2020-02-26** Committee reference dispensed
- **2020-02-26** Read 1st time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-27** On 2nd reading
- **2020-02-27** Read 2nd time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-28** On 3rd reading
- **2020-02-28** Read 3rd time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-28** Passed Senate (Roll No. 354) `passage`
- **2020-02-28** Effective from passage (Roll No. 354)
- **2020-02-28** Senate requests House to concur in changed effective date
- **2020-03-04** House received Senate message
- **2020-03-04** House concurred in Senate effective date (Voice)
- **2020-03-04** Effective from passage (Roll No. 490)
- **2020-03-04** Communicated to Senate
- **2020-02-28** Completed legislative action
- **2020-03-05** House Message received
- **2020-03-07** To Governor 3/12/20 - Senate Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2020-03-07** To Governor 3/12/20 - House Journal `executive-receipt`
- **2020-03-12** To Governor 3/12/20 `executive-receipt`
- **2020-03-07** Approved by Governor 3/25/20 - House Journal
- **2020-03-25** Approved by Governor 3/25/20 `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-07** Approved by Governor 3/25/20 - Senate Journal
- **2020-04-15** Chapter 106, Acts, Regular Session, 2020

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/670f47a5-a36e-4bcf-ad04-944de4b6c046`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official West Virginia legislature records).