It’s a shame it took until the 55th day of West Virginia’s 2025 regular legislative session — which lasts for 60 days — for a lawmaker to publicly acknowledge what many Mountaineers have been thinking this year: Exactly why are lawmakers focusing on issues that will do little to nothing to move the state forward?

State Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, took to the Senate floor Monday to address lawmakers on the session:

“We’re in the 11th hour of this session, and this time next week, we’ll be home doing our regular duties as citizens of West Virginia,” Deeds said. “I want to take just a moment and reflect back on what we’ve accomplished. (Sunday), I was at church and we were talking about different things, and everyone that came up to me asked me what we accomplished here this (session) … and I really didn’t have an answer. I cannot remember a session that we have been this far along and not really accomplished anything noteworthy. …”

That’s telling regarding lawmakers’ priorities this year, which have primarily focused on social issues.

One of the matters that has taken up much time in the state Senate this session is a proposed childhood vaccine exemption based on religious or philosophical beliefs. The push to loosen vaccine requirements is being championed by state Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio. This comes as 22 U.S. states — including all of West Virginia’s border states except Virginia –have reported confirmed measles cases.

Earlier attempts to pass legislation on the vaccine requirements failed — both times in the House. On Monday, Chapman, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, urged her committee to amend a current House bill and try once again with vaccines. The amendment passed.

Deeds, also a member of the Senate Health Committee, voted against the measure.

“I’m kind of frustrated about that. You know, I feel like we chewed that cabbage already one other time. We’ve already dealt with that this session, and early on in this session,” Deeds told MetroNews. “I see it as a bit of wasting our precious time right now where we … have other bigger issues that we have to take care of.”

Indeed.

Lawmakers — particularly those in the Senate — have done almost nothing this session to improve West Virginia’s economy or our quality of life. With only a few days remaining, there’s little reason to expect that to change.

Deeds, for his part, is urging lawmakers to finish the session with the state’s future in mind. “This is our time that we rally together and we put away all these individual, selfish ambitions that we may have,” he said. “We cannot be a one-issue warrior. … We have to stand up here for the citizens of West Virginia. … We have to look at the total picture and work with our House partners, work with the governor’s office and get something accomplished, because I need to be able to go home and look at the people in my church, my sons, my granddaughter, and say, ‘Hey, we have accomplished something here.’ So my challenge to all of us, myself included, is let’s get something done. We’re in the 11th hour. It’s time for us to get together, to work together and move on.”

Lawmakers must, indeed, finish this session by taking action that puts the state’s future first.