2023 West Viginia Legislative Session

The 2023 West Virginia legislative session was interesting in many aspects, but overall a little slower in terms of bills that involved Christian education. As I introduced myself around the legislature during the opening days of the session as the WVCEA Legislative Liaison, I was greeted by multiple responses of “it’s about time”.  I soon found us to have several friends and allies in Charleston.

Below is a brief synopsis of bills that were the most seriously considered and related to Christian education and religious liberty issues during the 2023 legislative session. At last count, there were a total of 2,291 bills proposed this session. The last day to propose a bill in the House of Delegates was February 14, the last day to propose a bill in the State Senate was February 20. Crossover day was 2/26/23. Crossover day is the last day a bill can move between the two chambers, unless there are special circumstances. If a bill didn’t move from one chamber to the other by crossover day it is dead in most cases. There were numerous bills we were tracking that would have affected WVCEA schools either directly or indirectly; however, most had little support and didn’t survive crossover day. Current session ended midnight 3/11/23 as mandated by the state constitution.

WVCEA Issues

HB 2619 – (Burkhammer) The purpose of this bill is to amend the definition of eligible recipient for the Hope Scholarship Program. *Removed the 45-day public school requirement. Referred to House Education Committee 1/17/23 then House Finance Committee. Passed the House Education Committee by unanimous voice vote 2/15/23, referred to House Finance Committee. This was a bill we were getting ready to call out the troops on. However, Wilson had a conversation with Del. Burkhammer on 2/21/23. He told us to hold off a he wasn’t confident the bill would go anywhere without leadership support. Did not move before crossover day. I believe Del. Burkhammer will introduce this bill again next year.

HB 3113 – (Martin) Requiring each high school student to have a credit course of personal finance. Referred to House Education Committee 1/27/23. Passed the House (94-4), sent to the Senate 2/14/23. Senate passed (33-0) 2/25/23 with title amendment. House concurred 3/2/23.

HB 2820 – (Crouse) Allows Hope recipients to play sports in public schools. Referred to House Education Committee 1/19/23. Committee hearing 2/13/23. Heavy debate, bill was amended. The new Senate amendments allow private, homeschool, microschool, and learning pod students to play a sport for a local public school if their own school does not offer that sport. Also eliminates the 365-day transfer requirement and allows for a one-time transfer. Passed House 2/16/23. Referred to Senate School Choice Committee 2/17/23.  Referred to Senate Rules Committee 2/25/23. Senate amended 3/8/23. Passed Senate 3/8/23. Senate requested House to concur with amendments 3/8/23. House concurred 3/11/23.

Other Conservative Christian Issues

HB 2007 – (Foster) The purpose of this bill is to prohibit certain medical practices. This bill would prevent gender altering surgery for minors even with parental consent. Passed the House (84-10) 2/3/23. Referred to Senate Health and Human Resource Committee 2/6/23.  Voted out of Health and Human Resources to Senate Judiciary Committee 3/2/23. Voted out of Senate Judiciary Committee 2/8/23. Senate passed the bill with an amendment that allow limited use of puberty blocker medication. House concurred with a strike and insert language amendment. Senate concurred 3/11/23.

HB 3042 – (Pinson) Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The purpose of this bill is to forbid excessive government limitations on exercise of religion and creates the Equal Protection for Religion Act. Public Hearing held 2/24/23, in which I spoke spoke on behalf of the WVCEA for passage. Passed the House (86-12) 2/27/23. Passed the Senate 2/28/23. Governor signed 3/9/23.

SB 149 – (Roberts) Exempting certain Christian organizations from property taxes. I was under the assumption that Christian organizations were already property tax exempt. This bill amends previous law to be more specific and add provide clarity. Introduced and passed the Senate, ordered to the House 1/11/23. Referred to House Finance Committee 1/16/23. Voted out of House Finance Committee to the floor 3/6/23. I was in attendance at House Finance. Passed the House 3/9/23.

WVCEA Efforts on Capitol Hill

Representatives of the WVCEA attended the annual AACS National Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. on September 10-12, 2022. This conference is led by the AACS legislative staff and is attended by Christian education representatives from across the nation. We received briefings by AACS political staff, the Heritage Foundation, and several members of Congress. We also spent time lobbying the West Virginia congressional delegation regarding the Respect for Marriage Act, which is anything but a respect for traditional marriage, that was our main focus during the last Congress. While the loss on the Respect for marriage Act late last year was one of our few setbacks politically, we are establishing many important contacts in congressional offices on the Hill. I anticipate that our influence will only continue to grow on the federal level. I would urge all of our school administrators or their designees to consider attending future conferences. There is definitely power in numbers.

Final Analysis and Steps Going Forward for WVCEA

As I stated before, this session was light overall in terms of Christian education and religious liberty legislation. While the Republican have supermajorities of 88-12 in the House and 31-3 in the Senate, many Republicans are Republican in name only (Rinos) who put an “R” after their name so they could get elected; therefore, all republicans don’t always vote with us or hold the same values. Regardless, I am strongly encouraged by the number of believers in both chambers.

The session was valuable to the WVCEA in that we got our name out there and got to know several legislators on a personal basis that we didn’t know before and they got to know what we stand for, especially in the House as that seems to be where most of the legislation we were interested in this session originated from. I would be remiss not to thank Delegate and Assistant Majority Leader Dean Jefferies (R-Kanawha 61st), for going out of his way to introduce me to several of his colleagues and to vouch for me and the WVCEA.  Dean is an EVCS ( Elk Valley Christian School) parent and many legislators are Christian school supporters as well. These are votes we can count on in the future. We also were able to make important connections with some other like-minded groups who pledged assistance to us in the future on education legislation as we assisted them on religious liberty issues this session. Also, in the final days of the session, I was getting contacted by other conservative issue groups, West Virginians for Life for example, for help on abortion legislation. Our name is getting out there with the understanding that we can have potential influence.

We must remember that we are heavily outnumbered by the opposition in terms of lobbying efforts and communication capability with our elected officials. Sadly, conservative Christians are playing catchup in the political process compared to the opposition. Accordingly, it is very important that our member schools respond swiftly when future call to actions are requested. When you are asked to help, we will provide information and talking points to help formulate your communication with your elected representatives. I truly believe that our new networking capabilities with other organizations will assist greatly in this effort. In addition, I am conducting a workshop during the fall teacher’s convention on the basics of the legislative process and grassroots activism. I believe, based on the number of students, families, pastors, and supporting churches within our association, we can ultimately be a significant voice going forward.

I would also urge schools that are in somewhat close proximity to Charleston to participate in the Legislative Page Program. Students, usually middle and high school age, can serve as day pages for the House or Senate. They are sponsored by your local Delegate or Senator who like having them there due to photo-ops and the chance to talk to parents or teacher chaperones (i.e. voters). It is a great learning opportunity for our students and serves as a reminder to our voting representatives of the quality students our schools are producing. Our students at EVCS have been participating for a number of years and they love it. Most are eager to sign up the following year. If you are interested in your students participating in the page program, I will be happy to provide details.

As tiring as the legislative session was, I am beyond thankful to have this opportunity. I truly believe that the WVCEA has a tremendous opportunity to play a huge role in the policy decisions in West Virginia going forward. If you have any questions, send me an email or give me a call at (770) 827-6033.