I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve made my nearly annual trip to the U.S. Capitol Building to spend time with members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation.

I’m writing this on Thursday afternoon from the U.S. Senate’s press gallery. I spent part of the day with U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, U.S. Sen. Jim Justice, and U.S. Rep. Riley Moore.

The first time I made this trip was in March 2021 to shadow Capito, R-W.Va., and then-senator Joe Manchin, following them to votes and meetings.

That was already a pretty surreal visit. I’m someone who loves going to Washington, D.C., checking out the monuments and museums, and standing in the shadow of the White House, the Washington Monument, and the U.S. Capitol Building.

But this was a year into the COVID-19 pandemic. Masks still had to be worn in most places. Congressional staff were just starting to come back to Capitol Hill, and even then it was minimal staff. Couple that with the fact that we were nearly three months out from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol Building not by patriotic tourists but by rabid supporters of President Donald Trump determined to stop the certification of the 2020 election for now-former President Joe Biden.

In March 2021, there were still barricades around the Capitol Building. There were armed National Guard members still stationed in the building. The Architect of the Capitol deserves a lot of credit, because by the time I arrived in March, you couldn’t notice the damage that was done. But staff knew and could point out where different things were missing or damaged.

With the minimal staff, the entire Capitol Building felt like a ghost town. I’ve toured the rotunda of the Capitol multiple times as a teen and adult, and I’m used to seeing the rotunda filled with tourists and the hustle bustle of lawmakers. But the building hadn’t been re-opened to tourists. So here I am in a completely empty rotunda. Not another soul around.

On one hand, it was neat to be able to take photos with no one else around to obstruct your view. And I got some great images too. But on the other hand, it was eerie and something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. I much prefer the Capitol Building with people than without.

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I make this trip to Congress because I think it’s important to not only meet with our delegation face-to-face, but also the staff. Because reporters obviously interact with our senators and representatives when they come back to the district and state, but congressional staffers — especially communications staffers — rarely come along.

And to those congressional communications staffers, we reporters are often faceless people they only interact with by email or on the phone. It’s easy for both sides to be distrustful. Face-to-face interactions help break the ice.

Also, for a reporter it can be hard to cover some of these federal issues from afar. In-state reporters don’t have the same access to our members of Congress that D.C. reporters from Politico and the Washington Post have. I’ve never been one to rely exclusively off of live-streams and press releases. So, another successful Capitol Hill visit is in the books.

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Being on the road means I’m not reporting on in-state matters, such as Gov. Patrick Morrisey wrapping up work on the 249 bills passed by the West Virginia Legislature.

According to the Senate Clerk’s Office, of the 249 bills that completed the legislative process, Morrisey signed 233, vetoed six, and let 10 go into law without his signature.

I had to go back to the Legislature’s website and see if 10 bills going into law without the signature of a governor is a rarity and it sure is. Last year, only two bills went into law without the signature of former governor Justice. In 2023 and 2022, it was six bills each of those years. In 2021, it was two bills again. In 2020, all bills were either signed or vetoed, with only five bills going into law without his signature during regular sessions in Justice’s first term.

Of the 10 bills that went into law without Morrisey’s signature, one was House Bill 2755, which would require the Legislature to approve any rules proposed by the state Department of Education and approved by the state Board of Education.

A similar effort in the 1980s by the Legislature was deemed unconstitutional, and an effort to amend the state Constitution to allow the Legislature to approve education rules was voted down by the public. But lawmakers want to see HB 2755 challenged in court to put the question once again before the state Supreme Court of Appeals.

Unsure why Morrisey wouldn’t sign or veto that bill.

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Assuming the remaining two months of the fiscal year remain in the black and above projections, it looks like West Virginia will end the current fiscal year on June 30 with enough excess tax collections – surplus – to fund the only remaining item left in the surplus section of the fiscal year 2026 general revenue budget.

Just 10 months into the fiscal year, West Virginia has collected $237 million above estimates set by the state Department of Revenue. Much of that $237 million is already spoken for in several supplemental appropriations passed during the recent legislative session, including $28.4 million for the Hope Scholarship program and $39.4 million for Department of Human Services Medical Services line item.

But assuming all remains good, the $100 million item in the back of the fiscal year 2026 budget for Division of Highways projects should be fine.

(Adams is the state government reporter for Ogden Newspapers. He can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)