Latest news with #MunicipalHomeRuleProgram
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
West Virginia lawmakers vote to overturn local protections for LGBTQ+ people
The Republican-dominated state senate in West Virginia overwhelmingly passed a bill that would strip some local protections for LGBTQ+ people and other classes of marginalized people, local NBC affiliate WBOY reports. The bill passed by a vote of 25 to 8. The West Virginia Human Rights Act outlaws employment discrimination based on a person's age, ancestry, color, national origin, race, religion, blindness, or disability, but not a person's sexual or gender identity. Senate Bill 579 (SB579) would revise the rules for local communities paying to participate in the Municipal Home Rule Program, which was passed in 2007 and allows participating municipalities to tailor local laws and ordinances to better serve their communities. Under SB579, the municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program would be prevented from passing 'an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation' that 'recognizes additional classes of persons entitled to protection in addition to those classes of persons recognized by existing state statutes, and any such existing ordinances are void and unforceable [sic].' Presently, 13 municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program have passed protections that would be voided by the bill: Beckley. Charles Town, Charleston, Fairmont, Harpers Ferry, Huntington, Lewisburg, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Shepherdstown, South Charleston, Wardensville, and Wheeling. Local activists sounded the warning about the communities impacted by the proposed bill. "This isn't just politics… it's people's rights, safety, and livelihoods on the line,' the local activist group Friendlier City Project in Wheeler posted to social media. 'Now, the bill moves to the House. We must act NOW.' The former mayor of Wheeling told WBOY his town gave careful consideration and wide support to their local protections. 'Back in 2016, when I first got elected mayor, we passed that ordinance. So, you know, we had, you know, multiple public input,' Glenn Eliott said. 'We had a town hall out at the White Palace where we had 400 people show up. We gave it six months of deliberation and we passed it 7 to 0 after careful, thoughtful input from everybody.' The bill is now before West Virginia's House Judiciary Committee.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ordinances against discrimination in 13 West Virginia cities would be voided under Senate Bill 579
CLARKSBURG, (WBOY) — The West Virginia Senate passed a bill that would remove some local ordinances that prevent discrimination against members of the LGBTQ+ community, including in Morgantown and Fairmont. The West Virginia Human Rights Act makes it unlawful to discriminate employment because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, blindness or disability, but 20 cities in West Virginia have also passed local ordinances against discrimination in work and housing based on someone's sexual orientation or gender identity, known as fairness laws. Senate Bill 579 would make those local ordinances 'void and unenforceable.' The bill is an amendment to the Municipal Home Rule Program, which was created in 2007 to allow cities in the program to be creative in their solutions to local problems. Cities that pay to be in the program can enact ordinances that are different from the blanket statutes that apply to all municipalities in the state. Creation of certain laws are explicitly banned from the Home Rule Program, and Senate Bill 579 would add any ordinance or resolution: That recognizes additional classes of persons entitled to protection in addition to those classes of persons recognized by existing state statutes, and any such existing ordinances are void and unforceable. Proposed amendment to WV Code §8-1-5a What foods will go away under West Virginia's food dye ban? According to the West Virginia Department of Revenue website, as of March 2025, dozens of cities and towns were in the program, from small towns like Auburn in Ritchie County, which has fewer than 100 residents, to the state's capital city, Charleston. Of the 20 municipalities that have fairness laws, 13 of them are also considered Home Rule Cities, meaning those ordinances would be voided. Wheeling Fairmont Morgantown Wardensville Martinsburg Harpers Ferry Shepherdstown Charles Town Charleston South Charleston Huntington Beckley Lewisburg The seven municipalities with non-discrimination laws that are not part of Home Rule are Bethany, Monongah, Keyser, Bolivar, Sutton, Thurmond and Athens, according to a list shared with 12 News by Fairness WV. A coalition of municipality leaders from all 20 cities and towns with fairness laws have asked the legislature to not pass the law, saying that it removes 'a cornerstone of our democracy.' 'Overturning these protections would disregard the will of our constituents and undermine the ability of local governments to respond to the needs of their communities,' the coalition said in a letter opposing the bill. 'West Virginians believe in fairness. We believe in hard work, in standing by our neighbors, and in making sure that no one is turned away from opportunity simply for being themselves. That is why so many of our cities and towns have chosen, through democratic and thoughtful local processes, to enact these protections. To take them away now would not just undo policies—it would send a message that some people in our state matter less than others,' it continued. In Wheeling, Morgantown, Charleston and Huntington, SB 579 could also void local laws against conversion therapy. The bill will now be sent to the West Virginia House of Delegates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
