West Virginia lawmakers completed legislation asserting ultimate say-so over state Board of Education policies — even though citizens rejected that in a statewide vote just a few years ago.

The state Senate approved the bill on Friday. The House of Delegates agreed to changes made by senators and passed the bill on a 66-32 vote.

Several delegates on Saturday spoke against passing a bill on a policy that the citizens recently rejected.

Three years ago, West Virginians rejected a constitutional amendment that would have given the legislature authority to review and approve the state Board of Education’s rules and policies, leaving the board’s current constitutional authority intact.

The proposed amendment on the November 2022 ballot was defeated by a 58%-42% vote.

“As an elected member of this body, it doesn’t seem like a great idea to go against the folks that elected me to come here to vote their will,” said Delegate Joe Parsons, R-Jackson.

“I remind each of you that 50 of the 55 counties voted against this issue in 2022.”

House Bill 2755 starts by noting that the state Constitution’s Section 1, Article 12 begins by saying “The Legislature shall provide, by general law, for a thorough and efficient system of free schools including early childhood education.”

The legislation then makes a case that the Legislature exercises authority over the state Board of Education and thus has ultimate say so on the rules governing the state education system.

The bill would require that all legislative rules enacted by the state board must first be authorized by the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability, which lawmakers call LOCEA. The proposed rules would then be submitted to the full Legislature for review.

Delegate John Williams, D-Monongalia, asked whether the bill includes findings to reflect that the citizens already expressed their will through the 2022 statewide vote.

“We know that the citizens of West Virginia spoke loud and clear on this issue,” Williams said.