photo by: WV Legislative Photography

State Sen. Brian Helton said Senate Bill 579 would create uniformity across city ordinances, including non-discrimination ordinances, but opponents of the bill said it was state overreach.

CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Senate approved a bill Monday that would rip out non-discrimination ordinances adopted by 20 cities across West Virginia protecting members of the LGBTQ community from being fired or evicted simply for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Senate voted for Senate Bill 579, relating to Home Rule reform, in a 25-8 vote Monday afternoon, sending the bill to the House of Delegates.

SB 579, which was recommended for passage by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, would amend State Code creating the Municipal Home Rule Program to make all municipal non-discrimination ordinances that recognize additional classes of persons not already listed for protection within the state Human Rights Act void and unenforceable.

“The purpose of Senate Bill 579 is to prohibit municipalities participating in the Home Rule program from establishing additional protected classes of persons beyond what is designated in state statute today,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha.

West Virginia’s Human Rights Act and Fair Housing Act prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, ancestry, sex, familial status, blindness, veteran status, handicap or national origin. Attempts over the last 15 to 20 years – through the Employment and House Non-Discrimination Act or Fairness Act – of amending both the Human Rights Act and Fair Housing Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the list of protective classes have failed.

But around the same time frame, local cities and counties began adopting their own non-discrimination acts at the local level to include sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as creating their own human rights commissions. According to Fairness West Virginia, a LGBTQ rights advocacy organization, 20 cities and counties now have non-discrimination ordinances that include sexual orientation and gender identity, with Wardensville being the most recent city.

Wheeling is among the cities that includes LGBTQ protections in its anti-discrimination ordinances. Senate District 1, which Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, and Sen. Laura Wakim Chapman, R-Ohio, both call home, includes Wheeling. Weld voted against the bill, while Chapman was absent from the vote.

“Uniformity of law is critical to ensure all West Virginians are equally protected,” said state Sen. Brian Helton, R-Fayette, the lead sponsor of SB 579. “A patchwork of varying local ordinances creates uncertainty for individuals and businesses. Centralizing anti-discrimination laws in our state allows for a more efficient and consistent enforcement through dedicated agencies, like the Human Rights Commission of West Virginia. Limiting protected classes to those within the state Human Rights Act stops the expansion of classes. Where does it end? It ends in overreach.”

The Legislature passed SB 747, creating the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program, in 2007. The pilot program gave four cities, Charleston, Huntington, Bridgeport and Wheeling, the freedom to craft ordinances, rules and regulations that they couldn’t previously under state law. The Municipal Home Rule Board was created to manage the program. In 2019, the Municipal Home Rule Program was made permanent.

Municipalities are considered subdivisions of the state and subject to most state laws. But Home Rule allows participating cities and towns to enact ordinances, rules, and regulations not otherwise available. There are now 64 cities and towns in the Home Rule program.

“Under West Virginia law, cities are political subdivisions that are allowed to have laws and ordinances but only when granted by the State of West Virginia,” Helton said. “We need to ensure that all citizens of our state enjoy equal protection, not just based on where you live or where you happen to be geographically at that particularly moment of time.”

The bill is opposed by 44 current and former municipal mayors and council members, who issued a joint letter criticizing the overreach by state lawmakers.

“Local governance is a cornerstone of our democracy, allowing communities to make decisions that reflect their values and priorities,” the municipal leaders wrote. “Each of our cities and towns adopted fairness laws through thoughtful deliberation, often with bipartisan support, to foster inclusive and welcoming environments for residents, businesses, and visitors alike. Overturning these protections would disregard the will of our constituents and undermine the ability of local governments to respond to the needs of their communities.”

SB 579 had bipartisan opposition on the Senate floor Monday, with Republican and Democratic members supporting the ability of their municipalities to pass their own laws.

“I don’t always agree with the actions of the city of Morgantown,” said state Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia. “At the same time, I respect their ability to take those actions. It’s because of that…that I’ll have to vote no on this bill, because they have communicated to me very clearly they are opposed to this piece of legislation.”

“There are a number of places in the State of West Virginia that have the legal right to create an ordinance that protects people beyond what we are doing here in this Capitol, whether that’s for sexual orientation, for hairstyle, or whatever it might be, they have decided to do an ordinance that says ‘you are welcome here,'” said state Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion. “What this Legislature is saying…is that no, we know better than you.”

“This is dumb,” Weld said. “This will overturn and completely nullify those ordinances. Why is it dumb? Where is this a problem that we have to address? I haven’t heard of any.”