Latest news with #GenoChiarelli
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A look at bills that crossed the legislative finish line
Apr. 14—MORGANTOWN — The 2025 legislative session wrapped up at midnight Saturday, and a number of bills we followed along the way completed their journeys. Most prominent among them is HB 3279. Over the objections of WVU and Marshall and others who said it addresses a problem that doesn't exist, it turns the student, faculty and staff members of college and university boards of governors across the state into non-voting advisory members. For WVU specifically, it also makes the Extension service faculty representative a non-voting member. Some final amendment fiddling and concurrence concluded Saturday afternoon and it heads to the governor. WVU provided this statement to The Dominion Post on Monday: "West Virginia University is West Virginia's University because of our students, faculty and staff, and their commitment to serving the state. We believe their voices should be heard and, in this case, they made their opposition to HB 3279 known to lawmakers. "Once the bill is signed into law, " WVU said, "we will work to implement its provisions as we do with every other law. The WVU Board of Governors will continue to include two faculty representatives, one classified staff representative and one student body representative. Going forward, we hope their perspectives and guidance will continue to be sought in the decision-making process." SB 50 aligns municipal election dates with statewide primary and general election dates, effective July 1, 2032. Last Monday, April 7, the House adopted an amendment by Delegate Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, to move the effective date to July 1, 2028. The Senate rejected that amendment and on Saturday the House receded and passed the Senate version 93-2. Chiarelli joined the majority but Delegate Evan Hansen D-Monongalia, voted against it (he voted for it when the House passed its amended version). It heads to the governor. Here are some other bills heading to the governor. After failing in 2023 and 2024, the bill to require the display of the U.S. Motto "IN God We Trust " finally passed. SB 280 requires public schools and higher education institutions to display a durable poster or framed copy of the motto "in a conspicuous location within a common area of the main building ...that is accessible to the public." Displays in other areas is optional. Public funding is prohibited, while private funding is permitted. HB 2003 requires county school boards to establish policies for permitting, or not permitting, personal electronic devices on school property. If permitted, the board will set parameters for use and for storage during instructional hours. It includes exceptions for medical issues and for students with Individualized Education Programs. It also requires school boards to establish consequences for violations, including confiscation and ongoing prohibition from possession on campus. HB 2164 allows schools three options to put security officers in their hallways. It allows public and charter schools, along with private and religious schools, to employ school safety officers. It allows public schools, including charters (private and religious schools do not appear in this section), to contract with a retired law enforcement officer to provide Guardian services. And it allows schools — public, private and religious — to contract with private security firms. HB 2434 is the Stop Squatters Act. It says a squatter is a person occupying a dwelling or other structure who is not so entitled under a rental agreement or is not authorized to do so by the tenant or owner. It allows a property owner or their authorized agent to request law enforcement to undertake the immediate removal of the squatter, under specified conditions. The bill establishes the crime of criminal mischief for causing damages, with misdemeanor and felony penalties depending on the value of the damages. It also sets criminal penalties for selling real property without authorization and for advertising property for sale or rent without authorization. HB 2960 launches a pilot project to plow secondary roads in Monongalia and Preston counties. It says, "Snow removal on the secondary roads in Monongalia County and Preston County has not been dependable, providing a hardship on the citizens of West Virginia." It establishes a two-year pilot project to put out a Request for Proposal for vendors to provide snow removal for District 4's secondary roads in Monongalia and Preston counties. The Division of Highways will identify the roads to be plowed. The DOH can terminate a contract, with 30 days' notice, for substandard or unsatisfactory work. A couple measures died. SB 85 aimed to ban the prescription and dispensing of abortion medications by mail order. It passed the Senate but died in House Health without a hearing. And the House was set to take up a Senate pro-coal resolution on Saturday but let it die. SCR 18 announced the intention to create a West Virginia Coal Renaissance Act, citing the changing views about energy as the Trump administration follows the more renewable-minded Biden and Obama years. It said the Coal Renaissance Act, along with programs and initiatives, will encourage and foster greater coal usage, and state agencies will develop strategies to fully develop coal production and consumption, including new coal-fired plants and efforts to keep current plants open.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House amends Senate city elections bill to shorten time for municipalities to change their voting dates
Apr. 4—MORGANTOWN — The House of Delegates on Friday adopted an amendment to the Senate's bill to align municipal election dates with state dates — an amendment that will likely be rejected when the bill returns to the Senate. The bill is SB 50, to require municipalities to align their local elections with state primary and general elections by 2032. Delegate Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, offered the amendment to change the year to 2028. Several delegates spoke in opposition. Delegate Larry Kump, R-Berkeley, said that when he moved from Maryland to West Virginia in 1999, he asked people, "Why do we have these goofy election dates that aren't on regular election dates ?" They told him that came from the good-old-boy system to minimize turnout and get the good old boys elected, he said. Kump said he supports the bill but not the amendment. "Let's not mess with it any further. It'll be done and we won't have any more of these goofy elections." Judiciary chair JB Akers, R-Kanawha, said he hadn't talked with the Senate about the reason for the late date. But Delegate Andy Shamblin, also R-Kanawha, said it had to do with municipal charters: Many municipalities will have to put a charter amendment to comply with the law on their 2028 ballot. So the amendment would harm the intent of the bill. And Delegate Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, added that the 2030 census also likely plays a role in the 2032 date — because districts will get redrawn and municipal ward and precinct boundaries will change. Shamblin and Linville were right. In Senate discussion, it was said that cities will need time to pass a charter amendment, and counties will need to redraw precincts that cross city boundaries. That led to the date changing from July 1, 2026 in the introduced bill to July 1, 2030 in committee. Then on the Senate floor on Feb. 28, Sen. Ryan Weld offered an amendment to further extend the date to July 1, 2032, to account for post-census redistricting. Not knowing any of that Senate background, Chiarelli's amendment found supporters. Delegate Jarred Cannon, R-Putnam, stated his belief that state law would preempt any city charter. And Chiarelli pointed out his hometown's reluctance to put election dates in the hand of the voters. Last October, Morgantown City Council voted against giving the choice of election dates to city voters. An ordinance to place that proposed charter change on the city's April 29 ballot failed on first reading. Chiarelli noted the low turnout percentage in Morgantown's previous three city elections, and said 2028 allows plenty of time for municipalities to make the needed changes. "I have full faith in them, " he said. "I think they'll be able to make the jump with very little issue." His amendment was adopted on a divided voice vote — no one demanded a roll call vote — and will be on third reading for passage on Monday. Then it will return to the Senate where the amendment will undergo scrutiny.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
West Virginia House passes camping ban; bill advances to Senate for consideration
Del. Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, sponsor of House Bill 2382, speaks on the House floor in Charleston, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography) The West Virginia House of Delegates signed off Tuesday on a bill that would prohibit homeless people from camping on public property throughout the state. The House approved House Bill 2382 with a vote of 89-9 and two delegates not voting. The bill would impose fines of up to $500 or up to 30 days in jail for homeless people who camp or store personal property on streets, parks, trails or other public property throughout the state. If the bill becomes law, West Virginia would join dozens of local governments in prohibiting homeless people from sleeping in public areas following the U.S. Supreme Court decision last year upholding a similar ban in Grants Pass, Oregon. In West Virginia, at least four cities — Clarksburg, Morgantown, Bluefield and Princeton — passed camping bans last year. Opponents of camping bans say they do not help the root causes of homelessness, like a lack of affordable housing and mental illness, and make the problem worse by imposing fines and criminal penalties on unhoused people, making it more difficult for them to get into housing. In Morgantown, the Morgantown Coalition for Housing Action challenged the camping ban, and voters will decide whether the ordinance will go into effect during the city's election next month. Bill sponsor Del. Geno Chiarelli, a Republican representing Monongalia County, said his legislation was in response to the city's camping ban being challenged and possibly overturned. The coalition is opposed to the statewide ban. A representative from the coalition said the legislation 'illustrates the illusion of representation that is consistently presented to the working class' and blamed Monongalia County commissioner Tom Bloom for supporting it. West Virginia Watch could not find public comments from Bloom where he expressed support of the legislation. Bloom could not be reached for comment. 'As an authoritarian regime threatens the entire country, Geno's legislation and Tom's support have made clear their intent to abandon West Virginians and bend the knee to fascism, all under the guise of economic efficiency,' Miles Case, a part of the coalition, said in a written statement. 'The people of West Virginia have a long history of resisting tyranny in all forms, and we once again refuse to be silent or complicit in its attempted enactment.' Speaking in favor of the bill from the House floor Tuesday, Chiarelli said with the bill, he seeks to create a uniform policy about homeless encampments instead of a patchwork of statutes and ordinances across the state. 'I think when we address the homelessness issue, the drug use issue, the mental health crisis that we're facing, I think that consistency and uniformity is something that has to be key,' Chiarelli said. He said the bill is a start of making the West Virginia cities and the state a better place to live. 'Our city [Morgantown] is not the same as it was 10 years ago, and this is an issue that takes a lot of people working in sync,' he said. 'There's a lot of moving parts, a lot of cogs that all have to turn at the same time and in the same way. But this is one small piece that we could do to try and make our cities, our municipalities, a better place to live, somewhere where people aren't afraid to take their kids to the public library anymore. 'I would encourage you to vote yes. And of course, this is just one piece that we have moving forward, because we are going to make West Virginia a better place,' Chiarelli said. 'And I think this is how it starts.' Democrats who opposed the bill cited the need to give local government control and concern that it would give homeless people a choice between using a blanket or tent to keep more or breaking the law. The bill defines camping as using 'camping paraphernalia,' including 'backpacks, bags, rucksacks, tarps, cots, beds, sleeping bags, blankets, mattresses, hammocks or portable cooking facilities and similar equipment.' 'What I'm worried about… is that someone simply that is just trying to find shelter, that's fallen upon hard times, would have to make that choice, right?' said Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell. 'Someone that's just trying to stay warm. And so again, I ask the question, what are we doing that we can't vet these things a little bit more? Again, great idea, and I truly appreciate it. We have to do something, but the way that is currently written to not provide for safety for our neighbors. They might be going through something, I get that, but they are still our neighbors in our cities. I respectfully will have to oppose this piece of legislation.' John Williams, D-Monongalia, said the bill would take away Morgantown voters' ability to decide on that city's camping ban during its election in April. 'After a lot of discussions with a couple of my colleagues from Morgantown, it seems wrong for me at this juncture to take away their right to address this issue when they have that opportunity just five, six short weeks from now, to be able to give their opinion,' Williams said. Del. Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson, was the lone Republican to vote against the legislation. Clark said he agrees with the intent behind the legislation, getting rid of homeless encampments, but suggested the bill be amended so that it doesn't inadvertently affect tourists along the Hatfield and McCoy Trail system. The bill has carve outs for people lawfully camping in campgrounds or staying in a registered vehicle located in an area where they may be lawfully. Under questioning by Clark, Chiarelli said that side-by-side vehicle operators who are not registered with the Division of Motor Vehicles could be considered unlawfully camping if they pull off of trails and set up a tent. 'I'd hate to see individuals that are on our bike trails or on our walking trails or on our side-by-side trails, getting tickets because they decided to pull over in their side-by-side, pitch a tent for the evening, rather than try and drive on unfamiliar terrain at night,' Clark said. The bill next goes to the Senate for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
West Virginia House passes camping ban; bill advances to Senate for consideration
Del. Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, sponsor of House Bill 2382, speaks on the House floor in Charleston, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography) The West Virginia House of Delegates signed off Tuesday on a bill that would prohibit homeless people from camping on public property throughout the state. The House approved House Bill 2382 with a vote of 89-9 and two delegates not voting. The bill would impose fines of up to $500 or up to 30 days in jail for homeless people who camp or store personal property on streets, parks, trails or other public property throughout the state. If the bill becomes law, West Virginia would join dozens of local governments in prohibiting homeless people from sleeping in public areas following the U.S. Supreme Court decision last year upholding a similar ban in Grants Pass, Oregon. In West Virginia, at least four cities — Clarksburg, Morgantown, Bluefield and Princeton — passed camping bans last year. Opponents of camping bans say they do not help the root causes of homelessness, like a lack of affordable housing and mental illness, and make the problem worse by imposing fines and criminal penalties on unhoused people, making it more difficult for them to get into housing. In Morgantown, the Morgantown Coalition for Housing Action challenged the camping ban, and voters will decide whether the ordinance will go into effect during the city's election next month. Bill sponsor Del. Geno Chiarelli, a Republican representing Monongalia County, said his legislation was in response to the city's camping ban being challenged and possibly overturned. The coalition is opposed to the statewide ban. A representative from the coalition said the legislation 'illustrates the illusion of representation that is consistently presented to the working class' and blamed Monongalia County commissioner Tom Bloom for supporting it. West Virginia Watch could not find public comments from Bloom where he expressed support of the legislation. Bloom could not be reached for comment. 'As an authoritarian regime threatens the entire country, Geno's legislation and Tom's support have made clear their intent to abandon West Virginians and bend the knee to fascism, all under the guise of economic efficiency,' Miles Case, a part of the coalition, said in a written statement. 'The people of West Virginia have a long history of resisting tyranny in all forms, and we once again refuse to be silent or complicit in its attempted enactment.' Speaking in favor of the bill from the House floor Tuesday, Chiarelli said with the bill, he seeks to create a uniform policy about homeless encampments instead of a patchwork of statutes and ordinances across the state. 'I think when we address the homelessness issue, the drug use issue, the mental health crisis that we're facing, I think that consistency and uniformity is something that has to be key,' Chiarelli said. He said the bill is a start of making the West Virginia cities and the state a better place to live. 'Our city [Morgantown] is not the same as it was 10 years ago, and this is an issue that takes a lot of people working in sync,' he said. 'There's a lot of moving parts, a lot of cogs that all have to turn at the same time and in the same way. But this is one small piece that we could do to try and make our cities, our municipalities, a better place to live, somewhere where people aren't afraid to take their kids to the public library anymore. 'I would encourage you to vote yes. And of course, this is just one piece that we have moving forward, because we are going to make West Virginia a better place,' Chiarelli said. 'And I think this is how it starts.' Democrats who opposed the bill cited the need to give local government control and concern that it would give homeless people a choice between using a blanket or tent to keep more or breaking the law. The bill defines camping as using 'camping paraphernalia,' including 'backpacks, bags, rucksacks, tarps, cots, beds, sleeping bags, blankets, mattresses, hammocks or portable cooking facilities and similar equipment.' 'What I'm worried about… is that someone simply that is just trying to find shelter, that's fallen upon hard times, would have to make that choice, right?' said Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell. 'Someone that's just trying to stay warm. And so again, I ask the question, what are we doing that we can't vet these things a little bit more? Again, great idea, and I truly appreciate it. We have to do something, but the way that is currently written to not provide for safety for our neighbors. They might be going through something, I get that, but they are still our neighbors in our cities. I respectfully will have to oppose this piece of legislation.' John Williams, D-Monongalia, said the bill would take away Morgantown voters' ability to decide on that city's camping ban during its election in April. 'After a lot of discussions with a couple of my colleagues from Morgantown, it seems wrong for me at this juncture to take away their right to address this issue when they have that opportunity just five, six short weeks from now, to be able to give their opinion,' Williams said. Del. Wayne Clark, R-Jefferson, was the lone Republican to vote against the legislation. Clark said he agrees with the intent behind the legislation, getting rid of homeless encampments, but suggested the bill be amended so that it doesn't inadvertently affect tourists along the Hatfield and McCoy Trail system. The bill has carve outs for people lawfully camping in campgrounds or staying in a registered vehicle located in an area where they may be lawfully. Under questioning by Clark, Chiarelli said that side-by-side vehicle operators who are not registered with the Division of Motor Vehicles could be considered unlawfully camping if they pull off of trails and set up a tent. 'I'd hate to see individuals that are on our bike trails or on our walking trails or on our side-by-side trails, getting tickets because they decided to pull over in their side-by-side, pitch a tent for the evening, rather than try and drive on unfamiliar terrain at night,' Clark said. The bill next goes to the Senate for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WV House Judiciary considers statewide camping ban aimed at homeless people
Del. Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, lead sponsor of House Bill 2382, addresses the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, March 4, 2025 in Charleston, (Lori Kersey | West Virginia Watch) Camping and storing personal belongings on public property would be prohibited statewide under a bill the West Virginia House of Delegates is considering. House Bill 2382 would impose fines of up to $500 and up to 30 days in jail for homeless people who use camping paraphernalia, including sleeping bags and blankets, on governmental or public property, grounds or lawns. The bill has carve outs for lawfully camping in campgrounds or trailer parks approved for that use. The legislation was before the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing Tuesday morning. Following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year upholding a camping ban in Grants Pass, Oregon, dozens of local governments around the country have passed similar laws as they grapple with record levels of homelessness amid a shortage of affordable housing. Opponents of the laws say camping bans do nothing to address homelessness and even make the problem worse by imposing fines and criminal records on people who have nowhere else to go. In West Virginia, Morgantown, Clarksburg, Bluefield and Princeton passed camping bans last year after the Grants Pass decision. Morgantown's camping ban is on the ballot for the city's April election after a coalition successfully petitioned the city council to reconsider the law. Del. Geno Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, lead sponsor of HB 2382, said the legislation is in response to Morgantown's ban being challenged and possibly overturned. Chiarelli said he thought the ordinance would have been a positive step for the city. 'I think that the quality of life in Morgantown is not the same as it was 10 years ago, and I thought this was something that we could do to try and get us back on track,' Chiarelli told a reporter after the meeting. 'It is no silver bullet piece of ordinance, legislation. We know those things don't exist, but I liked where things were going. 'And then I found out that it was, it was going to be overturned via the petition and everything, and I didn't think that that was the right decision,' he said. During the judiciary meeting Tuesday, the bill drew questions from Democrat lawmakers about what the bill would mean when there's no shelter space available to people. According to the bill, no criminal penalty will be imposed on a person unless they've been offered an alternative place to sleep and declined. But Chiarelli said the bill requires only that people be notified of any alternative shelter and does not contemplate what would happen if no space is available. Many West Virginia counties, particularly rural areas, do not have emergency homeless shelters. In cities like Charleston, Wheeling and Morgantown that do have services, those shelters are regularly full. Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, said one of the bill's unintended side effects could be that more homeless people may come to places like Morgantown where more services are available to them. Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, argued that, because the bill outlaws camping as defined by using sleeping bags, blankets, tarps and other 'camping paraphernalia' it would require homeless people to give up protection from the cold or risk breaking the law. That could violate the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, he said. 'My question now is, if the state is now saying that you have to give up protections, which are biologically required because you need to sleep, are we not then becoming violative of the Eighth Amendment in creating a situation where it's cruel and unusual by telling people they have to give up their belongings, their protections, because that is now camping and violative of the law?' Fluharty said. After the meeting, Chiarelli said shelter beds are something that would have to be figured out moving forward. He pointed to a 'number of pieces of legislation' that address affordable housing and making life better for homeless people, including House Bill 2935, entitled 'a comprehensive approach to homelessness,' which is pending in the Judiciary committee. 'Of course, those kinds of things take money, and I'm never opposed to spending money to make life better for people, but it has to be done in a fiscally responsible way,' he said. The bill may next come back before the Judiciary Committee for amendments and passage before going to the full House of Delegates for a vote. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
