MCDOWELL COUNTY, West Virginia — When the flood water swept through McDowell County, West Virginia, in February, Ashley Rutherford sat in her wheelchair, unable to get out of her home as the water started coming through the doorway. One of her sons put rubber rain boots on her to cover her legs while the water came in.

Nine weeks later, the carpet in the home is still wet. The kitchen’s wooden floor is damp and buckling, and Rutherford’s wheelchair got stuck in a new hole in front of the sink. The downstairs rooms are full of her family’s stuff, crowding the path for her to get around.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Rutherford, 33, a mother of four. “We’re living out of totes right now. My daughter can’t find the right outfit she wants to wear to school.”

Rutherford lives in Berwind, one of the poor county’s most southern towns. In its hollers, residents — many of whom are elderly — are waiting for help. They need federal aid. A stove. Volunteers to help them clear the thick mud from their basements.

There hasn’t been nearly enough help, and people feel forgotten by disaster relief agencies, nonprofit organizations and state government leaders in Charleston.

Many of McDowell’s residents are unable or unlikely to leave their long-time family homes, resulting in them now sitting in damp structures — some still without heat or running water — while mold starts to set in.

Mold has started growing in Dale Blevins’ basement in McDowell County after the flood. (Sydnei Tatum for West Virginia Watch)

Dale Blevins, 70, stood in her damp basement, where patches of crystalized white mold were forming on the concrete walls. Volunteers cleaned out her basement after the flood; she didn’t know who would come in to remove the mold. Her husband relies on an oxygen tank, and the mold was likely already a danger for his health.

“I hate to ask for help,” she said, adding she hadn’t heard from any local or state officials. “Nobody has ever come here.”

The National Guard, church groups and other volunteers made their way through the county to help out. Those efforts have largely dried up. The local churches, many with elderly congregations, are limited in how they can help. Hundreds of homes still need to be cleared out and cleaned, residents say.

“We need the boots on the ground who are physically able to do the muck outs,” said Michael Brooks, a McDowell County commissioner. “It is hard work, it’s brutal work and very time consuming … I don’t know if some realize how dire the need is.”

Sydnei Tatum, 33, is a local business owner and photographer who took the images for this story. Over the last two months, she has cleaned out basements, handed out grocery gift cards and made lists of residents in need of everything from beds to refrigerators.

“I’m gonna fight for these people, because they have no one else to do it for them,” she said.

Tatum blamed the lack of recovery efforts on state leaders’ failure to prioritize McDowell County. They’d downplayed the crisis, she said.

“Purely because nobody is interested in the poorest areas of the county, and we are in it,” she said.

In February, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said the state “was in a position to act quickly,” while also requesting a federal disaster declaration to unlock resources for affected counties.

“We want to make sure we’re helping these southern counties recover,” Morrisey said at a press conference on Feb. 20 after visiting some parts of McDowell.

His spokesperson didn’t reply to questions for this story about the status of recovery efforts.

The flooding, which killed three people, happened during the legislative session; it wasn’t a major topic among lawmakers.

There isn’t dedicated funding in the recently-approved state budget for McDowell’s flood recovery.

Limited county funds, endless clean-up work

Carol Lester, 73, stood on her porch in Bartley, overlooking her washed out, sandy yard. She’d survived the flood, having to be rescued by two young men as water rushed into her kitchen and living room. She recalled how 911 couldn’t help her, then two men showed up and carried her husband, who is disabled, through the woods for five hours in the cold rain.

“We’ve been through five floods. This was the worst,” said Lester, who has been in her home for 51 years. “It seemed like you could hear the devil and his demons in that water.”

A destroyed sofa set was discarded in front of her house. It needed to be hauled away. She was waiting on a plywood delivery, hopeful that her family members could rip up her water-logged flooring.

No one other than Tatum had been by her house since the flood, Lester said.

Before the flood, McDowell was already facing hardships. It’s one of the poorest counties in the country, and some residents haven’t had clean drinking water for decades. Much of the county is located on a flood plain, and floods have swept through before. Fewer than 18,000 people now live in the county now that mining jobs have dried up.

The drop in population has impacted county finances reliant on local taxpayers, and Brooks explained that the bulk of money collected through personal property taxes goes to the board of education.

There isn’t enough left over, he said.

Thirty-six private bridges were washed out in the flood, some of which can’t be covered by Federal Emergency Management Assistance (FEMA) or county money. Some bridges may never be repaired.

“I wish to God that we had the funding that we could start fixing it. But, it’s not a few thousand dollar fix. It’s a hundreds of thousands dollar issue on some of the bridges,” Brooks said.

Brooks was frustrated over social media comments saying the county or state wasn’t doing enough. Morrisey had been helpful, he said, and required-government processes can be slow.

“I am bombarded, as well as the other commissioners, with more questions than answers at this juncture,” he said. “It’s not that we’re not trying to garner the answers or we’re trying to shrug these things off. But we’re a small county and a lot of times we don’t have resources.”

FEMA, which continues its efforts in the county, and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) didn’t return requests for comment for this story. Some residents said they weren’t expecting much help from the federal aid.

Debris-filled water poses a future flood risk

The floors are still damp in Linda Wood’s home in the community of Berwind.

“I’m going to need new flooring, like linoleum,” said Woods, 61. She lost her stove, lawnmower, clothes, shoes and more in the flooding.

“I’m worried about the moisture getting under the mattress and causing mold,” she added.

Rain is forecasted this weekend in McDowell, causing anxiety for Woods. She pointed to a nearby stream, filled with debris leftover from the flood. Without clearing it out, she said, another flood was likely to hit her community at any time.

The area’s stream beds haven’t been dredged or restored since the 1977 flood, WVVA reported. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., recently visited McDowell, promising to request money to clean up the streams in hopes of preventing future flooding.

Earlier this year, Morrisey didn’t request funding for the state’s flood mitigation efforts through the State Resiliency Office. The Republican-majority in the House of Delegates rejected a Democratic lawmakers’ proposal to put $50 million in the state budget to protect from future floods.

Politics and state funding aren’t the main topics of conversation among McDowell residents in April. Neighbors are wondering how they’ll clean out their basements and remove the mountains of debris scattered alongside roads. There aren’t large dumpsters in the area, and the county would need to work with the state to create a designated dumping site.

Lester looked at a holly bush in her yard that had survived the flood. Her husband bought it for her years ago.

“God left that holly bush for a reason. It weathered the storm, but it still survived,” she said. “Every morning, when I get up, I look at the little holly bush. I get my strength from that.”

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.

The highest rate of battery on a school employee from a child is occurring in West Virginia’s kindergarten classrooms — an alarming statistics that the state schools superintendent said is tied to the state’s multigenerational drug epidemic.

State Superintendent of Schools Michele Blatt told lawmakers that 19% of battery cases were in kindergarten classes, and the number drastically dropped off as children moved up in grade levels.

“I don’t believe that we have kindergartners who are doing this out of willful intent to harm someone,” said Blatt, who spoke with lawmakers Jan. 7 at the state Capitol. “As we are thinking about these students, we know that we’re dealing with either students who are born addicted to alcohol or drugs. We’re dealing with students who are being raised by parents who are addicted to one of those substances.”

Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, said the number of violent incidents was likely much larger than the data reported.

“These numbers are alarming to say the least,” he said.

West Virginia’s overdose rate is declining since its spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the state continues to lead the nation in overdose death rates and has the highest number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome. Fetal drug exposure is tied to a higher likelihood of mental disorders, adverse behavior problems and needing an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

Lawmakers are grappling with how to help elementary teachers address an uptick in violent and disruptive student behavior.

Teachers told lawmakers that they need more staff to help these children, who sometimes spend their school day in the principal’s office because there’s nowhere to put them. Test scores won’t improve until it’s addressed, educators said.

Many counties don’t have alternative learning centers for young students, and Blatt said creating those spaces must be a priority.

“What are we going to do with those students when those supports aren’t enough? Where is that alternative education placement? … I do believe in most instances, if we can get the proper supports and treatments in place for those students, and the support for those teachers in the classroom, then for many of these children we can change their trajectory,” she said.

Senate Education Committee Chair Amy Grady, R-Mason, has proposed asking counties to use their opioid settlement funds to build alternative environments.

The second highest rate of battery on a teacher (13% of incidents) occurred in third grade classrooms.

Blatt said that many children had never been taught how to behave in a classroom.

“We are truly dealing with students where no one has ever taught them how to behave in school or how to behave in any situation. Many of them have physical issues from the addictions they were born with,” she said.

Lawmakers will try again on student discipline bill

Blatt updated lawmakers on the West Virginia Department of Education’s STRIVE Initiative, which is meant to bolster schools’ resources for addressing kids’ behavioral health, chronic absenteeism and more. It offers financial resources, alternative learning programs, behavioral support and more.

“The STRIVE model is to make sure that not only do have have a touch point with what’s going on in all of our counties and what their needs are, but also that they are aware of all the resources that are available to them to support, whether it’s academic, social, emotional or behavioral needs,” Blatt said.

Additionally, the WVDE will work with Marshall Behavior/Mental Health Technical Assistance Center to examine seven schools with an excessive amount of battery on a school employee.

“While there were 511 of these incidents, we’re looking at 131 students. If you look at the data … what we’re finding is there’s a lot of incidents of the same child repeatedly,” Blatt said. “Whatever’s being done with that student to address those concerns, their needs are not being met, and we need to find a different way to address those needs.”

Del. Buck Jennings, R-Preston, said that discipline was one of “our biggest issues.”

“I hope you can come up with an answer that’s more than having another group study,” he said.

Lawmakers last year failed to pass legislation that would have given elementary teachers greater authority to remove students for disruptive, aggressive or violent behaviors. It outlined steps for how schools should deal with students who needed to be removed from their classrooms. Critics of the bill worried that it didn’t do enough to help address children’s mental health needs, and they noted that it didn’t come with funding to hire additional staff or create alternative learning spaces.

Some version of the elementary discipline legislation is expected to be considered during the upcoming 60-day legislative session. It begins Feb. 12.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.

Two days before Christmas, the wife of a West Virginia lawmaker called 911 telling the operator she was concerned about him drunkenly handling assault rifles and screaming at people looking at Christmas lights in their neighborhood.

Del. Brandon Steele’s wife, Raleigh County Clerk Brianne Steele, told a 911 operator that she was worried that her “extremely agitated and very, very drunk” husband may start shooting and that her children were “terrified.”

According to a Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office police report, officers arrived at Steele’s residence following Brianne Steele’s call. No arrests were made related to the incident.

The report contains statements from Brandon Steele expressing concern about “possible threats regarding trials that he is working,” and concerns from Brianne Steele about her husband’s “paranoid” behavior and alcoholism.

Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, did not attend the House of Delegates’ swearing in ceremony on Wednesday at the state Capitol.

He told West Virginia Watch that the “rumors being spread” around the incident are “vicious and disheartening.”

“The only statement I have is that we had an incident of someone stalking at our home on Dec. 23 to which the police responded. It is not the first time this has happened over the last six years,” said Brandon Steele, who is an attorney. “Police responded and came to my home, they cleared the scene and left. Law enforcement professionally and appropriately responded to the situation. They ensured my safety and my family’s safety.”

Brandon Steele said that he reported the incident to the Capitol police.

“My family and I are fine,” he said.

The 911 tapes were sent to House leadership and members of the media on Tuesday afternoon. House Speaker Roger Hanshaw announced the same day that Steele would serve as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, a leadership role in the body. The Judiciary Committee can be tasked with vetting bills impacting the criminal justice system, including penalties for domestic violence.

Hanshaw told reporters that he became aware of this situation late Tuesday and had not yet spoken with Brandon Steele.

“I only know what I’ve read online; which is to say not much,” said Del. J.B. Akers, the new vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee. “Everyone deserves a fair opportunity to respond and I hope the Steele family is given one. Speaker Hanshaw is a person of integrity and I’m sure he will handle this appropriately.”

“Personally, I said a prayer for the Steeles, especially the children,” said Akers, R-Kanawha.

In a 23-minute call to Raleigh County Emergency Services, Brianne Steele described the night’s events in hushed tones to a 911 operator while locked in a bathroom, her children “hiding in the bathtub.”

“He grabbed [the guns] off the wall in front of the kids and they’re terrified now,” adding that there were three children in the home.

According to the police report, “[Brianne] stated she did not observe any vehicles in front of their residence, however she did see him walking and out of their home with his weapons while screaming. She stated that she believes Brandon is extremely paranoid. Brianne stated that Brandon is also a severe alcoholic.”

“Brianne was advised of how to obtain a mental hygiene if she chose to do so. She also stated that Brandon did not at any time threaten her or their children. Brianne then decided to leave for the night with their children to allow Brandon to sober up.”

Steele has served in the House since 2018.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.

House Republicans on Wednesday voted to vacate the seat of Joseph de Soto, a delegate-elect accused last month of threatening to harm and kill lawmakers.

The decision will face a legal challenge from the state Democratic Party, who say Republicans didn’t follow the proper legal procedure for removing the controversial delegate-elect. De Soto was elected in November as a Republican then switched to the Democratic party hours before his arrest. The change had led Democrats to believe they should get to fill the vacant seat if he didn’t serve.

The Republicans did not expel de Soto, who is in home confinement in Berkeley County after being released from jail following the alleged threats. He was not at the Capitol for a swearing in ceremony though his name was called during a roll call.

Instead, House Republicans adopted a resolution in which they “vehemently [condemned] any menace, acts violence or terroristic threats directed at any of its members.”

It said that, due to de Soto’s home confinement and protective orders that ban him from speaking with delegates that he threatened, he failed to take the oath of office and “is not reasonably expected to do so at any point in the future.”

“The Constitution clearly says, ‘shall take the vote of office.’ The only place to do that is here, in this body, in this chamber,” said House Majority Leader Pat Mcgeehan, R-Hancock, ahead of the vote “Now, accidentally, if you can’t be here on this day, that’s different than the essence of never being able to be here. He clearly is not qualified.”

The adopted resolution will allow the GOP-majority to retain control of de Soto’s seat in the 91st district.

Democrats argued that Constitutional rules dictated that the House first expel de Soto.

Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, argued that Constitutional rules dictated that the House first expel Joseph de Soto. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography)

“That would be the proper motion here today, under our rules, under the Constitution, would be to expel the member for his acts,” said Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio. “It is improper on its face, and we’re just screwing this up.”

An expulsion would have given the seat to the Democrats due to de Soto’s party switch; the governor would have appointed the replacement from a list provided by party leaders. There are just nine Democrats in the House after November election results.

“I’m not able to get into whether he’s a Democrat or Republican. Hey, look, I can count, guys. Doesn’t really make a damn difference if we add one more up here or not,” Fluharty continued. “Quite frankly, I don’t care … I want to make sure we do this correctly.”

Fluharty, an attorney, also said that forfeiting the seat would require that de Soto refused to take the oath. He asked if de Soto could have been given the chance to take the oath of office.

“You can ask the prison,” McGeehan responded.

De Soto and his attorney did not return requests for comments for this story, including if de Soto was given the opportunity to take the oath.

De Soto defeated incumbent Don Forsht, R-Berkeley, last May to win the primary. There was no Democratic candidate in the November general election, but he faced competition from a Constitution Party candidate.

Ahead of the threats, House Republicans had raised concerns to de Soto in a closed door meeting about whether he was truthful about his military career or if he was actually a physician. DragLine, a publication from the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia, detailed the inaccuracies in de Soto’s statements in an article that was published earlier this year.

According to a criminal complaint, de Soto said that the private meeting had upset him and that “God called him to kill them.” He listed several lawmakers, including House Speaker Roger Hanshaw.

The complaint said that an email sent by de Soto on Dec. 10 said, “They play stupid games, they are getting stupid awards … I have only begun … and won’t stop. I had a vision to destroy them from the angel of Moroni.”

State Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin said the party plans to file an injunction in response to Republicans’ handling of de Soto’s seat. In a related case in 2016, the state Supreme Court ruled that a vacated Senate seat should be held by the Republicans after its elected official, Daniel Hall, was elected as a Democrat then registered as a Republican before he resigned.

“The Court finds no ambiguity in West Virginia Code,” Justice Margaret Workman wrote in the opinion.

Berkeley County Democrats on Wednesday announced that they will hold an emergency meeting to put together a list of nominees for the seat. Governor-elect Patrick Morrisey will appoint de Doto’s replacement following party nominations.

House and Senate formally elect leaders

The regular 60-day session will begin Feb. 12.

House and Senate members spent the rest of Wednesday on procedural matters that included formally electing their respective leaders.

Senators confirmed that Randy Smith, R-Tucker, will serve as Senate President. Smith, a former coal miner, has served as chairman of the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee. He replaced Craig Blair, who lost his primary election in May. Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, will continue serving as Senate Minority Leader; there are two Democrats in the Senate.

Del. Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, is sworn in as Speaker of the House on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography)

Hanshaw, R-Clay, was reelected as House Speaker. He has held the position since 2018 and did not have a challenger.

Hanshaw told members he was anxious to work with Republican Gov.-elect Patrick Morisey, a Republican, in improving the state’s poor health outcomes and reversing the tide of population decline, particularly among college graduates.

“The future ahead of us is bright. I for one will always be optimistic about the state of West Virginia,” Hanshaw told fellow members after being reelected. “The opportunity for us to create the kind of state where it’s easier to choose West Virginia as a place to work, live and raise your family is right before us.”

Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, will continue to serve as House Minority Leader.

Jeff Pack, recent state foster care leader and former Republican lawmaker, was elected to serve as House Clerk. Pack replaces Steve Harrsion, who announced his retirement after serving in the position for 10 years.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include Berkeley County Democrats’ announcement and a 2016 ruling in a similar case.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.

An elderly, nonverbal man died from burn injuries after being left too long in a whirlpool of scalding water at a state-run long-term care facility. A spokesperson for the state health department said they’ve fired four nurses, including three contract employees, who were involved in the patient’s death.

It raises more concerns about how the Department of Health Facilities is vetting nurses supplied through staffing companies — an issue leaders said they’ve tried to improve after multiple employees were charged with crimes last year at a different state-run facility.

The patient’s death happened in January at Hopemont Hospital in Terra Alta, located in Preston County.

The man, who required round-the-clock care, was placed in a whirlpool with a water temperature of 134 degrees and left in the tub for at least 47 minutes, according to Disability Rights West Virginia. The advocacy group investigated the patient’s death.

“Imagine someone who is elderly, nonverbal and has dementia left unattended in scalding hot water. Even if he screamed out in pain, he couldn’t be heard because he was nonverbal,” said Mike Folio, DRWV legal director. “His skin melted off.”

He added, “This is truly the most egregious case I’ve seen.”

Annie Moore, spokesperson for the state’s newly-created Department of Health Facilities, said in an email that available information showed “the decedent who was unable to yell for help was left alone in scalding hot water for nearly 2,790 seconds longer than [Consumer Product Safety Commission] guidance that resulted in severe burns that required transport to a Pittsburgh burn center.”

Whirlpools are typically set at no more than 100 degrees, Folio explained.

His investigation revealed hospital staff were aware of a malfunctioning water tank thermostat that caused the high water temperature and failed to fix it prior to the death.

“They made no meaningful effort to fix what they knew was a known hazard,” he said.

Moore said that the thermostat was “immediately replaced by facility staff” after the patient’s injuries.

She continued, “Hopemont Hospital administration and DHF have taken steps to prevent future occurrences including providing staff training on monitoring water temperatures prior to and during resident bathing and making repairs and upgrades to the facility’s hot water system.”

The investigation remains under investigation by the state’s Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification, the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses and others.

A spokesman for the Preston County Sheriff’s Department said their investigation is ongoing and couldn’t release information.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the resident’s family,” said Matthew Keefer, DHF deputy commissioner. “Keeping residents safe is our number one priority. Any time a resident is injured in our care, we must exhaust every resource and investigate fully to ensure it does not happen again.”

Contract nurses involved in patient death

In the wake of the incident, Moore said that three contract staff members and one employed by the state no longer work at Hopemont Hospital.

The state health department relies on dozens of contract agencies to provide nurses, nurse assistants and other employees at state-run facilities.

In November, DHF Secretary Michael Caruso said he’d change their vetting of contract nurses at William R. Sharpe, Jr., Hospital — another state-run facility — after West Virginia Watch reported multiple Sharpe staff members were arrested last year and charged with crimes, including one who was charged with murder. The incident didn’t occur at the hospital.

Interview requests for Caruso went unreturned for this story.

Folio said that the state declined DRWV’s offer to help with the vetting of contract employees.

“By and large we know the abuse at state health facilities has happened from these contract staff,” he said. “It’s a reflection of the overall failure to manage the personnel and manage these facilities.”

Gov. Jim Justice recently signed the budget bill, which included money for the state health department to pay for contract nurses at state-run hospitals.

While these positions are highly-paid, a spokesperson for the state health department last year acknowledged that they were working on bettering pay for state employees at the facilities.

Despite signing the budget bill, Justice expressed frustration over the proposed funding plan for the state health department. The bill included a slash to funding for people with disabilities in state care.

Justice plans to call lawmakers back for a special session, possibly in April, to address the health department funding and other outstanding budget issues.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com. Follow West Virginia Watch on Facebook and Twitter.

Legislation hailed as a “Women’s Bill of Rights” advanced in the House on Monday despite fervent pushback from Democrats that the bill does nothing to help women in the state.

A group of Republicans shot down a Democrat’s attempt to include equal pay protections for women in the legislation.

The bill, strongly supported by Gov. Jim Justice, would codify in state law that any mention of women would only apply to those who are women according to their biological sex at birth.

“‘Sex’ does not include ‘gender identity’ or any other terms intended to convey a person’s subjective sense of self,” according to the legislation, House Bill 5243.

According to an attorney for the Legislature, the only right the bill would ensure is the protection of same-sex spaces like restrooms, locker rooms and domestic violence shelters.

Justice, who is a high school girls’ basketball coach, last week held his first bill-focused press conference of the Legislative Session to announce the measure. The Republican governor and U.S. Senate candidate said that the bill would protect women’s sports.

He appeared alongside Riley Gaines, a former NCAA athlete who has spoken out against trans women in sports.

“This radical effort to erase sex must be stopped, and this is where this [bill] can help,” Gaines said. Four other states have introduced similar measures.

During Monday’s meeting of the House Judiciary Committee, no Republican offered up an explanation in support of the legislation. Bill sponsor Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam, was present but not a member of the committee.

Meanwhile, Democrats pushed back on the bill in a lengthy debate that largely focused on how the bill would offer no codified equality or protections for women in West Virginia.

“Does this bill that states equality guarantee the right to equal pay? Does it guarantee the right to affordable child care?” questioned Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio. “I’m trying to figure out what rights we are providing.”

Del. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, attempted to amend the bill to include a women’s equal pay act, which was already introduced by fellow Democrat Del. Kayla Young this year, but has received no traction. The legislation would allow individuals to inquire about other employees’ wages and bar employers from inquiring about an applicant’s past wages.

Young’s bill is named the Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan Fair Pay Act, after two West Virginia mathematicians who went on to become NASA trailblazers. The pair was featured in the movie “Hidden Figures.”

Garcia told lawmakers that both women faced substantial pay disparities throughout their careers.

“If we are going to talk about a women’s bill of rights, then we should talk about fair pay for women,” said Garcia, who serves as committee minority chair. “We have not been able to get this bill on a committee agenda … and this is the perfect time to vote on it.”

Committee Chair Tom Fast, R-Fayette, said the women’s fair act wasn’t germane to the Women’s Bill of Rights legislation, and Republicans in the room — including two women — agreed, turning down Garcia’s amendment.

The committee ultimately signed off on the bill with Democrats voting against it.

Fairness West Virginia, the ACLU-WV and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic have all spoken out against the bill.

“This bill doesn’t help women, it only punches down on our trans neighbors,” said Emily Womeldorff, advocacy campaigns director for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “We welcome legislation that would support women in West Virginia, like equal pay, better health care, access to abortion and paid leave. [The bill] does none of that.”

The committee also passed House Bill 4233, which would require the state to include the gender of the child on a birth certificate seven days after birth. It would also prohibit the use of the term “non-binary” on birth certificates.

Currently, birth certificates report the sex of the child as male or female.

In 2022, Oklahoma became the first state to ban nonbinary gender identification on birth certificates.

More than a dozen states allow individuals to select a gender-neutral “X” gender marker on their birth certificates.

A counsel for the committee was not aware of any instances in West Virginia where a person attempted to mark non-binary on a child’s birth certificate.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com. Follow West Virginia Watch on Facebook and Twitter.