In Eleventh Hour, Senate Republicans Suspend Rules To Pass DEI Ban

With minutes left in this year’s legislative session, the West Virginia Senate fell into chaos over a late-night technical error.

Senate Bill 474 — ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives statewide — has been one of the most hotly contested pieces of legislation set forth this year, shepherded by Gov. Patrick Morrisey. But procedural confusion threw the state’s upper legislative chamber into a scramble Saturday night, casting doubt over the bill’s fate.

The Senate ultimately passed the bill, but ranking members say they are unsure whether the steps taken to do so were entirely legal. Some even say the debate over Senate Bill 474 could spill into the courtroom.

A procedural back-and-forth

After receiving approval from its chamber of origin last month, Senate Bill 474 passed the West Virginia House of Delegates Saturday night 87 to 12, following hours of debate and numerous amendments from the body’s Democrats.

“We’re handcuffing our educators so they’re not wanting to teach these sorts of things. That’s what we’re doing,” said Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha. “But when we start attacking education, that’s where we’re failing.”

Once the bill returned to the Senate for final approval, things got messy.

Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, motioned for a vote in the bill’s favor, but withdrew it shortly thereafter. Senators said the House needed to iron out technical issues before giving it an okay.

Later, Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, called to suspend Joint Rule 3, which pertains to disagreements over amendments between the two chambers. He urged senators to concur with the House amendments that were sent back to the House “due to technical flaws.”

“I request unanimous consent to suspend Joint Rule 3 and concur and pass on Senate Bill 474,” Tarr said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, had proposed 15 amendments on the bill that were yet to be reviewed. Tarr said calling a suspension of Joint Rule 3 meant the Senate did not need to take up those amendments.

“It makes it so that, if it is amended, we don’t have to consider any of those amendments,” Tarr told West Virginia Public Broadcasting after the floor discussion. He said he had planned on debating the amendments, but thought summoning Joint Rule 3 would more effectively avoid a lengthy amendment review.

“If we hadn’t went ahead and done that all in one motion, we would have had to consider all the amendments,” Tarr said.

Efforts to intervene fall short

Bills that do not pass both chambers by midnight on the final day of session are considered dead. Tarr said cutting off debate over the bill was an important next step toward ensuring the bill’s passage.

The Senate currently includes just two Democrats: Garcia and Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell. During the process, both stood up to speak, but their microphones appeared to be disabled.

“They did not allow any debate,” Garcia told WVPB. “They didn’t even allow us to take the amendments that we had filed in the system and have a hearing on each of them — which I believe, under the rules, is something that had to happen.”

“I think there is, technically, a legal deficiency with how that bill was passed,” he continued. “The rules were not followed.”

Both Democrats repeatedly requested points of order from Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston. That process seeks to ensure legislative procedure is being followed correctly. But Smith shot down some of their appeals, and did not recognize the rest.

The Senate then voted to suspend its rules and passed the bill 32 to 2. After a protracted legislative battle, it now heads to the governor’s desk, where it can be signed into law.

‘What lies ahead’: Lawmakers react

Woelfel said an “agenda by certain senators” overpowered legislative procedure.

“I’m disappointed that the rules of the Senate were just roughshod run over tonight. I’m disappointed,” Woelfel said. “It wasn’t about any particular bill. But if we don’t go by the rules that are set, we’re letting people down.”

Smith said the passage of Senate Bill 474 was agreed upon by most lawmakers, regardless of technicalities.

“We’ll find out if it was legal or not if someone challenges it,” Smith said. “But, as far as I’m concerned, … everything was in order.”

House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, declined to comment after the legislature’s lower chamber gaveled out at midnight. “We’ll talk about all that next week,” he told WVPB.

Both Garcia and Smith said their party used procedural rules to advance their policy priorities.

“You’re damn right,” Garcia told reporters after the chamber gaveled out. “I’m gonna do every single thing I can to try to stop bad policies from happening.”

“It’s just part of the process. They tried to kill it that way, and we tried to save it this way,” Smith said. “It’s all part of the system.”

Garcia argued the state legislature’s Republican supermajority allows some lawmakers to circumvent the rules. The state’s Senate has the highest concentration of one party in a single legislative chamber in the United States.

“They have the ability to do a lot of these different things,” Garcia said. “It just goes to show we have a lack of balance.”

Smith said he was personally unsure about the procedure that occurred, and felt Tarr or a lawyer “above my pay grade” was better equipped to speak to the legality of the bill’s passage.

“Every bill can be challenged in court,” he said. “This one might be.”

In his first term as Senate president and thirteenth year as a state lawmaker, Smith described Saturday night as a first.

“Who knows what lies ahead?” he said.

Extensive debate

Just before the Senate frenzy, members of the House spent hours debating Senate Bill 474.

Like the Senate, the House took steps to limit discussion. The chamber cut off comments after particularly impassioned opposition to the bill from each of the state legislature’s only Black members: Del. Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia, House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell and Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha.

The three lawmakers urged their colleagues to reject the bill outright.

“We keep passing legislation that more than likely will affect people who look like me,” Hamilton said. “We’ve got to do something different, guys.”

“You’re gonna tell me, ‘I had to do it, man. I don’t believe in it, but I had to do it. I had to do it,’” Hornbuckle said to his fellow delegates. “You didn’t have to do nothing.”