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Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WV Senate Democrats raise legal concerns with DEI bill's passage
Sens. Joey Garcia, D-Marion (above), and Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, wrote a letter to Gov. Patrick Morrisey, Senate President Randy Smith and Senate Clerk Lee Cassis to say Republicans made procedural errors in passing Senate Bill 474, and asked the governor to veto the bill. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography) Democrats in the West Virginia Senate are urging Gov. Patrick Morrisey not to sign a bill they say was not legally passed because of a 'series of procedural irregularities.' The letter concerns the Senate's passage of Senate Bill 474, a governor-requested bill that would end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the state. The House of Delegates passed the bill late on Saturday, the last day of the 60-day legislative session. The Democrats say the Senate erred in the procedures it took late Saturday night as it approved the House's amended version of the bill. In a letter to the governor, Senate President Randy Smith and Senate Clerk Lee Cassis Thursday, Sens. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, and Joey Garcia, D-Marion, the only two senators from the minority party, say that Senate Republicans improperly suspended a rule they apparently used to bypass considering several pending amendments from Garcia and pass the bill in the final minutes of session. They also argue the Republicans made two other procedural errors. 'Due to the Senate's patent disregard of established legislative procedure, the bill did not properly complete legislative action, and it should not be enrolled, authenticated, or presented to the Governor for approval,' the letter says. 'If the bill is sent to the Governor, it must be vetoed on technical grounds due to the Senate's failure to adhere to its own binding rules of procedure.' The Senate originally passed the bill March 26. The House passed the bill at 10:41 p.m. Saturday after nearly three hours of debate. When the bill went back to the Senate to approve the House's changes, more than a dozen amendments from Garcia appeared to be pending on the legislation. Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, at first made a motion to concur with the House's changes to the bill and pass it. The senate stood at ease for a few minutes before Grady withdrew the motion. A few minutes later, Sen. Eric Tar, R-Putnam, moved to suspend Joint Rule 3, which governs how amendments to amendments and disagreements are handled between the two legislative chambers, and concur and pass Senate Bill 474. The rule suspension required a two-thirds roll call vote by both chambers, but the approval was made by a voice vote and with objections heard. The Senate then passed the bill with a 31-2 vote. A short time later, Tarr moved to reconsider the vote by which they concurred and passed the bill. The Democrats argue that the Senate failed to properly reconsider the motion. Tarr instead moved to withdraw his motion and then moved to concur with the House's version of the bill. Next, Senate Majority Leader Patrick Martin, R-Lewis, moved the previous question. Smith turned down Garcia's request that pending amendments be considered, saying that another motion had been called. The Senate then voted again to concur with the House's version of the bill and then passed the bill. Even if the Senate's first passage of the bill was done properly, the Democrats argue, the Senate was required to consider the pending amendments before it could concur in the House's changes to the bill, and they failed to do so. 'If the senator and the governor don't do the right thing, I think this will be litigated and the bill will go down in flames,' Garcia said in an interview with West Virginia MetroNews Thursday. The West Virginia Democratic Party and the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia have also condemned the way the bill was passed. The ACLU-WV wrote in a blog post Monday that the Senate likely broke its own rules in rushing the bill through at the last minute. 'If Gov. Morrisey signs the bill (which we fully expect he will) then we will see the state in court,' the organization wrote. Representatives for Morrisey and Smith did not comment Thursday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WV Senate Democrats raise legal concerns with DEI bill's passage
Sens. Joey Garcia, D-Marion (above), and Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, wrote a letter to Gov. Patrick Morrisey, Senate President Randy Smith and Senate Clerk Lee Cassis to say Republicans made procedural errors in passing Senate Bill 474, and asked the governor to veto the bill. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography) Democrats in the West Virginia Senate are urging Gov. Patrick Morrisey not to sign a bill they say was not legally passed because of a 'series of procedural irregularities.' The letter concerns the Senate's passage of Senate Bill 474, a governor-requested bill that would end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the state. The House of Delegates passed the bill late on Saturday, the last day of the 60-day legislative session. The Democrats say the Senate erred in the procedures it took late Saturday night as it approved the House's amended version of the bill. In a letter to the governor, Senate President Randy Smith and Senate Clerk Lee Cassis Thursday, Sens. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, and Joey Garcia, D-Marion, the only two senators from the minority party, say that Senate Republicans improperly suspended a rule they apparently used to bypass considering several pending amendments from Garcia and pass the bill in the final minutes of session. They also argue the Republicans made two other procedural errors. 'Due to the Senate's patent disregard of established legislative procedure, the bill did not properly complete legislative action, and it should not be enrolled, authenticated, or presented to the Governor for approval,' the letter says. 'If the bill is sent to the Governor, it must be vetoed on technical grounds due to the Senate's failure to adhere to its own binding rules of procedure.' The Senate originally passed the bill March 26. The House passed the bill at 10:41 p.m. Saturday after nearly three hours of debate. When the bill went back to the Senate to approve the House's changes, more than a dozen amendments from Garcia appeared to be pending on the legislation. Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, at first made a motion to concur with the House's changes to the bill and pass it. The senate stood at ease for a few minutes before Grady withdrew the motion. A few minutes later, Sen. Eric Tar, R-Putnam, moved to suspend Joint Rule 3, which governs how amendments to amendments and disagreements are handled between the two legislative chambers, and concur and pass Senate Bill 474. The rule suspension required a two-thirds roll call vote by both chambers, but the approval was made by a voice vote and with objections heard. The Senate then passed the bill with a 31-2 vote. A short time later, Tarr moved to reconsider the vote by which they concurred and passed the bill. The Democrats argue that the Senate failed to properly reconsider the motion. Tarr instead moved to withdraw his motion and then moved to concur with the House's version of the bill. Next, Senate Majority Leader Patrick Martin, R-Lewis, moved the previous question. Smith turned down Garcia's request that pending amendments be considered, saying that another motion had been called. The Senate then voted again to concur with the House's version of the bill and then passed the bill. Even if the Senate's first passage of the bill was done properly, the Democrats argue, the Senate was required to consider the pending amendments before it could concur in the House's changes to the bill, and they failed to do so. 'If the senator and the governor don't do the right thing, I think this will be litigated and the bill will go down in flames,' Garcia said in an interview with West Virginia MetroNews Thursday. The West Virginia Democratic Party and the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia have also condemned the way the bill was passed. The ACLU-WV wrote in a blog post Monday that the Senate likely broke its own rules in rushing the bill through at the last minute. 'If Gov. Morrisey signs the bill (which we fully expect he will) then we will see the state in court,' the organization wrote. Representatives for Morrisey and Smith did not comment Thursday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill requiring stricter voter photo ID clears West Virginia Senate
A sign marks a polling place during the May primary election. Early voting starts today in West Virginia. (Lori Kersey | West Virginia Watch) The Senate approved a bill that would tighten laws on acceptable forms of photo identification that can be used at West Virginia polling places. The GOP-backed measure, House Bill 3016, is meant to address voter fraud and bolster secure elections. In a state with abysmal voter turnout, opponents of the bill worry it would make it harder for West Virginia residents, particularly older residents, to vote on Election Day. The bill would require a photo ID — typically a driver's license, passport or a resident identification card — to vote in-person. It would eliminate several current options accepted at polling places that can validate identity, including a Medicaid card and utility bill. It passed the Senate on Friday with a vote of 32-2. Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, and Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion — the Senate's two Democratic Senators — were the two no votes on the measure. The measure permits voters 65 and older to use an expired ID, including an expired driver's license, as long as it was valid on their 65th birthday. Additionally, poll workers may allow a voter, whom the poll worker has known for at least six months, to vote without presenting a valid ID. West Virginia residents can request a voter registration card with a photo free of charge from a county clerk's office. The House of Delegates approved the legislation on March 28. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Vroom vroom: WV Senate signs off on House bill to allow motorcyclists to stand while driving
Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, speaks on the floor of the West Virginia Senate on March 24, 2025. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography) A bill that would permit motorcyclists to stand up while driving their vehicle is nearly headed to the governor's desk. 'Standing up on the foot pegs just gives you so much more control when a bump is coming up. Your legs act like shock absorbers,' said Sen. Mark Maynard, R-Wayne, who voted in support of the measure. 'This is just heinous that if somebody does this, they would be ticketed.' The Senate signed off on the measure, House Bill 2752, Monday evening with a vote of 27-6. The bill passed out of the House of Delegates March 19, spurring a viral video that showed Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, yelling, 'Vroom! Vroom! West Virginia,' before criticizing the Republican-backed bill, saying it was unnecessary and did nothing to help residents of the state. Senate Minority Leader Mike Woelfel also questioned why lawmakers were spending time on the legislation. He called it the 'Organ Donor Act of 2025.' 'I've put up with a lot of shenanigans this session,' said Woelfel, D-Cabell. 'But why are we taking up the Senate's time with a bill to allow people legally to stand up on their motorcycles while the motorcycle is moving forward?' 'Of all the issues we have in our state, we're going to make legislation to let people be Evel Knievel? I'd like to have a no vote to send a message down the hallway,' he continued. Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, said she had been told that the bill, which originated in the House, was needed. 'Right now if you stand up – you still have your feet on the foot pegs — it is a crime. They needed this legislation to allow them to stand up.' Motorcyclists are already instructed to stand up in certain situations as part of their required instruction to obtain a motorcycle license, according to bill sponsor Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam. The bill also includes mopeds and motor-driven cycles. The House will have to concur with the Senate's vote before the legislation heads to Gov. Patrick Morrisey's desk for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WV Senate to vote on passage of bill loosening school vaccine mandates
Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, proposed an amendment to Senate Bill 460 that would have kept the requirements for the polio vaccine as they are now. The amendment didn't pass. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography) After rejecting a handful of amendments to the bill Tuesday, the West Virginia Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on legislation that would loosen the state's school vaccination requirements. Senate Bill 460 would codify an executive order from Gov. Patrick Morrisey that requires the state to allow religious and moral exemptions to school vaccine requirements, and it changes the process the state has for medical exemptions to the shots. All 50 states require school children to be vaccinated against a series of infectious diseases like measles and polio. West Virginia has been among five states that has not allowed religious or philosophical exemptions to those requirements. The state has allowed only medical exemptions. Under Senate Bill 460, families who want a religious exemption would submit a written statement to their school or day care administrator saying that the state vaccine requirements cannot be met because they conflict with the parents' or emancipated child's religious or philosophical beliefs. Medical exemptions to vaccine laws would be submitted by a child's medical provider and they would not be subject to approval by the state's immunization officer, a position that would be terminated if the bill becomes law. An amendment by Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, would have allowed the state's private, parochial and religious schools and day cares to keep their vaccination requirements as they are now if doing so is in keeping with their religious beliefs. 'This amendment, all it does is related to private schools that are operated by a church or religious entity or a child care center here in the state to allow for them to continue there to exercise their religious freedom by allowing for the compulsory schedule of immunizations, should that comply with tenets of their faith,' he said. The amendment is similar to House Bill 5105 the Senate and the House passed last year that would have allowed private and parochial schools to have their own vaccination requirement policies. Former Gov. Jim Justice vetoed that bill at the behest of the state's medical community. Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, chair of the Senate Health Committee, opposed the amendment, saying that circuit court decisions about religious freedom for people vs. institutions have been split. She said the Legislature added private and parochial schools to the state's vaccine mandates in 2015. 'Some senators in this very room voted to include private and parochial schools to be mandated, whether they had a religious belief or not, mandated to follow our vaccine laws,' Chapman said. 'But now that we want to protect a child's religious beliefs, now we have a problem? Private schools have assented to this by following our laws for 10 years, whether or not they have a religious issue with them or not.' While the state's religious schools vary, the catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, with more than 4,600 students in 24 schools statewide, has supported the state's current vaccine laws. Last year, after the Legislature passed HB 5105, the church said it would keep the requirements for its school the same. Senators rejected an amendment from minority leader Mike Woelfel that would have kept the requirements for the polio vaccine in particular the way it is. 'What I want to appeal to is your sense of history,' Woelfel said. 'Some of us are old enough to remember polio and the scourge that it imposed on our children. I remember kids in braces, kids paralyzed… 'It's a demon. Polio is a demon. Are we going to stand up and give polio a chance to come back in West Virginia? Polio. I mean, I think we will based upon the votes I've seen. You want to see these children on an iron lung? Can't breathe on their own? You talk about a bill that's going to give us the kind of black mark that we seem to want around here. Go ahead and make polio great again. Give polio another chance.' Chapman, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, opposed that amendment, saying that vaccine mandates violate students' religious rights. 'I think that when we start parsing out specific vaccines, any one of us could say 'Oh, we don't want X disease to come back.' 'We don't want Y disease to come back.' We're still violating children's religious beliefs,' Chapman said. 'If they have a religious belief against this vaccine, we should not be forcing them to take it.' Another rejected amendment by Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, would have required the state's schools and day care centers to maintain reports on the number of exempt students or children enrolled in the school or child care center along with the total number of students at the school. The reports would be updated yearly and posted online. Reporting requirements were originally in the bill requested by Morrisey, but they were amended out in the Senate Health Committee. Those opposed to the reporting requirements cited concerns over burdensome red tape and privacy. Chapman said people could find out which students are not vaccinated and shame them. Garcia argued the information could be used by teachers and school personnel who are concerned about vaccination rates in schools to decide whether or not to work at a particular school. Health experts say high vaccination rates lead to herd immunity that protects people from the spread of disease. Garcia's mother is a school teacher in Marion County who is eligible to retire, and is considering doing so in light of the potential changes to the vaccine laws, he said. 'She's so, so good at her job, and it would be such a shame for the kids, for the other members of that faculty, to lose somebody like that,' Garcia said. 'But she has to think about herself. She has to think about what that means for her future, for her health, for her family.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
