SB 1038 West Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Adjusting salaries for certain administrative law judges

This bill (SB 1038) increases salaries by 15% for three specific positions at the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review: Chief Administrative Law Judge, Administrative Law Judge 1, and Administrative Law Judge 2. The adjustment applies to salary levels effective when the bill takes effect and is separate from other 2026 budget salary changes. The stated purpose is to help ensure unemployment compensation hearings occur in a timely manner. The funding for this increase is exempt from standard budget constraints, and the law explicitly states it creates no legal liability for implementation.

Issues: ✓ Labor & Employment

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2026

Signed into Law

Jun 2026

Introduced Feb 21, 2026 Signed Jun 25, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

sb1038 sfa barrett _1 3-3 adopted.htm → Enrolled Committee Substitute · 4 edits · Apr 1, 2026

MODERATE

The bill text was converted from a draft amendment proposal into the final enrolled legislative version. The substantive policy content regarding the 15% salary increase for specific administrative law judges remains unchanged, though minor formatting corrections were applied to the list of eligible job titles and the session description.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it still applies to the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review.

TECHNICAL

The list of eligible positions was updated to include an 'or' between Administrative Law Judge 1 and Administrative Law Judge 2 for grammatical clarity.

The text describing the legislative session was changed from 'Regular' to 'regular' to match standard capitalization conventions.

Standard website navigation menus, headers, and footer links were added as the document was finalized for publication.

The procedural record of Senator Barrett moving to amend the bill was removed, as the text was finalized and enacted.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 4, 2026 · House of Delegates Mar 14, 2026

How they voted

32–0

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 33

Mar 4, 2026

D Democratic2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican31

30 Yea 1

96% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 1, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by Governor 4/1/2026

upper

Mar 14, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - House Journal

lower

Mar 14, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - Senate Journal

upper

Mar 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed House (Roll No. 622)

lower

Mar 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Do pass

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Committee

To House Finance

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Committee

To Finance

lower

Mar 5, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate (Roll No. 351)

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Floor amendment adopted (Voice vote)

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reported do pass

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Committee

To Finance

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Committee

Committee substitute reported, but first to Finance

upper

Feb 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

1 primary · 18 co-sponsors