Tag: Chandler Swope

Primary Election Shakes Up State Senate

Eight state senators will not be returning for next year’s legislative session. That makes up nearly 25 percent of the upper chamber.  

Eight state senators will not be returning for next year’s legislative session. That makes up nearly 25 percent of the upper chamber.  

Tuesday’s shake up resulted in four senators losing their primary races: Sens. Chandler Swope, R-Mercer, Robert Karnes, R-Randolph, Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, and, most notably, Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley. 

Sens. David Stover, R-Wyoming, Robert Plymale, D-Wayne, Charles Trump, R-Morgan, and Mike Caputo, D-Marion, all decided not to run for a Senate seat this year. Trump is headed to serve on the state’s Supreme Court. 

Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, held onto her Republican nomination, but with a thin two percent margin.

Sen. Mark Hunt, R-Kanawha, won the Republican nomination for state auditor. If he wins in November, he will be the ninth senator to leave the Senate this year.

Senate Bill Aims To Standardize State Building Codes

The West Virginia Senate Government Organization Committee voted in favor of a bill that would standardize state building codes. Proponents of the bill said it would remove a liability for building owners.

Lawmakers took a step toward standardizing state building codes Thursday during a Senate Government Organization Committee meeting. 

Building codes are currently created by the West Virginia Fire Commission, then adopted on the county and municipal level.

But Senate Bill 629 would cut out the middleman, clarifying that building codes adopted on the state level necessarily apply to all counties and municipalities within the state.

Under the bill, county and municipal governments would still be responsible for providing building code enforcement services.

While the bill would not address building code enforcement, it clarifies that, unless exempt, all buildings in West Virginia must adhere to state codes, regardless of whether code violations are addressed on the local level.

Sen. Chandler Swope, R-Mercer, voiced his support for the bill, which he said would reaffirm the importance of adhering to state codes.

“Having been in the construction business, I have experience in this area,” Swope said. “I really believe you’re doing property owners a favor by encouraging them to follow building codes, because … not following proper codes leaves the property owner at a very high risk.”

Members of the committee voted unanimously in favor of the bill, sending it to the Senate floor with the recommendation that it pass.

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