WV House of Delegates Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

ACLU: Government Officials Should Think Twice Before Blocking On Social Media

ACLU-WV filed a lawsuit against Jefferson County commissioner Steve Stolipher for violating the First Amendment rights of a constituent.

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia (ACLU-WV) has filed a lawsuit in the Jefferson County Circuit Court against Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Stolipher. In May 2022, Stolipher blocked constituent Christy Stadig, a resident of Harpers Ferry, from his official government Facebook page.

Stadig had responded to a comment on Stoliphers Facebook page asking him about what he had posted. She got a notification that the commissioner had responded to her comment but when she went back to his page, her original comment and his response had been deleted. A few hours later, she realized she had been blocked.

Stadig went to a Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee meeting where she asked Stolpher to unblock her from his Facebook. He responded by laughing at her request.

Aubrey Sparks, the legal director at ACLU-WV, says that blocking a person from an official Facebook page is one of the most common complaints her department gets. She says sometimes there is no malicious intent, just a lack of knowledge.

“Sometimes public servants just legitimately don’t know that this is something they aren’t permitted to do, and so they rather block someone than really engage.” Sparks said. “Blocking is a problem that is incredibly widespread, and we want to make the point that it’s not okay at any level of government…it is a big deal to our client because she was relying on that access to information to learn about her representatives and policies that would affect her as a resident of Jefferson County.”

Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam, has three Facebook pages. Her personal, campaign, and official Delegate page. While she occasionally blocks or deletes from her personal and campaign pages, she does not on her official delegate page. She says she engages with those with similar and opposing views.

“Most of the time I let them vent, I’ll read what they’ve said, if it’s something I need to take into consideration I will, but I let them vent and say whatever they want to say,” Crouse said.

Government official’s social media pages are seen as public forums and blocking a constituent is restricting their freedom of speech. The ACLU-WV has a toolkit to let people know their rights if they have been blocked by a government official.

Winzenreid Takes Oath Of Office For Ohio County House Seat

Wheeling resident Diana Winzenreid became the newest member of the West Virginia House of Delegates on June 7.

Wheeling resident Diana Winzenreid became the newest member of the West Virginia House of Delegates on June 7. She was appointed to serve the 4th Delegate District, which is made up of the southeastern corner of Ohio County, to complete the unexpired term of former Del. Erikka Storch, R-Ohio.

The new delegate stood at the front of the House Chamber with her niece and her nephew as she took the oath of office, which was administered by House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay.

Winzenreid is a graduate of Indiana University and owns a digital marketing agency. She said she has great respect for all those who are in office and wants to be more involved in serving her community.

Her committee assignments and contact information will be listed on the West Virginia Legislature’s website at a later date.

Anitra Hamilton Appointed To House Of Delegates

In a Wednesday administration media briefing, Gov. Jim Justice announced he was appointing Anitra Hamilton to represent the 81st District in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

Hamilton was among a list of three candidates submitted by the Monongalia County Democratic Party to Justice for his appointment to the remainder of Danielle Walker’s two-year term, which began this January.

Hamilton is president of the Morgantown/Kingwood Branch of the NAACP of West Virginia and vice-chair of the West Virginia University Council for Gender Equity.

Earlier this month, Walker, the only Black woman in the West Virginia Legislature, stepped down as delegate for the 81st House District to become the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia. She also stepped down from her position as the vice chair of the state Democratic Party.

Anitra Hamilton now becomes the only Black woman in the West Virginia Legislature.

The 81st district encompasses a portion of Morgantown, including the neighborhoods next to West Virginia University.

Anitra Hamilton is the new 81st District Delegate. *Courtesy Photo*

March 12, 1971: Politician Ivor Boiarsky Dies

On March 12, 1971, Ivor Boiarsky, speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, died suddenly of a heart ailment. He was only 50.

Boiarsky was born in Charleston in 1920 and went on to become president of Charleston Federal Savings and Loan Association. First elected to the House of Delegates in 1958, he was a rising star in the Democratic Party, becoming chairman of the House Finance Committee and then House speaker.

Boiarsky coauthored the 1968 Modern Budget Amendment, which gave the governor greater input into the state’s annual budget. He was instrumental in creating a consolidated board for higher education, the Board of Regents, which lasted a quarter-century before reverting back to separate boards for the university system and colleges.

During his three years as speaker, he pushed the House of Delegates to 18- and 20-hour days, which weakened his health. His death occurred at 2:00 a.m. in the waning days of the legislative session, shortly after a contentious debate about strip mining. Ivor Boiarsky is remembered as one of the most effective speakers in the history of the House of Delegates.

Fireworks in the House Over RFRA Amendments

Four amendments for House Bill 4012, the West Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act, were debated on the House floor Wednesday morning. The bill creates a judicial test for lawsuits against the state or government entities to ensure the protections of an individual’s “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Two of the amendments offered Wednesday by Democratic members of the body were ruled irrelevant and never made it to a vote.

Minority members took issue with House Speaker Tim Armstead’s ruling on the relevancy of one amendment in particular, claiming the speaker has consistently blocked Democratic amendments on the floor this session.

The Speaker, however, took issue with the claim and came down from the podium to address members of the chamber, something not often done in the chamber.

“Yes, we all have very strong feeling and emotions about certain things we debate on this floor,” Armstead said. “Yes, we feel strong that we should be able to have a particular issue brought in front of us. But there are rules to this process that we must follow, and follow those rules whether it’s an issue that we particularly feel passionate about or not.”

An amendment by Democrats Isaac Sponaugle and Mike Pushkin, however, was considered by the body. Delegate Sponaugle explained the amendment protects local EDNHA ordinances, which prohibit discrimination in housing and employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

House Judiciary Chair John Shott was against the change saying the intent of the bill is to protect West Virginians from an infringement on their rights by all levels of government, not just the state.

The Democratic amendment was voted down.

A final amendment to the bill, offered by Shott, was adopted that removes an individual’s ability to seek compensatory damages in a lawsuit filed under the proposed law. Those damages are meant to reward someone for the harm they experienced at the hands of the wrongdoer.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act will be up for a final vote in the House Thursday.

Lawmakers Begin Work on 2016 Budget

A conference committee of seven members of the House of Delegates and seven members of the Senate began work Monday on finding compromise in their budget bills. Each chamber approved their own version of the Fiscal Year 2016 budget last week.

Senate Finance Chair Mike Hall said each chamber is walking into the negotiations with some priorities.

In the Senate, members chose to approve a bill that contains a $6 million increase in funds for the West Virginia State Police and their forensics lab.

Because of staffing shortages, Hall said the lab has a backlog of thousands of cases which in the end increases costs for counties.

“The problem there is that if somebody is stuck at a regional jail waiting for their trial and their trial is delayed and delayed and delayed, the speculation is the counties are paying on the low end $13 million, on the high end $25, $30, $40 million of regional jail costs that if these things were done quickly would save a lot of money,” Hall said Monday.

“So, this $6 million is not just being thrown to the wind. There is a significant return on investment for the counties.”

The House is also looking to get a “return on investment” for their dollars, choosing to prioritize Community and Technical College funding in their budget.

Gov. Tomblin’s proposed budget included a 1.$ percent across the board cut for Higher Education. The House chose to restore the cut funds to all but one CTC in the state.

“We have a lot of need in our Community and Technical Colleges right now, especially with the growth in certain areas like the oil and gas in the north as well as in the Eastern Panhandle with needs in increased enrollment,” Nelson said.

“So, we just felt that we were putting money back to where it was going to have the biggest return going forward.”

Because of other differences in budget lines, the chambers differ, in the end, in the amount of one-time dollars pulled from the state’s Rainy Day Fund.

Delegates have passed a bill taking about $21 million from the Rainy Day Fund while Senators needed around $27 million to balance their proposed budget.

Governor Tomblin used $15 million from the one-time reserve for 2016, but said he will be working with lawmakers during budget week to keep the number below $30 million.