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Now that a couple of weeks have passed, I thought it might be appropriate to look at what did and didn't happen (thank goodness) in this year's iteration of the West Virginia Legislature.
The Republican super-majority decided it was in the best interest of West Virginia residents to focus on jailing librarians and museum employees, further marginalizing transgender individuals all under the guise of the so-called "Women's Bill of Rights (more accurately titled "Women's Bill of Wrongs"), and to continue anti-diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts.
Of course, we had to have the "Restoring Sanity" bill (anti-woke bill) and two anti-stereotyping bills which would ban the honest discussion of some of our country's authentic (and often brutal) history. Fortunately, because there are still some reasonable folks in Charleston, these bills did not pass, but rest assured, we'll see them again (I promise) as long as we keep electing "far right" men and women who take their marching orders from The Heritage Foundation and Americans for Prosperity instead of from their constituents.
Some bad bills did pass, such as the one seeking to roll back school vaccine requirements (Make Measels Great Again), but we have yet to see if that bill will be vetoed by the governor. Let's hope so!
There are real threats and concerns for West Virginians and all Americans, such as the wealth gap, domestic terror, disinformation, the housing crisis, lack of affordable childcare, and ignorance. And then there are the imaginary threats such as libraries, the LGBTQ population, "woke" mobs, feminism and voter fraud which seemed to be the focus of this year's session. We can do so much better!
I had a poster on the wall of my classroom that said, "If we always do what we always did, we'll always get what we always got."
Together we have a chance to change the direction of West Virginia if we vote for people who listen to all their constituents and genuinely want to move West Virginia forward instead of wasting time on the above-mentioned imaginary threats.
It's up to all of us to make West Virginia a place where our young people want to stay, work, and build their lives, but if we always do what we always did, our state will continue to be near the bottom of every list except the number of young people leaving for more opportunity and acceptance.
Let's not vote for R's and D's, but for people who actually want to do the hard work of making our beloved West Virginia inviting and inclusive for all.
Cindy Stemple
Randolph County Democratic Executive Committee Chair