Latest news with #LincolnWalksatMidnightStatue
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers consider dismantling WV Office of Equal Opportunity, but it appears to already be gone
The Lincoln Walks at Midnight Statue sits in front of the West Virginia state Capitol building in Charleston, (Lexi Browning | West Virginia Watch) Lawmakers are considering dismantling the state's Office of Equal Opportunity for the sake of 'government efficiency.' But the office, which works to protect West Virginians from discrimination, appears to already be gone. The Senate approved a three-sentence bill March 29 that would repeal a section of state code mandating the state's Office of Equal Opportunity. The work — including complying with federal disability rights and anti-discrimination laws — is already being carried out by the state's Division of Personnel, according to bill sponsor, Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson. It wasn't until the members of the House Committee on Government Organization vetted the bill Thursday that it was revealed the office was already likely disbanded, possibly violating state code by not having lawmakers' required approval. A website for the office is now offline. State code requires that the Office of Equal Opportunity have a coordinator; the office's two employees have been moved elsewhere in state government. Sheryl Webb, director of the Division of Personnel, declined to tell House committee members who had directed the division to begin dismantling the office, saying she was fulfilling what had been requested. When Del. Jonathan Kyle, R-Randolph, pressed for an answer, Webb didn't respond. Kyle responded, 'You don't throw anybody under the bus, I understand. But this is where we are in state government, with people doing whatever they want to do, and that's, frankly, unacceptable.' A spokesperson for Gov. Patrick Morrisey did not respond to a question about whether the governor had directed the change. On Friday, Del. Tristan Leavitt, R-Kanahwa, who serves on the House Government Organization Committee, said that further research led him to believe that nothing was done in violation of state code. 'This office continues to be in place, the duties continue to be performed within the Division of Personnel,' Leavitt said. 'The substantive work that that office does, which is really important work, all of that is still moving forward in a way that's in compliance. So, for me, that's very reassuring to know,' Leavitt said. Kyle said on Friday that he believed that the situation in committee was a misunderstanding and concurred with Leavitt's comments. Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, who is also on the committee, said she still thinks that administrators 'moved those functionalities around illegally.' 'They can't just dismantle an office that requires the Legislature,' she said. 'During the presentation, they mentioned that, 'They' told us to go ahead and move everything.' We couldn't get a clear cut answer, whether that was the secretary of administration, or whether that was the governor's office themselves.' Robert Paulson, general counsel for the Department of Administration, maintained that the Office of Equal Opportunity is 'not eliminated' with others performing those duties. He told lawmakers that the department is in the process of naming a coordinator. He wasn't sure who made the call to make the changes. Rucker said she wasn't aware of the changes to the Office of Equal Opportunity. Webb said the change was partially spurred by Morrisey's executive order mandating that government agencies find efficiencies and eliminate waste. Eliminating the Office of Equal Opportunity would save $125,000 in salaries plus $41,250 in benefits, she said. 'We were reviewing how to create efficiencies, this was one of the things that was looked at because of the duplicative nature and the additional cost to it,' Webb said. Young said it was also likely a result of Morrisey's ban on diversity, equity and inclusion practices and policies in state government. Lawmakers created the Office of Equal Opportunity in 2022. A report from the state's Office of the Legislative Auditor earlier this year said that the office was 'needed to facilitate compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws and to minimize liability costs to the state from violations of such laws.' 'However, further progress is needed in developing a statewide and uniform program,' the report said. Despite questions about how the office was eliminated, both Young and Leavitt believed that the state could carry out its functions of complying with federal laws and protecting West Virginians from discrimination. The Division of Personnel already offers equal rights education courses and training to state agencies, according to Webb. 'They're important laws, and I think both the testimony we heard in committee and everything I've learned since indicates that they are prioritizing those and doing everything they can to encourage the entire state government to be aware of the law and to comply with it as fully as possible,' Leavitt said. Young emphasized that state code mandates that West Virginia have this office until lawmakers approve changes. 'It is very concerning and definitely does not follow state code,' she said. 'I do believe it will probably be debated on the floor, because we still have a lot of questions.' The legislative session adjourns April 12. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Instead of helping West Virginians, some GOP lawmakers seem intent on passing bills to harm
The Lincoln Walks at Midnight Statue sits in front of the West Virginia state Capitol building in Charleston, (Lexi Browning | West Virginia Watch) We're almost at the halfway point of the legislative session, so let's take a little look at what our legislators have been doing. Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, is proposing with Senate Bill 109 to incentivize residents to report drug activity to police by offering reward money. The money from the Narc on Your Neighbor for Money Act — whoops, I mean the Neighborhood Assistance and Rejuvenation Compact Act — would come from a new excise tax on naloxone and drug testing strips. Tarr has said the state could market the program by posting mugshots of people convicted of drug crimes to billboards in areas with high drug activity. He said his inspiration came after watching the news and seeing 'bodies hanging off of bridges' in a report on cartels in Mexico. Please don't let this guy watch 'The Handmaid's Tale.' Taxing products designed to prevent people from dying does not seem like the answer here. Narcan, one of the brand names for naloxone, is already prohibitively expensive for some people. And while there are groups that provide both naloxone and drug testing strips for free, why would we want to make it more expensive for them to help people? Instead of shaming people convicted of drug crimes and asking their neighbors to spy and tattle on them, maybe the state should consider not banning harm reduction programs? Helping people instead of shaming seems like the more humane option. Another bill that seems designed to make life harder for West Virginians is House Bill 3016. The state passed a voter ID law in 2016 and when it went into effect two years later, residents could prove who they were with more than a dozen different forms of identification other than a driver's license, including a hunting or fishing license, a utility bill or their Social Security card. HB 3016 would do away with most of those forms of identification and whittles it down to six — all of which require a photo: driver's license, state ID, passport, employee ID, student ID and military ID. The lead sponsor on this bill is Del. Erica Moore, R-Roane. The bill also adds text that a valid voter registration card 'that includes the voter's photograph issued by a county clerk in the State of West Virginia or the Secretary of State' will work. Of course, lawmakers also said during a meeting that this isn't required, and would be up to each county clerk if they wanted to create and issue voter registration cards with photos. This will just add another layer to confusion to voting. Am I registered? Where is my polling place? Is my registration active? What ID do I need? What kind of voter registration card does my county have? Absentee ballots aren't safe either. House Bill 2117 would make it illegal for anyone — including an election official — to mail or deliver absentee ballot applications unless it's been specifically requested by the voter or their family/caregiver. Six Republicans thought this was such a great idea, they sponsored the bill: Doug Smith (Mercer), Mike Hornby (Berkeley), Geno Chiarelli (Monongalia), Chris Phillips (Barbour), Michael Hite (Berkeley) and Kathie Hess Crouse (Putnam). Why is an application for an absentee ballot something that should require consent? Do they not want us to vote? Another head scratcher comes from Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha. His bill would reinstate the death penalty in West Virginia for people convicted of killing a law-enforcement officer or first responder. It has a price tag of $26 million to implement. In the last 45 years, only 21 people would have been eligible for the death penalty. It's odd to me that Stuart, who says he is 'unapologetically pro-life' wants the state to spend about $1.2 million per state-sanctioned killing. But at least, he knows the monetary cost of his bill. That's more than we can say for House Bill 2515, which would require counties to create alternative learning centers for chronically disruptive students. The bill from lead sponsor Del. Joe Ellington, R-Mercer, has advanced to the Senate, but it has no proposed funding to build the centers or staff them. Details, details. Today is day 28 of 60. Will the Legislature do better during the second half of the session? For West Virginians' sake, I hope so. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A message to West Virginia lawmakers: Make it personal
The Lincoln Walks at Midnight Statue sits in front of the West Virginia state Capitol building in Charleston, (Lexi Browning | West Virginia Watch) Until we make it personal, empathy vanishes. After reading that state GOP lawmakers are seeking to remove rape and incest exemption from West Virginia's near total abortion ban, I was reminded of a conversation I had a number of years ago with a colleague about West Virginia's Catholic bishop facing charges of inappropriate sexual behavior. And recently, another diocesan priest was accused of inappropriate behavior. I will never be judge and jury, yet even as I made attempts to hear the charges from the priest himself, I was accused of passing judgment. I recognized that movement on his part as clear deflection. In discussions with a co-worker, who is the father of young boys, I mentioned that the bishop had apologized for any hurt/pain he may have caused, even as he maintained his innocence, as countless Catholic clergy before him had done. My colleague remarked that maybe the bishop was sorry. It was at that moment that divine intervention slipped in and I said, 'Would you be that forgiving, that accepting, that dismissive if a member of the clergy had acted like that to one of your sons?' His expression turned ashen. That was answer enough for me; and then he said, 'I hadn't thought about that.' When will we think about the laws that are being enacted on a personal level? When will we put ourselves in the situation that's up for debate? When will we move beyond the stark black letters on a stark white background and excavate what lies beneath the surface? As our state lawmakers hold tight to a black and white world, we need to find a way to make certain that they consider the issues by asking themselves, 'What if this situation were to happen to someone I hold dear, to someone I love?' Empathy is on a much too lengthy hiatus. It must be resurrected if we are to have any modicum of decency to combat the starkness of black and white. Very little is that simple. In the summer of 2022, I wrote a commentary for the Charleston Gazette-Mail after the reversal of Roe v. Wade. It is crystal clear to all who know me that I am against abortion. Pay attention to the bold pronoun. That's me. I also firmly believe that every woman has the right to make that choice for herself, along with her physician. My commentary stated that when the reversal was announced, 'I cried in a way that was closer to a howl.' And later that day, I received an email from a co-worker who is fanatically against abortion who wrote, 'Now those women who have been protected as they chose abortion, will die by their own hand, as we take those measures from them, like they have taken the life of a child, and sacrifice their own life. Read the Old Testament.' Read those two sentences again. Almost three years later, those words frighten me even more than when I first read them. They will always frighten me. Let's bury the potential cruelty and judgement and destruction that would most assuredly accompany these proposed laws, if they should be adopted. How did we get here? To reiterate my earlier plea, ask yourself, 'Would I feel differently if a loved one were to be raped or became a victim to incest and a pregnancy resulted?' Make. It. Personal. Because in the end, it's nothing but personal. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
