Tag: West Virginia Legislature 2019

Delegate Compares Gay Community to Ku Klux Klan

A West Virginia delegate told a reporter on Friday that he thinks “the LGBTQ is a modern day version of the Ku Klux Klan.”

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Del. Eric Porterfield made the comments after calling to discuss a story on controversial earlier comments. The Mercer Republican also told the reporter the gay community is a “terrorist group,” saying he had received threatening voicemails and social media messages after earlier remarks in a Wednesday committee meeting became public.

Porterfield was speaking in support of an amendment that would overrule local ordinances that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. The amendment failed.

“The LGBT is the most socialist group in this country,” he said at the meeting. “They do not protect gays. There are many gays they persecute if they do not line up with their social ideology.”

Del. Danielle Walker, a black woman with a gay son, challenged Porterfield Wednesday in committee and again Thursday on the House floor.

The Monongalia Democrat told the paper on Friday, “Why do we need more hate? Why do we need more name-calling? Why do we need to reference other groups that illustrated so much hate and destruction and ugliness? Why do we need to do that?”

Some Republicans also criticized Porterfield’s comments. Del. Daniel Linville, R-Cabell, told the paper, “He’s wrong, very wrong. There’s just no excuse though for some of the things that he said.”

In a news release, the state Democratic Party Chairwoman Belinda Biafore called for Porterfield’s resignation.

Porterfield told the paper the controversy will boost his chances of re-election.

Porterfield did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press on Saturday.

West Virginia Educators Vote ‘Overwhelmingly’ to Authorize Union Leaders to Call Work Action

Leaders of educator and service personnel unions in West Virginia have the greenlight to call a work action if and when they deem it necessary. The…

Leaders of educator and service personnel unions in West Virginia have the greenlight to call a work action if and when they deem it necessary. The decision comes as the Legislature considers a long, sweeping and controversial education reform measure that’s sparked reaction from teachers, school service personnel and their unions.

Union leaders said Saturday that public educators across the state voted “overwhelmingly” to authorize the leaders of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, the West Virginia Education Association and the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association to call a work action as needed. Members and their leaders met Saturday in Flatwoods to tally votes that were cast over the course of the week.

 

Ballots sent to members this week stated: “I authorize the state leadership of AFT-WV, WVSSPA and WVEA to call a statewide work action should circumstances surrounding he Omnibus Education Bill merit such a work stoppage. And I further authorize the state leadership of the organizations to determine the appropriate time for that action to take place.” 

 

Response options on the ballot were limited to “yes” and “no” on the authorization vote. 

 

A “work action” is undefined, but could be anything from a picket to a full blown strike. Union leaders also did not provide totals of the authorization vote.

The announcement comes a day after the House Education Committee approved a stripped down strike-and-insert version of Senate Bill 451 — as compared to what was passed earlier this week in the Senate.

The House Education Committee’s version removes many of the provisions opposed by educators and the leaders of their unions, including provisions that would force members to sign off annually on the deduction of union dues, education savings accounts, and withholding pay during a strike. A non-severability clause — which would make the entire measure null and void should any of its provisions be struck down in a court challenge — was also pulled from the committee’s proposal.

Other provisions in the bill — including the establishment of charter schools — have been significantly altered through amendments in the committee.

While union leaders say they are happy with the bill being whittled away, nothing is final until the legislation is signed by Gov. Jim Justice. The House Education Committee’s strike-and-insert amendment is also merely formative until it is adopted on the chamber floor. If approved with any changes to the version passed by the Senate, the bill would be sent back to the upper chamber.

“Currently, the bill is better than it was,” American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia president Fred Albert said.

But Albert and his counterparts at the other unions say there is still a long way to go.

“We will continue to monitor the bill as continues to move through the process,” West Virginia Education Association president Dale Lee said.

The process for Senate Bill 451 will include two public hearings scheduled for Monday, Feb. 11 — with one at 8 a.m. and another at 5:30 p.m. The House Finance Committee will also consider the measure before it heads to the floor for the full chamber’s consideration.

 

 

 

“We are going to continue to meet with our members and listen to them as to what they feel they want to do as this bill moves through the legislative session,” Albert said.

House Committee Advances Stripped-Down Version of Education Reform Measure

A West Virginia House of Delegates committee has whittled down a sweeping and controversial education reform bill to a point that it is virtually unrecognizable from the bill that the Senate passed earlier this week. The House Education Committee passed a strike-and-insert version on a 15-10 party-line vote Friday, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed to advancing the measure.

The House Education Committee has offered a proposal that would eliminate many provisions of Senate Bill 451 that public educators and the leaders of their unions oppose. The measure still calls for an average 5 percent pay raise for teachers and school service personnel.

During the committee’s Friday meeting — which began at 9 a.m. and recessed off and on throughout the day for a floor session and other breaks — members removed education savings accounts, as well as a provision that would withhold teacher pay during a strike.

All votes against the amendments to the committee’s proposal came from Republicans.

In meetings earlier this week, the House Education Committee unveiled the proposed strike-and-insert amendment that removed a provision that would force members to sign off annually on the deduction of union dues.

The committee’s initial proposal also removed a non-severability clause that would have made the entire measure null and void if any of its provisions were struck down in a court challenge.

Another change the House Education Committee offered this week would have limited charter schools to two specific programs — one elementary school in Kanawha County and another in Cabell County. An amendment adopted Friday removed the specific counties of the would-be pilots.

The Senate passed the bill Monday on an 18-16 vote that included all of the provisions that have been removed from the House Education Committee’s proposal.

The proposed strike-and-insert amendment from the House Education Committee is formative until it is adopted on the floor on second reading, should delegates choose to do so.

The House Finance Committee will also get a chance to tackle Senate Bill 451 before the full chamber takes it up for consideration.

Educators and school service personnel unions will gather Saturday in Flatwoods to count votes from local members whether to authorize their leaders to call a strike if and when they feel it necessary.

Two public hearings on Senate Bill 451 will be held Monday in the House of Delegates — one at 8 a.m. and another at 5:30 p.m. The second hearing was added after discussion on the House floor about accommodating the travel teachers from out of town who would want to attend.

House Floor Speeches Focus on Explosive Gov. Org. Meeting, LGBTQ Rights

The floor of the West Virginia House erupted Thursday as delegates discussed Wednesday’s explosive meeting of the Committee on Governmental Organization.…

The floor of the West Virginia House erupted Thursday as delegates discussed Wednesday’s explosive meeting of the Committee on Governmental Organization. In that committee, members discussed an amendment to House Bill 2708. The amendment would have prevented adding protected classes — such as members of the LGBTQ community, who are not currently stipulated in state code — when making changes to city regulations and requirements.  

The proposed amendment was downed by the committee Wednesday on a 10-12 vote, but sparked more conversation on the House floor about protecting civil rights for those in the LGBTQ community. The amendment would have nullified anti-discrimination ordinances that have been passed around the state in recent years.

Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, stood on the floor and noted that in Wednesday’s committee, Democrats were called socialists during the discussion of the amendment. Hansen said as a business owner, civil rights protections for LGBTQ communities are crucial to attract new businesses to the state.  

“I just cannot even believe that this is something that we’re talking about here at the Legislature — undoing these non-discrimination ordinances instead of taking proactive steps to pass a non-discrimination ordinance for the entire state,” Hansen said. “I just don’t think it’s fair that somebody could lose their job because their boss finds out that they’re gay. And I don’t think it’s fair that somebody could be kicked out of their apartment because they choose to come out of the closet. To me, it’s a fairness issue and — it’s not just that — it’s an economic development issue.”

Del. Tom Bibby, R-Berkeley, who supported the amendment to House Bill 2708, argued it wasn’t about discrimination but rather keeping laws consistent across various levels of government.

“Yesterday, in Government Organization that discussion had nothing to do with anti-discrimination. It was pure and simple. We were trying to put in an amendment that we would not create any protected class that did not already exist under federal and state law pure and simple. There’s nothing anti-discriminatory about it,” Bibby said.

With the discussion focused on civil rights for those in the LGBTQ community, Del. Sean Fluharty, D-Ohio, moved to discharge another measure — House Bill 2733 — from the House Industry and Labor Committee and bring it to the floor. That bill seeks to add sexual orientation and gender identity to West Virginia’s Human Rights Act.

Fluharty’s discharge motion on House Bill 2733 was tabled on a 58-40 party line vote, with Republicans stopping the measure from coming to the floor.

Del. Sammie Brown, D-Jefferson, took aim at Del. Eric Porterfield, R-Mercer, for his comments in Wednesday’s committee meeting. Porterfield had supported the committee’s amendment to House Bill 2708 that effectively would have forbade additional protected classes and also spoke against what he called attacks on “religious freedom.”

“I rise because it seems that we have a crisis of character in this chamber. I will also agree with the gentleman from the 51st [Hansen] and the gentleman from the 3rd [Fluharty] where we did hear these comments that actually were very much bigoted,” Brown said. “As someone who fought for those non-discrimination ordinances in the Eastern Panhandle — to my colleague in the 62nd [Bibby] — I will tell you to resend those. It’s absolutely regressive.”

Del. Bibby stood up to again reiterate his position that the amendment was not intended to discriminate.

“If you look at the amendment on its text. It was to make sure that no city, no county could make up a protected class that was not already part of federal and state law. Pure and simple. The rest of it has nothing to do with it. It was all pure discussion. Remember we are — and we should be — a body of laws, not of men,” Bibby said.

Del. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, took issue with language in the committee that he said lacked decorum. He also said that the amendment offered in Wednesday’s committee would have done nothing but drive West Virginia in the wrong direction.

“It’s shameful. It’s absolutely shameful that we got into such a heated debate over an issue that our children can understand why we fight about. I got two kids, 34 and 35. The Minority Leader and I were having this discussion this morning. [Young people] look at us. They really want to move West Virginia forward,” Caputo said. “But you want to tell someone you can’t protect them because of who they love. I’ll call a big BS on that. If I would have been out on the steps it wouldn’t have been a BS — it would have been something else because that’s what it is. It’s hate.”

Del. Danielle Walker, D-Monongalia, stated that one of her sons is gay and would not have been comfortable in Wednesday’s meeting of the Government Organization Committee. She continued on in a floor speech to stretch the discussion on civil rights for the LGBTQ community to discrimination of any kind. Walker advocated for West Virginians to see one another beyond their skin color, gender or sexual orientation.

“When I speak to someone and they say, ‘What do you prefer? Black? African American?’ Why can I just not be a person? Why can I just be a human being? Why can I just be a mother? Why can’t I just be a delegate? Why can I not just be your equal?” Walker asked. “You look at me and you see what I am: an American proud I exemplify one law, whether you like it or not, you’re either gonna love me Are you gonna love to hate me? But it’s still love.”

Discussion over civil rights for those in the LGBTQ community came on the same day as “All Kinds Welcome” lobby day at the Capitol.

 

Fairness West Virginia, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, West Virginia Free and Planned Parenthood Votes South Atlantic led the effort of more than 15 social justice organizations that seek to promote and uphold civil liberties in West Virginia.

 

West Virginia House to Hold Public Hearing on Controversial Education Reform Measure

The West Virginia House of Delegates will hold a public hearing on a long, sweeping and controversial education reform bill. At the request of Speaker Roger Hanshaw, the House Finance Committee will allow members of the public to share their thoughts about Senate Bill 451 at 8 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 11.

The bill, which passed the Senate this week on an 18-16 vote, ties teacher and school service personnel pay raises to a long list of provisions public educators and their unions oppose. Those include the establishment of charter schools and education savings accounts.

The House Education Committee unveiled this week a proposed strike-and-insert amendment to the measure. That version of the bill removes a non-serverability clause and a provision that would force members to sign off annually on the deduction of union dues. Other significant changes to the bill are included in the Education Committee’s version of the proposal, which is still being considered by that panel.

 

As of now, the strike-and-insert is only formative and would become the official version of the bill if and when the amendment is adopted on second reading on the House floor.

 

With the bill still being discussed in the Education Committee, Speaker Hanshaw called Thursday for the public hearing.

 

“We said from the start of our deliberations that we would accept input from all sides in this process, and that includes hearing from our teachers, students, parents and administrators,” Hanshaw said. “A public hearing will allow our citizens, and all those affected by this bill, the opportunity to have their voices heard.”

 

The Education Committee met Thursday morning and had planned to continue consideration of the bill the same afternoon until Hanshaw had made the request for the public hearing. That committee will resume consideration of the bill Thursday evening and at 9 a.m. Friday.

According to House Rule 84, the House Finance Committee will be able to consider the bill following the public hearing.

 

The public hearing on Senate Bill 451 will come just days after education and service personnel unions will gather members in Flatwoods for a statewide meeting on Feb. 8. Local chapters are voting this week to decide whether to authorize their leaders to call a work stoppage if they deem it necessary.

 

House Education Committee Outlines Strike-and-Insert Version of 'Omnibus' Bill

Updated Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. 

The West Virginia House of Delegates’ Education Committee has outlined a draft strike-and-insert amendment to a long, sweeping and controversial education reform bill.

In a Wednesday meeting, the committee outlined their proposed version of Senate Bill 451, which removes paycheck protection and a non-severability clause from the measure.

The proposed legislation, now down to 129 pages, still includes teacher and school service pay raises as well as provisions opposed by public educators and the leaders of their unions, including charter schools.

However, the House Education Committee is proposing a cap of six charter schools and removing virtual charter schools from the bill.

Education savings accounts — which are vouchers for students switching from public to private schools —

would be limited to those who have special needs.

School counselors would now have to devote 80 percent of their time to direct counseling of students.

Other changes can be found on this document provided to committee members:

House Education Chair Danny Hamrick (R-Harrison) noted that the Wednesday morning and afternoon meetings were informational only and that the bill is still in draft form.

“This is a starting point. This piece of legislation in front of us is a strike and insert amendment. It’s expected, in meeting with different stakeholders, members of the committee and members of the House, that this document will probably change quite a bit between now and the time that it’s voted on — either by changes to the strike and insert or amendments in the committee,” Hamrick said.

After recessing, the committee reconvened Wednesday afternoon, with members asking questions of committee and counsel.

Democrats in the House say they are glad the bill is moving in their chamber through the traditional committee process. Those comments are a subtle jab at Senate Republicans. When it appeared Senate Bill 451 would have died in the upper chamber’s Finance Committee, the majority party sent the bill to the Committee of the Whole. It passed the full Senate Monday on an 18-16 vote.

“I’d like to tip my hat to Speaker Hanshaw, Mark Dean and Danny Hamrick as [vice chair and chair] of this committee and being committed, again, to not rushing through and letting stakeholders be involved to give their say and give their input for the best product,” House Education Minority Chair Sean Hornbuckle (D-Cabell) said.

But Hornbuckle and other Democrats remain unsatisfied with the current state of the bill and plan to chip away at some of the provisions that don’t sit well with the minority caucus.

“We’re going to make sure that we’re putting our students, teachers and parents first. And, again, we want to make sure that we’re not just going to give something to 10 percent of the population — [but] that we’re going to do it for all kids and make sure that education services are better for everyone,” Hornbuckle said.

Leaders of educator and service personnel unions hold similar perspectives.

“We’re sort of discouraged by what is still in the bill. But, we’re encouraged about the process [in the House]. The bill just about came out on the other side [the same as when] it went in,” said Bob Brown, who is with the American Federation of Teachers. 

Local members of the American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia, the West Virginia Education Association and the West Virginia School Service Personnel Association are voting this week to decide whether to authorize their leadership to call for a strike if and when they would feel it necessary.

The unions are also planning a statewide meeting in Flatwoods for Saturday, Feb. 9.

“We will have major discussions with our leaders and with our members as to what thresholds need to be and what the triggers are,” said West Virginia Education Association president Dale Lee. “It won’t be a decision made at the top. It’s a decision that will be member-driven and that is based on our discussions with our members.”

Should the House Education Committee adopt the strike-and-insert amendment proposed Wednesday, the Senate’s Engrossed Committee Substitute (which passed the upper chamber on an 18-16 vote) – along with that proposed House Education Committee strike-and-insert amendment – would then go to the House Finance Committee for a second reference, according to a Wednesday email from House communications director Jared Hunt.

“The House Finance Committee could choose to work with that proposed Education Committee strike-and-insert amendment, or propose their own. Then the engrossed bill, and their proposed amendment, would then be reported to the House floor,” Hunt wrote. “The bill would be read a first time, then on 2nd reading the full House would vote whether to adopt the proposed committee strike-and-insert amendment, or any other additional amendments that are offered at that time.”

With amendments and additional action yet to be had, the House Education Committee will continue discussion of the Senate Bill 451 Thursday at 9 a.m.

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