MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Geno Chiarelli, R, Monongalia, 78, believes this legislative session was more about quality than quantity. On WAJR’s “Talk of the Town,” he said progress was made on important issues, but things like PEIA didn’t get the attention expected after premium and deductible increases.
He sponsored House Bill 2422 that sought to align municipal elections with ones held at the state and federal levels. The Chiarelli version would have asked municipalities to make the changes by 2028 and begin holding elections on cycle with the state. Several thought the timeline was too tight, so a compromise was reached so the concept was preserved and the effective date was pushed out to give municipalities more time to adjust.
“The house ended up receding from our position, and we concurred with the amendment from the Senate, and that will go into effect in 2032,” Chiarelli said. “I’m just glad that we’re finally going to have progress on that.”
Chiarelli was a proponent of making changes to the state school vaccine program and allowing religious and philosophical conditions. Chiarelli wanted a tightly controlled waiver system, not one triggered by a note from a professional with no justification or background. Chiarelli noted the frustration of Laura Wakim Chapman, R, Ohio, 1, Chair of the Health and Human Resources Committee, who blamed the bill’s failure on lobbyists and big pharma.
“We want the legislation to be as airtight as possible; we would rather debate policy and not mechanics,” Chiarelli said. “We want as few questions as possible when we send legislation to the governor’s desk. I know she’s very disappointed in this, but I am certain we’ll be revisiting the topic in the near future.”
House Bill 2382 would have banned camping in municipal areas without the proper permit, and it failed. The camping ban came from the Morgantown area, where there have been unsuccessful efforts to pass the ban by city council. Morgantown voters will get the final say during their municipal election on April 29.
“It left the Judiciary Committee and went to the Senate floor, where members decided it was no longer a priority for them and removed the bill from the floor when it was on second reading, sending it to the Rules Committee, where it died.”
The measure sailed through the committee process in both chambers with amendments before being banished to the Senate Rules Committee after two readings on the floor as the session came to a close.
“I’ve heard overwhelming responses from the people in my district that they wanted this very badly,” Chiarelli said. “It’s disappointing it became a victim of petty politics and vindictiveness at the capitol.”
Many thought after a series of public meetings regarding PEIA and a round of increases for some on the plan, there would be an effort to address some of the cost issues plaguing the plan. Chiarelli will not support privatizing the plan and believes it will be the focus of a special session later this year.
“I totally disagree with that,” Chiarelli said. “I think if we are going to replace PEIA with something different, there has to be a plan in place to move forward. We can’t just pull the rug out from under these people; that’s not the way to go about it.”