House Judiciary advances bills to criminalize absentee ballot distribution and restrict transgender West Virginians’ rights

BBG Folk Reporter Starrie Schulz has the scoop on what went down during Monday’s House Judiciary Committee meeting.

A bill criminalizing the physical distribution of absentee ballot forms passed the committee and headed to the House Floor: HB 2400.

• HB 2400’s purported purpose is to counteract voter fraud.
• Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, argued that the bill is voter suppression. He urged the committee to have more “faith and trust” in our county clerks to ensure that ballots are only sent to eligible individuals.
• David Paul Cook, Jr., general counsel to the West Virginia Office of the Secretary of State, was called to testify about the legality of the bill.
• Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, asked Cook if he had found any abuse in the absentee ballot application process. Cook cited state law in his refusal to answer the question. Del. Fluharty thanked Cook “for clarifying this absurd bill.”

Starrie’s Vibe Check: This bill is a form of voter suppression. It threatens penalty to anyone who prints out an absentee ballot application for another person, disincentivizing them from doing so. As Del. Hansen said, “it creates a new crime.” No one on the committee could provide evidence of widespread abuse of the absentee ballot system, further revealing how this bill is a scare tactic to prevent voter participation.

A bill segregating restrooms, changing rooms and sleeping quarters by sex at birth passed the committee: HB 2006.

• If passed, HB 2006 would also establish that there are only two sexes and assert that these categorizations are naturally manifested, assigned at birth and immutable. Should a person be unable or unwilling to use sex-segregated facilities, the bill says an individual accommodation must be provided for them. It also mandates that all state agencies or public institutions that collect statistics related to sex must do so in accordance with the definitions in this bill.
• Gov. Patrick Morrisey is the lead sponsor on this bill, and its stated purpose is to protect women from violent attacks by men.
• Del. Hansen asked to postpone discussion on the bill by one day, as this is a bill of great public interest. He also stressed that the committee agenda was posted just nine hours before the meeting, despite the West Virginia Office of the Governor’s witnesses being notified of the agenda several days beforehand. He argued that the short notice did not allow for public testimony. His request to postpone discussion was denied by the committee’s chair, Del. J.B. Akers II, R-Kanawha.
• Curtis Capehart, the Governor’s Designee and Chairman of the School Building Authority, was called to testify about the bill. Del. Fluharty pointed out that the language around school bathrooms directly violates the precedent set in Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, which affirms that schools cannot prevent a student from using a restroom that aligns with their gender identity. Capehart acknowledged this, but he said they anticipate that case may be overruled within a couple of months, allowing for the entire bill to take effect.
• Del. Fluharty questioned how people’s biological sex may be checked in order to enforce the mandate in schools, to which Capehart provided no answer.
• Julie Britton, Executive Director of the YWCA Charleston Resolve Family Abuse Program, was also called to testify. Britton said they do not ask if a woman is transgender when they provide services. When asked if the YWCA provides services to transgender women, she replied “Absolutely.”
• All of the YWCA’s beds are in shared rooms, and Britton said they have no way to provide individualized reasonable accommodations to transgender women in need of their services. Britton also pointed out that there are no alternative domestic violence shelters for transgender women in Charleston.
• “Putting trans women out on the street and not serving them is a death sentence,” Britton said.

Starrie’s Vibe Check: This bill, which purports to preserve and protect the safety of women, offers no additional penalties for violence against women beyond what is currently on the books. Its sole purpose is to codify strict definitions of “male,” “female”, “boy” and “girl.” These definitions do not allow for trans people to exist. The bill requires that schools, higher education institutions, domestic violence shelters and state agencies abide by these strict definitions in the work that they do. It mandates a system that requires schools to segregate transgender children from their peers by requiring them to use separate restrooms, locker rooms and sleeping areas.

A bill creating a “Parents Bill of Rights” passed the committee: HB 2129

• The purpose of HB 2129 is to codify a parent’s right to direct the education, healthcare and religious rights of their child. These protections may be overruled when there is a “compelling state interest” in doing so. 

• Del. Carl Martin, R-Upshur reaffirmed that this bill does not give parents the right to allow their child to undergo a sex change operation, which is currently banned under state law.

Starrie’s Vibe Check: The bill reaffirms parents’ rights to make decisions for their child, with the only stated exceptions being healthcare treatments or procedures banned by the state and “ending the life of a human being, born or unborn”.