SB 689 West Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

State Sovereignty Act of 2025

SB 689, the State Sovereignty Act of 2025, prohibits West Virginia state and local governments (including counties, cities, school districts, and water districts) from enforcing or collaborating on mandates from the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations (UN), or World Economic Forum (WEF). The bill explicitly states these international entities have "no jurisdiction" in West Virginia and bans state entities from using their requirements as a legal basis for action, including mandates related to masks, vaccines, medical testing, or data collection about residents. It declares any such mandates issued by these organizations "shall have no force or effect" within the state. This bill directly affects how West Virginia localities interact with international health and economic policies but does not alter existing state laws.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 4, 2025 Last action Mar 12, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill text was converted from an Introduced Version to a Committee Substitute version, primarily involving formatting and navigation elements rather than substantive policy changes. The core provisions rejecting jurisdiction of the World Health Organization, United Nations, and World Economic Forum remain unchanged, though the language was slightly reorganized and expanded with additional explanatory text.

Scope change

No substantive change to the bill's scope or applicability; the policy content regarding foreign entity jurisdiction remains the same.

TECHNICAL

Navigation elements and website interface text were removed from the bill text, while new navigation links and site information were added.

The bill's explanatory note about its purpose was moved from the end of the text to after the main provisions.

REQUIREMENT

Subsection (b) was expanded to include additional clarifying language about what requirements are contrary to state law, specifically mentioning masks, vaccines, medical testing, and information gathering.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 12, 2025

Committee

To Judiciary

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee substitute reported, but first to Judiciary

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Committee

To Health and Human Resources

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Committee

To Health and Human Resources then Judiciary

upper

1 primary · 2 co-sponsors