HB 5060 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Relating to Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Associations

HB 5060 creates a new legal framework called the "Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act" in West Virginia, establishing a recognized entity type for nonprofit groups operating without formal incorporation. It requires these associations to have at least 100 members with mutual consent for a common nonprofit purpose, allows them to use digital tools (like blockchain and smart contracts) for governance and voting, and prohibits profit distributions to members except for reasonable compensation for services. The bill clarifies that any profits must support the organization's nonprofit mission, outlines member rights and duties, and grants the Secretary of State rulemaking authority to implement the law. This directly affects nonprofits seeking a flexible, digital-friendly structure while maintaining legal recognition under West Virginia law.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 3, 2026 Last action Mar 5, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute Engrossed Committee Substitute · 3 edits · Mar 4, 2026
MINOR
The bill was formally adopted as the 'Engrossed Committee Substitute' version, moving it closer to final passage. The primary substantive change is the correction of the committee reporting date from 'February 26, 2026' to lowercase 'reported on February 26, 2026', likely a formatting fix. Additionally, a note explaining the bill's purpose and instructions on how to read strike-throughs were removed from the document.
TECHNICAL

The committee reporting date was standardized to lowercase 'reported' instead of 'Reported'.

A summary note explaining the bill's purpose and formatting instructions for strike-throughs was deleted.

The document header was updated to reflect the 'Engrossed' status of the bill.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Mar 4, 2026

How they voted

902
Passed · 7 other
Total votes 99
Mar 4, 2026
D Democratic9
7 Yea 1 Nay 1
77% Yea
R Republican90
83 Yea 1 Nay 6
92% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
19
Key actions
2
Committee
6
Mar 5, 2026
Committee
To Judiciary
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (Roll No. 296)
lower
Feb 27, 2026
Lower · Passed
By substitute, do pass
lower
Feb 20, 2026
Committee
To House Judiciary
lower
Feb 19, 2026
Committee
To House Homeland Security
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Committee
To House Judiciary
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
Feb 3, 2026
Committee
To Judiciary
lower
1 primary · 5 co-sponsors

Sponsors