The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced bills targeting transgender West Virginians and drag performances. It also pulled a bill that would have forbidden state entities from engaging in any discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Senate Bill 1037 would reinstate the death penalty as a possible punishment for people convicted of first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances.
House Bill 4587 would prohibit state funds, including student aid, from going to “low-earning” degree programs.
House Bill 4005 would remove the list of prohibited hazardous occupations from law and tie West Virginia law to federal Department of Labor Standards. This would lead to a loss in certain protections for sixteen and seventeen-year-olds, if the U.S. Department of Labor loosens its standards.
Senate Bill 579 would overturn 20 local fairness ordinances prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It could also impact ordinances protecting veterans and people of color who wear certain hairstyles.
