On March 14, West Virginia HB 3005 went into effect when Governor Jim Justice let it become law, although he wouldn’t sign it. West Virginia law lets governors appoint new legislators when a seat becomes vacant. However, the Governor must appoint someone from the same party. The bill clarifies that the party of the previous office-holder is the party at the time the former member resigned or died, not the party when the previous office-holder had last been elected. This is only important in the rare instances when an office-holder switches parties and then resigns. See this story.