New judiciary chairman Willis focused on lightening load on West Virginia business owners

CHARLESTON, W.Va – New state Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Tom Willis is preparing for his second legislative session, armed with an agenda designed to make life easier on West Virginia business owners.

Tom Willis

Personal experience with the state’s regulations and requirements is motivating him to try and make a change.

“I’ve spent a lot of time on Friday nights and Saturday nights working to comply with different regulations or reporting requirements, different forms, so I feel the pain viscerally. When a lot of my friends are out at barbecues or watching games, I’m trying to keep up with the administrative side of my business,” he said on MetroNews Talkline.

Senate President Randy Smith named Willis, who served as the committee’s vice chair during last year’s session, to the post last week.

Willis, who represents parts of Berkeley, Morgan, and Hampshire Counties, understands that overseeing the judiciary committee means a significant percentage of bills that pass through the senate will go across his desk. The goal he wants to achieve in that role is a simple one.

“Economic prosperity and freedom is really important to me. I want to make West Virginia the number-one most business-friendly state in the country,” he said.

The senator believes that the amount of work business owners have to do to keep up to date with the state can be too much to keep up with. He wants to make the load lighter so people have more time to spend outside of running their businesses.

“Passing a law that would require time from West Virginians, and especially West Virginia business owners, that’s a form of taxation. Whenever you’re requiring time to comply with a law from someone, that’s a form of taxation, and I’m going to stand against that every single time,” he said.

In addition to taking a little bit off of business owners’ shoulders, Willis has his eyes on clearing up the picture a little bit. A more streamlined process for keeping businesses compliant with the state is part of his focus.

“Businesses need clarity. Businesses are allergic to ambiguity, so one of my goals is to go through the code and provide clarity where we can and cut regulations where we can,” he said.

Willis was elected to the state senate in 2024 and begins his first session as chairman of the judiciary committee on January 14.