Tag: Sen. Chris Walters

As Senate Committee Takes Up RFRA, Some Senators Unsure of Vote

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee took up the West Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act for the first time Friday evening, more than two weeks after the House of Delegates approved the legislation.

As anticipated by some members of the body, the committee began considering a strike and insert amendment, replacing the House version of the bill with new provisions, but before the proposed changes were even handed to lawmakers, some members of the chamber were unsure of how they would vote on the final version.

“I probably would not be able to vote for it the way it stands now, ” Republican Sen. Chris Walters said of the bill Friday morning. “I don’t think that the Christian thing to do is to discriminate in the name of God and, the way the bill is written right now, I’ve got concerns that may be what it can do.”

House Bill 4012 creates a judicial standard for lawsuits brought against the state when a person claims his or her religious freedoms have been violated. Judges will be required to measure the sincerity of that belief when deciding cases.

Those opposed to the bill, though, worry it will allow for discrimination in the state. 

“I don’t think there’s anything in there that causes discrimination,” Democratic Sen. Art Kirkendoll said of the House version early Friday. Kirkendoll supports the RFRA bill saying he represents an extremely religious region of the state and  his constituents heavily favor the law. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee took up a new version of the bill Friday evening, but before seeing the changes, Kirkendoll said he’d prefer to see the bill stay the same.

Walters on the other hand wanted to see amendments that specifically state the law cannot be used to discriminate, like a similar law in Texas, or protections for municipalities that enact non-discrimination ordinances.

The Republican majority has largely backed the measure, but the party has only a two vote lead in the chamber. The bill is expected to be up for a vote next week.

Senator's Broadband Provision Moves Forward Despite Industry Pushback

The Senate’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has approved a bill that aims to expand access to broadband internet services across West Virginia, even though industry representatives continue to express opposition to the bill. 

Senate Bill 315 would created a government constructed, government owned middle mile network paid for with federal grants and, possibly, a bond. 

The committee’s chair and the bill’s lead sponsor Sen. Chris Walters explains a middle mile like a state highway system made up of internet fiber. Internet providers would be able to hook up to that interstate at the cost to maintain the system, creating their own off ramps into rural communities.

While Walters maintains the proposal won’t take any money from the state’s budget to complete, industry representatives say lawmakers should be concerned with cost.

“We believe that the last mile is the challenge and it is. It is far more expensive to try to connect people to their homes than it is to connect people on the middle mile network,” Frontier Government and External Affairs Manager Kathy Cosco said.

Cosco said she thinks lawmakers should be focused on providing tax credits to companies who expanded their last mile, the connection directly to a customer’s home.

“I think there may be opportunity to work out a better solution or at least a compromised solution that really does immediately improve broadband delivery in West Virginia,” Senate Majority Leader, and Frontier employee, Senator Mitch Carmichael said. 

Carmichael would like to see a bill passed that incentivizes the private sector to expand rather than creating the government owned middle mile. 

“If there is enough interest within the body to put the state in the broadband business than it certainly will come to a vote,” he added.

Sen. Walters’s bill will next be considered by the Senate Committee on Government Organization.

Do Right to Work, Broadband Expansion Stand Snowball's Chance of Passing?

On this Snowmaggedon edition of The Front Porch:

1. A huge snowball fight breaks out over Right to Work, and whether it is right for West Virginia

2. Does Sen. Chris Walter’s bill to expand broadband internet access stand a snowball’s chance in hell? Should it?

3. Rick Wilson reads a snowy passage from “King Lear” about finding empathy for the less fortunate, and finds analogies in this year’s legislature 

Subscribe to “The Front Porch” podcast on iTunes or however you listen to podcasts.

An edited version of “The Front Porch” airs Fridays at 4:50 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s radio network, and the full version is available above.

Share your opinions with us about these issues, and let us know what you’d like us to discuss in the future. Send a tweet to @radiofinn or @wvpublicnews, or e-mail Scott at sfinn @ wvpublic.org

The Front Porch is underwritten by The Charleston Gazette Mail, providing both sides of the story on its two editorial pages. Check it out: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/

Ten Reasons Why W.Va. Should Build a High-Speed Broadband Network

West Virginia has some of the lowest rates of broadband access at some of the slowest speeds in the nation.

Sen. Chris Walters, R-Putnam, wants state government to build a sort of fiber-optic interstate highway and then lease it to private providers. The goal is to bring high internet speeds at cheaper costs.

On The Front Porch podcast, Walters gave ten reasons for building the network:

1. West Virginia has some of the slowest internet speeds in the U.S. and is slower than Romania and Bulgaria.

2. In the U.S., 17 percent of households lack access to advanced broadband service. In urban West Virginia: 56 percent, rural West Virginia: 74 percent

3. Slow connections are bad for business. Walters met a Pocahontas County farmer who wants to sell his livestock online, but doesn’t have broadband, so has to use an Alabama broker.

4. Businesses that move here, even to our cities, are shocked at their slow connections, Walters said, and therefore are unlikely to expand.

5. It’s also about education, he said. If you’re connection drops while you are taking an online test, you can fail the test.

6. What’s missing is the so-called “middle mile” between individual homes and the nationwide fiber networks.

7. Walter’s plan: build 2,500 “middle miles” of fiber connection costing $72 million. Two miles of interstate road construction costs $80 million.

8. How to pay for it: FCC grants for telemedicine, Department of Defense grants for wired line 911 emergency system, and bonds that would be repaid with proceeds from companies using the fiber network.

9. Opposition is coming mainly from existing providers that don’t want competition, Walters said.

10. The system would be operated by the state Water Development Authority. “All fiber is, is pipes – pipes with some cords in them.” The state WDA has bonding authority.

Subscribe to “The Front Porch” podcast on iTunes or however you listen to podcasts.

An edited version of “The Front Porch” airs Fridays at 4:50 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s radio network, and the full version is available above.

Share your opinions with us about these issues, and let us know what you’d like us to discuss in the future. Send a tweet to @radiofinn or @wvpublicnews, or e-mail Scott at sfinn @ wvpublic.org

The Front Porch is underwritten by The Charleston Gazette Mail, providing both sides of the story on its two editorial pages. Check it out: http://www.wvgazettemail.com/

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