Both houses of West Virginia's legislature have agreed on a version of House Bill 4014 that would require only the review, not the repeal, of the recently adopted state science standards, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail (March 12, 2016). The bill now proceeds to Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (D) for his consideration.
As NCSE previously reported, HB 4014 was originally aimed at repealing West Virginia's standards for mathematics and English language arts. But the House of Delegates amended it also to repeal the standards for science, with several legislators citing their concern about the inclusion of climate change in the standards as their reason.
The Senate Education Committee subsequently amended the bill. As revised, it would establish a panel appointed by deans at Marshall University and West Virginia University and supervised by the Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission to review the science standards "and recommend revisions that it considers appropriate."
The Senate then passed the amended bill, which returned to the House of Delegates. According to the Gazette-Mail, "The House version of the bill included a one-year block on science standards, but House members retreated on that proposal Saturday [March 12, 2016 — the last day of the legislative session] to ensure the Senate's support of the bill."