WV Legislature

Our Position Statement on 2022 Constitutional Amendments

What do you think our official position on these constitutional Amendments? Let us know

The Constitution Party of West Virginia supports Amendment 1
….West Virginia Amendment 1,
….Clarification of the Judiciary’s Role in Impeachment Proceedings Amendment
Clarifying that courts have no authority or jurisdiction to intercede or intervene in or interfere with impeachment proceedings of the House of Delegates or the Senate; and specifying that a judgment rendered by the Senate following an impeachment trial is not reviewable by any court of this state.

The constitution gives the sole power of impeachment to the House of Delegates and the sole power to try impeachments to the Senate. The amendment would simply clarify that “no court of this state” has any role at all, either in impeachment proceedings or in review of the outcome.

The court acted improperly in 2018 when the Supreme Court of Appeals prevented the Senate from conducting an impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justices when temporary (substitute) justices ruled that the impeachment proceedings violated the state constitution’s separation of powers clause. This is a ludicrous claim since the constitution allows that, “Any officer of the state may be impeached for maladministration, corruption, incompetency, gross immorality, neglect of duty, or any high crime or misdemeanor.” And, only the legislature may impeach.

This clarification is necessary to prevent any future errors of this kind.

The Constitution Party of West Virginia opposes Amendment 2
….West Virginia Amendment 2
….Property Tax Modernization Amendment To amend the State Constitution by providing the Legislature with authority to exempt tangible machinery and equipment personal property directly used in business activity and tangible inventory, personal property directly used in business activity, and personal property tax on motor vehicles from ad valorem property taxation by general law.

….First: Don’t be fooled. Although formally named the “Authorize Tax Exemptions for Vehicles and Personal Property Used for Business Amendment,” it does not authorize a single exemption; it only authorizes the Legislature to consider the matter sometime in the future.

….Second: Even though West Virginia has had Billion Dollar surpluses in recent years, there is actually no plan or incentive to reduce the tax burden on regular citizens.

As Governor Justice has said, the only reason the vehicle tax is included in Amendment 2 is to “get your vote.” What the Legislature wants is the constitutional ability to eliminate taxes on property, equipment and inventory used in business and manufacturing. They view this tax as a hindrance to business which discourages new business from locating in the state and they currently use an exemption of this tax as an incentive for new businesses to start up or move here.

….Third: Property tax is a county tax, administered by the counties. IF the Legislature were inclined to reduce our tax burden, it could easily – and without changing the constitution – have reduced the state income tax. The House has voted three times to reduce the state income tax but the Senate opposed it every time. Why are senators so unwilling to work within their own sphere of authority, attempting instead to commandeer the authority of counties and supplant the officials that are closer to the people?

The Constitution Party of West Virginia (strongly) opposes Amendment 3
….West Virginia Amendment 3
….Incorporation of Churches or Religious Denominations Amendment To Authorize the incorporation of ….churches or religious denominations.

The current/original wording of West Virginia Constitution, Article 6, Section 47:
“No charter of incorporation shall be granted to any church or religious denomination. Provisions may be made by general laws for securing the title to church property, and for the sale and transfer thereof, so that it shall be held, used, or transferred for the purposes of such church, or religious denomination.”

….Question 1: Why does the Legislature want this amendment passed? Perhaps it is to bring the constitution in line with W Va Code. Yes, that’s the opposite of proper law-making. But. . . . When HB 2899 (The West Virginia Nonprofit Corporation Act) was passed in 2002, it contained this line: “(b) No charters or certificates of incorporation may be granted or issued to any church or religious denomination.” Yet, somehow, that line is omitted from Code (Chapter 31E), and “religious” is inserted as a lawful purpose. Ask our law-makers how this happened! Every single church incorporation in this state is illegal because it is unconstitutional.

….Question 2: What about separation of church and state?
The founders of our constitutional republic and of our state clearly believed that churches must be free of government control. Corporations, however, are creations of government and must operate under its prescribed laws.
The West Virginia Nonprofit Corporation Act (2002, HB 2899) is a gargantuan law that, I’m fairly certain, covers every aspect of running a church that was left out of the Bible.

It is a fundamental truth that if our laws are in accordance with God’s laws then that can bringblessings and the other can bring cursings.

….Question 3: Is incorporation necessary to become a 501 C(3) with the IRS?
Why would a church even want 501 C(3) status? An incorporated church might become “tax exempt” (subject to the whims of the government and the bureaucrats running it) but an unincorporated church is “non-taxable” under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which maintains that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ….”

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The Constitution Party of West Virginia supports Amendment 4
….West Virginia Amendment 4
….Education Accountability Amendment. The purpose of this amendment is to
clarify that the rules and policies promulgated by the State Board of Education, are subject to legislative review, approval, amendment, or rejection.

The Legislature has “rule-making review” of every department except education which calls itself; a “fourth branch of government.”

We would rather have education decisions made by someone more accountable to parents and voters yet we’re not sure that “politicians” will do a better job than the education establishment. Ideally, we would like a “third option” that would restore the voters’ ability to elect the Superintendent of Free Schools. That might happen next year, but this year we must settle for constraining the Board of Education through Legislative oversight. One thing for certain is that the current education system is not providing the rigorous academics and the incentives for achievement that parents are asking for.

Would you like to download a copy of this? Here you go!

Position-Statement-on-Amendments Download

Republicans gain power yet demonstrate known failures

The dramatic election victories of Republican candidates in 2014, which gave them control of the West Virginia Legislature and the first opportunity in a lifetime to show their stuff, resulted in a predictable disappointment with half-measures and compromises as the order of the day. This was no surprise for members of the Constitution Party. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Carmichael set the tone by declaring, “We are running an economic agenda.”

The Constitutional Carry bill, S.B. 347, would have allowed gun owners to carry a concealed firearm without having to ask their local sheriff for a permit and paying a “coat tax” fee. While the bill easily passed the Legislature, two GOP House leaders opposed the bill. At the public hearing, held during a snowy day during a declared state of emergency, a cadre of lawless lawmen traveled from around the State to oppose the 2nd Amendment rights of West Virginians. In uniform and armed, they were in violation of Chapter 61, Article 7, Section 11a (g) of the W.Va. Code carrying weapons on Statehouse property – a misdemeanor. No arrests were made however but the Capitol Police were keeping a close eye on supporters of the bill as we entered the House chamber for the hearing. After the hearing, Republican Judiciary Chair John Shott lectured those in the audience that even though supporters had asked for no amendments, amendments were inevitable. Later, House Majority Whip Daryl Cowles, another Republican opponent, offered a killer amendment which failed. Under Mr. Carmichael’s “economic agenda,” this bill was passed late enough into the session to allow the Governor to veto it without fear of any legislative time left for an override.

Also under this same agenda, there was no room for the repeal of Common Core standards which were shoved down the throats of West Virginians by the unelected State Board of Education. The House passed the bill 75-19, but it was gutted in the Senate on an unrecorded 18-16 floor vote and replaced with a bill that calls for a study. State Board of Education Superintendent Michael Martirano threatened the Legislature with a preposterous $128 million cost to repeal the standards, but when the Board passed Common Core several years ago, costs were not an impediment. According to an article in www.truthinamericaneducation.com, six Senate Republicans contributed to the defeat.
And the “economic agenda” struck us again when the practice of forced vaccination of school students was allowed to continue. Health-Nazis succeeded in gutting the Medical and Religious Exemption bill for vaccinations (S.B. 286) in the Senate Health and Human Resources committee. The religious exemption was removed and a provision that is supposed to prevent delays in the approval of medical exemptions retained. GOP Senators Mike Hall, Mike Maynard, and Chris Walters chickened out and dropped their sponsorship of the bill shortly after introduction while the Health-Nazis were having a fit over vaccination exemptions during an out-of-state measles outbreak. Had enough, yet?
On a positive note, the session marked the rise of the Liberty Caucus, a group of delegates who are committed to limited government and Constitutional fidelity Their influence was felt in the defeat of the Forced Pooling bill which was supported by almost all of the rest of the Republicans and so we commend these statesmen for their courage to put principle over politics—the motto of our Party.

BEWARE THE CON-CON!

Keep your eyes and ears open, folks, and your brains in gear! We are hearing more and more about an Article V constitutional convention (Con-Con) with several groups advocating for it, for several different reasons – from balancing the budget, to term limits, to campaign finance reform and limiting “constitutional rights” of corporations. Many of the groups work together, including sharing board members and belonging to a coalition named Call A Convention.
Call A Convention, whose goal is “a truly open and constructive” (i.e. unlimited) Article V convention, was formed in 2013 by Lawrence Lessig, a leftist, a blasphemer and friend and associate of both George Soros and Barack Obama. Lessig is also on the boards of Compact For America (CFA), ConventionUSA, and Rootstrikers and works closely with leftist Wolf-Pac as well as Mark Meckler’s Convention of States (COS). In West Virginia, it is mostly COS that has been wooing our legislators but recently CFA has been actively seeking supporters.
The COS website has a petition that calls for “an Article V convention to propose only amendments that would impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit its power and jurisdiction, and impose term limits on its officials and members of Congress.” Such a convention could easily become the “runaway” convention that sensible people fear would either radically alter our Constitution or even replace it with one of the socialist constitutions already written and waiting in the wings.
Compact for America calls for the creation of a compact of 38 states to petition Congress to call an Article V convention for proposing a balanced budget amendment (BBA) only. The application contains all the rules for governing the convention AND a pre-written BBA that would be “pre-ratified” within the initial applications. This appears to be the completely safe answer to all the fears previously expressed by critics.
But, please don’t believe in fairy tales. Not only is this Con-Con vulnerable to becoming a “runaway,” constitutional scholar Publius Huldah warns that it is “actually a tricky device for imposing a national sales tax or value added tax on the American People – on top of the income tax – and does nothing to limit federal spending.” Publius Huldah has also explained that – unlike the states, which require budgets – the federal government is limited by the Constitution to spending only for the few enumerated powers and obligations that it authorizes. A BBA would substitute a “budget” for the enumerated powers and authorize the national government to spend money on whatever it puts in the budget. “To add insult to injury,” Huldah alleges, “while all versions of a BBA pretend to limit spending, they actually permit increases in spending
and increases in debt whenever a majority votes to do so.”
Learn more about this http://ArticleVCon.weebly.com

Redistricting Ideas & Maps Online

Constitution Party of West Virginia Chairman Jeff Becker has placed a number of redistricting ideas with detailed color maps on his website at http://jeffbecker.us. Columnist Phil Kabler commented on them in his West Virginia Gazette article last week: http://wvgazette.com/News/201106101179
There is a 30-member House of Delegates redistricting team that is holding meetings around the state on these, as well as John Unger’s State Senate task force. More information on these and other legislative activities can be found at http://www.legis.state.wv.us/redistricting.cfm
Read More

CPWV Lobbies for Party Qualification Bill

On Monday, February 14, 2011, three CPWV officers gave some Valentine’s Day love to our state legislators by spending the day at the Capitol Complex in Charleston and lobbying for Senate Bill 417. S.B. 417 (LINK: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb417%20intr.htm&yr=2011&sesstype=RS&i=417) was introduced earlier in the month by Senator Clark Barnes and would expand political party qualification nine-fold to any statewide office candidate who garnered at least 1% of the vote. Currently an organization of voters only has one (1) chance every four years with one (1) candidate for governor. Additionally, this bill provides a tenth way to qualify the party via voter registration numbers.

Party Calls for Special Election for Governor

By a majority vote of their duly elected officers, the Constitution Party of West Virginia adopted a resolution on Gubernatorial Succession today calling for a special election to replace acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin. The resolution, shown below, is based on detailed analysis of the West Virginia State Constitution and also addresses the issue of Mr. Tomblin’s attempt to maintain dual legislative offices.
RESOLUTION ON GUBERNATORIAL SUCCESSION
WHEREAS, Article V § 1: Division of Powers, of the West Virginia Constitution states; The legislative, executive and judicial departments shall be separate and distinct, so that neither shall exercise the powers properly belonging to either of the others; nor shall any person exercise the powers of more than one of them at the same time, except that justices of the peace shall be eligible to the Legislature, and
WHEREAS, Article VII, § 4: Eligibility, of the West Virginia Constitution states in part; none of the executive officers mentioned in this Article shall hold any other office during the term of his service…, and
WHEREAS, Article VII § 16: Vacancy in Governorship How Filled, of the West Virginia Constitution states in part; Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of governor Before the first three years of the term shall have expired, a new election for governor shall take place to fill the vacancy, and
WHEREAS, Article VII § 2: Election; of the West Virginia Constitution states; an election for governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and attorney general, shall be held at such times and places as may be prescribed by law, and
WHEREAS, there seems to be controversy in the procedure of filling the vacancy of governor and the permitted duties of the person filling the vacancy, now therefore be it
RESOLVED, by the Constitution Party of West Virginia that an election should be held to fill the remainder of the term of governor because three years of the current term (of Gov. Manchin) have not passed (Article VII § 16). Such election shall be established by law pursuant to Article VII, § 2 by the Legislature, and be it further
RESOLVED that the acting governor cannot perform any legislative duties, while acting as governor (Article V § 1 and Article V § 4 of the Constitution of West Virginia).