The West Virginia House of Delegates advanced several bills, including the following:
House Bill 4425 would remove the law that allows students to transfer from one school to another without losing athletic eligibility.
Delegates expressed both support and opposition during the bill’s debate.
Supporters argued the bill addresses strained athletic programs and school instability caused by frequent student transfers under the law passed in 2023.
Delegates who rose in opposition shared concerns about potential safety issues for students who are unable to transfer from a harmful environment in their current school’s athletic program.
Delegate Betsy Kelly (R – Tyler, 9) said, “If this were about safety issues, they are still able to transfer. Obviously, these safety issues are still happening, regardless of this standard. The safety issues have nothing to do with this bill. This is about being able to play sports in your own community.”
Delegate Kathie Hess Crouse (R – Putnam, 19) said, “The repeal does not protect competitive balance; it punishes children. It removes a safety valve that families rely on when something goes wrong. It forces students to stay in unsafe situations.”
“The current law has created instability across schools. When an outside transfer takes a position, a local student often loses playing time and a roster space. Thus, feeling pressure to transfer elsewhere and the cycle continues,” Delegate Sarah Drennan (R – Putnam, 20) said. “While I feel for students who feel like they do not have some other place to go, there is, in fact, a petition process, which allows students to go before the board to request a transfer. This bill doesn’t eliminate that process.”
Delegate Adam Burkhammer (R – Lewis, 64) spoke in opposition to the bill due to the bill limiting students. He said he could not imagine limiting kids and limiting the freedom of parents and student athletes in West Virginia.
This bill passed with a vote of 78 to 19.
House Bill 5319 would establish a camping ban on certain public property. Under this bill, anyone who camps or stores personal property in public property owned by a municipality, state, or county would be subjected to a warning upon the first violation. If they continue to camp or store their property, on the second violation, they would be charged with a misdemeanor and fined for $200. The third violation would result in a $500 fine, a month in jail, or both fined and jailed.
In debate of this bill, delegates shared concerns about the impact this bill would have on the population of homeless people across the state.
Delegate Evan Worrell (R – Cabell, 23) said he was in opposition to this bill. He said homelessness is an issue across the state in rural and urban communities, and is against the criminalization of those who are unhoused.
Delegate Anitra Hamilton (D – Monongalia, 81) said she agreed with Delegate Worrell, the chair of the Health and Human Resources Committee. Hamilton said she works with several organizations in her community to raise funds and serve the homeless people in her area.
“Homelessness far exceeds the number of beds available. This bill undermines the work of organizations to care for the homeless,” Hamilton said.
Delegate JB Akers (R – Kanawha, 55) said he believes this bill does not require officers to charge all unhoused people with the penalties spelled out in the bill. Akers said this bill is to criminalize the bad actors and allow West Virginia police officers to make those decisions.
The bill’s sponsor, Delegate Geno Chiarelli (R – Monongalia, 078), said this bill was to target criminal vagrancy and the people who destroy communities around them.
“We try to paint every single person who are experiencing homelessness with the same brush. ‘They just need a little bit of help, they just need a hand up,'” Chiarelli said. “That’s just not true, it’s just not true.”
This bill passed with a vote of 62 to 32.
In addition to the passage of bills, there were 56 pieces of legislation on second reading. The calendar for the House can be found here.
Committee Meetings, Today, March 3
- Government Organization at 2:45 p.m. in Room 215E
- Education at 2:30 p.m. in Room 432M
- Energy & Public Works at 3:30 p.m. in Room 410M
Committee Meetings, Tomorrow, March 4
- Finance at 9 a.m. in Room 460M
- Rules at 9:45 a.m. in Speaker’s Conference Room 218M
- Government Organization at 1 p.m. in Room 215E
- Education at 1 p.m. in Room 432M
The House is adjourned until 9:30 a.m. Tomorrow, March 4.
