# West Virginia SB 531: Establishing First Amendment Preservation Act West Virginia SB 531, Establishing First Amendment Preservation Act, is a 2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Mike Azinger (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-06-25 (Chapter 153, Acts, Regular Session, 2026) (as of 2026-11-04). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-SB531-2026rs - As of: 2026-11-04 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: West Virginia SB 531 - State: West Virginia - Session: 2026 Regular Session - Title: Establishing First Amendment Preservation Act - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-01-20 - Last action: 2026-06-25, Chapter 153, Acts, Regular Session, 2026 - Sponsor: Mike Azinger (Republican) - Cosponsors: 10 - Subjects: §5A-3-64 - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 6 (293 yes, 25 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 4 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - No contracts with adversaries or terrorists: benefit, low. State agencies cannot contract with people or companies tied to certain federal lists. These include foreign adversaries, terrorist exclusion lists, countries that back terrorism, and named executive order designees. The ban applies to contracts started or changed on or after July 1, 2026. - New certifications for state ad vendors: cost, low. If you bid on state advertising or marketing work, you must give a written certification. It says you are not a media reliability or bias monitor and will not use one for the job. Agencies must get the same from current contractors before renewals or changes. This applies on and after July 1, 2026. - Who must follow these rules and when: mixed, low. The law explains who must follow these rules. It covers all state departments, boards, and commissions. It covers colleges that use state money and political subdivisions. It also covers most companies, including nonprofits and parent or subsidiary firms. These rules apply to contracts signed or ch… - State ad buys ban bias monitors: mixed, low. State agencies cannot use media reliability or bias monitors to pick where ads run or to buy programmatic ads. They also cannot hire marketing firms that rely on those monitors for placements. The law still allows news aggregation and ad performance analytics. Starting July 1, 2026, these limits ap… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Mike Azinger (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Anne B. Charnock (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Bill Hamilton (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Brian Helton (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Robbie Morris (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Rupie Phillips (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Rollan A. Roberts (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Chris Rose (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Patricia Rucker (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Jay Taylor (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Tom Willis (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-13 | Senate | Effective July 1, 2026 (Roll No. 599) | pass | 33 | 0 | | | 2026-03-13 | Senate | Senate concurred in House amendments and passed bill (Roll No. 598) | pass | 31 | 2 | | | 2026-03-12 | House | Passed House (Roll No. 424) | pass | 82 | 12 | | | 2026-03-12 | House | Effective July 1, 2026 (Roll No. 425) | pass | 87 | 7 | | | 2026-02-13 | Senate | Passed Senate (Roll No. 76) | pass | 30 | 2 | | | 2026-02-13 | Senate | Effective July 1, 2026 (Roll No. 77) | pass | 30 | 2 | | ## Actions (43) - 2026-06-25: Chapter 153, Acts, Regular Session, 2026 (Senate) - 2026-04-01: Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 (Senate) - 2026-03-18: To Governor 3/18/2026 (Senate) - 2026-03-14: To Governor 3/18/2026 - Senate Journal (Senate) - 2026-03-14: Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - Senate Journal (Senate) - 2026-03-14: Approved by Governor 4/1/2026 - House Journal (House) - 2026-03-13: House Message received (Senate) - 2026-03-13: Senate concurred in House amendments and passed bill (Roll No. 598) (Senate) - 2026-03-13: Effective July 1, 2026 (Roll No. 599) (Senate) - 2026-03-13: Communicated to House (Senate) - 2026-03-13: Completed legislative action (Senate) - 2026-03-12: On 3rd reading, Special Calendar (House) - 2026-03-12: Read 3rd time (House) - 2026-03-12: Passed House (Roll No. 424) (House) - 2026-03-12: Title amendment adopted (Voice vote) (House) - 2026-03-12: Effective July 1, 2026 (Roll No. 425) (House) - 2026-03-12: Communicated to Senate (House) - 2026-03-11: On 2nd reading, Special Calendar (House) - 2026-03-11: Read 2nd time (House) - 2026-03-11: Amendment reported by the Clerk (House) - 2026-03-11: Committee amendment adopted (Voice vote) (House) - 2026-03-10: With amendment, do pass (House) - 2026-03-10: Immediate consideration (House) - 2026-03-10: Read 1st time (House) - 2026-03-09: Markup Discussion (House) - 2026-02-16: House received Senate message (House) - 2026-02-16: Introduced in House (House) - 2026-02-16: To Judiciary (House) - 2026-02-16: To House Judiciary (House) - 2026-02-13: On 3rd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-13: Read 3rd time (Senate) - 2026-02-13: Passed Senate (Roll No. 76) (Senate) - 2026-02-13: Effective July 1, 2026 (Roll No. 77) (Senate) - 2026-02-13: Ordered to House (Senate) - 2026-02-12: On 2nd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Read 2nd time (Senate) - 2026-02-11: On 1st reading (Senate) - 2026-02-11: Read 1st time (Senate) - 2026-02-10: Committee substitute reported (Senate) - 2026-01-20: Filed for introduction (Senate) - 2026-01-20: To Judiciary (Senate) - 2026-01-20: Introduced in Senate (Senate) - 2026-01-20: To Judiciary (Senate) ## Bill text - Committee Substitute: [HTML](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 sub1.htm), [PDF](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 sub1.pdf) - Enrolled: [HTML](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 sub1 enr.htm), [PDF](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 sub1 enr.pdf) - Introduced Version: [HTML](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 intr.htm), [PDF](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 intr.pdf) ## Related bills - HB 5694: Supplemental appropriation to Department of Education, fund 0313. (signed) - HB 5353: To bring virtual currency kiosks within the purview of money transmission licensure and create disclosure requirements and daily transaction limitations for ne… (signed) - HB 4452: To remove Mortmain restrictions on religious organizations (signed) - HB 4390: Relating to the temporary payment to a kinship parent of a subsidy equal to that of a foster parent (signed) - HB 4354: Relating to necessity allowance (signed) - HB 4191: Relating to providing child care generally (became law) ## Sources - [Committee Substitute (HTML)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 sub1.htm) - [Committee Substitute (PDF)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 sub1.pdf) - [Enrolled (HTML)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 sub1 enr.htm) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 sub1 enr.pdf) - [Introduced Version (HTML)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 intr.htm) - [Introduced Version (PDF)](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2026_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb531 intr.pdf) ## Related - [HB 5694: Supplemental appropriation to Department of Education, fund 0313.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB5694-2026rs) - [HB 5353: To bring virtual currency kiosks within the purview of money transmission licen…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB5353-2026rs) - [HB 4452: To remove Mortmain restrictions on religious organizations](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4452-2026rs) - [HB 4390: Relating to the temporary payment to a kinship parent of a subsidy equal to tha…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4390-2026rs) - [HB 4354: Relating to necessity allowance](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4354-2026rs) - [HB 4191: Relating to providing child care generally](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-HB4191-2026rs) - [West Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/west-virginia/bills) - [West Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/west-virginia) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/WV-SB531-2026rs (as of 2026-11-04).