The House Committee on Government Organization had a consideration of House Bill 2728, a major piece of legislation that would establish West Virginia’s Municipal Home Rule Program as a permanent program, as well as make the program available to several other Class IV cities within the state.

The committee convened at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan 30, in 215-E.

The Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program is currently in place within four cities in the state: Huntington, Charleston, Wheeling, and Bridgeport. The Pilot Program was developed by the West Virginia Legislature in 2007, but due to a sunset provision, the program has to be regularly renewed.

Mayor Steve Williams of Huntington was present to speak before the committee, and maintained the effectiveness of the program as well as reassured the committee that no state laws or federal laws ran the risk of being violated.

“Home rule requires us to have multiple hearings for each proposal,” Mayor Williams said. “We have a lot of public hearings in addition to that, and we have to go before the Home Rule Board.”

House Bill 2728 would establish the program’s permanency, allowing the four cities already established and four new cities every year to utilize municipal home rule without the need for renewal. This program extends the legislative power of individual localities, allowing them to issue taxes and levies and pursue large scale municipal projects without going through state or federal government. Cities are able to issue new taxes, new projects, and even issue referendum votes as long as the laws passed do not violate any state or federal statute.

The cities utilizing the pilot program are under supervision of the West Virginia Municipal League. Lisa Dooley, the Executive Director of the Municipal League, was present to answer questions presented by the committee.

“This is a bill that addresses all of the concerns that got this legislation vetoed previously,” Dooley said in reference to the Governor’s veto of the bill.

“This legislation only allows for four cities every year to join the home rule program,” Dooley said. “I know there were concerns about many cities joining at once and overwhelming the system, and we have worked with the stakeholders to address this.”

Many delegates favored House Bill 2728 for its ability to give cities more power over their own projects and economic needs, but several Democratic delegates were disapproving of some of the technical language included in the bill.

Delegate Mike Caputo (D-Marion) said he took offense to the list of specific prohibitions in House Bill 2728. He argued that the list of rules that municipalities should not prohibit was repetitive, and rhetorically “poked the bear” in regards to West Virginia’s controversially right-to-work laws.

“We don’t need to be poking the eye of the right to work laws,” said Caputo. “This is a battle that’s already over, let’s strike the language that lays out these specific rules. The Municipal League already said they don’t need these specific rules laid out, the language already exists. Because let’s be honest, you’re not concerned about these rules being violated.”

Caputo moved to amend the bill, and strike the language that specifically lays out what state ordinances are off-limits for localities. The amendment passed with a close 13-12 vote, with several members crossing party lines to strike the bill’s language.

After Caputo’s amendment passed, House Bill 2728 was laid over until the next House Government Organization meeting.

The House Committee on Government Organization also had a consideration of House Bill 2420, a bill that would establish a Mountaineer Trail Network Recreational Authority for the purpose of oversight.

The bill would also limit the liability of landowners, set forth purchasing and bidding procedures, and provide for conflicts of interest. House Bill 2420 was passed with a small technical amendment, and was voted to be advanced to the House Floor with the recommendation that it do pass.