'A circus of ignorance and intolerance’

Jessica Nelson, Member of the League of Women Voters of Morgantown-Monongalia County (WV)

West Virginians are known for being kind, welcoming people — one-on-one at least. We greet strangers with smiles and send away our new-made friends with the sincerest of best wishes. In times of trouble or disaster, everyone turns out to help and their generosity is on full display.

When there is a flesh-and-blood person in front of us, needing a kind word or a helping hand, we are our best selves.

But when that person is an abstraction — a nebulous “other” of some kind who doesn’t look like us, love like us, or worship like us — we are our worst selves.

It was West Virginians’ worst selves that were on display during the 60-day legislative session. Because while West Virginians claim to be all about freedom and family values, there’s a disconnect between the values we espouse and the ones we enshrine in policy and law.

Instead of shoring up Medicaid — which is under threat from Republicans in Congress and which provides insurance for many of West Virginia’s seniors and children — legislators took away gender-affirming health care from transgender minors, endangered kids by forcing educators to “out” them to their parents, and wasted time trying to roll back vaccine requirements.

Instead of focusing on programs that treat addiction and promote recovery, lawmakers passed stricter penalties for drug possession.

Instead of funding flood protection and relief — after our southern counties were devastated this spring — legislators approved two bills that will increase water pollution, though the bill loosening regulations on aboveground storage tanks died.

Instead of supporting education, legislators declined to approve locality pay or pay raises for teachers and siphoned even more tax dollars away from public schools through the Hope Scholarship.

Instead of addressing West Virginia’s lack of affordable housing, legislators pursued a statewide “camping ban” that would criminalize homelessness — a measure that fortunately fell short of the finish line in the end.

Instead of laying the groundwork for sustainable, responsible job creation, legislators paved the way for resource-intensive but labor-light data centers, eliminated all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and codified overly simplistic definitions of “man” and “woman” — because nothing says “bring your business here” like “we promote discrimination.”

I say legislators, but the Republican Party holds a supermajority in both chambers. In general, Democrats strongly opposed these measures (except for Sen. Mike Woefel, who co-sponsored several horrible bills). And Republicans proved over the last 60 days that while they excel at grandstanding and grievances, they know little-to-nothing about good governance.

Republican lawmakers repeatedly tossed aside the rules — and constitutional considerations — to push through their worst legislation. And that was when they even knew the rules.

The entire regular session was a circus of ignorance and intolerance. Instead of the Christian values of loving our neighbors and helping the least of us, Republicans used their pulpit to enforce a far-right white “Christian” nationalism that seeks to elevate a select few by scapegoating and repressing anyone deemed “other.”

Is it any wonder West Virginia’s young people no longer find the Mountain State hospitable? We were raised on the Golden Rule and loving our neighbors, but our laws are increasingly fanatical and hateful.

Is it any wonder the rest of the country looks at us like we’re backwards hillbillies? Our Legislature is actively dragging us into the past — a past filled with poverty, pollution, exploitation, and oppression.

Everyone loves that JFK quote — the sun does not always shine in West Virginia, but the people always do.

Unfortunately, right now, the only thing shining in West Virginia is a spotlight on our bigotry.