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Del. Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia, gave a passionate speech about diversity, equity and inclusion during the final night of the legislative session on the House floor on Saturday, April 12, 2025 in Charleston, W.Va. (Perry Bennett |West Virginia Legislative Photography)
Through what Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, called “dirty tricks” in the last 30 minutes of the 2025 regular session, Republican lawmakers in the Senate passed a bill Saturday to ban nearly all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the state of West Virginia.
The bill passed the House at 10:41 p.m. after nearly three hours of debate.
When the bill advanced to the Senate, 13 amendments from Garcia appeared to be pending on the legislation.
Then, confusion reigned.
Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, made a motion to suspend legislative Joint Rule 3 — a rule that governs how amendments to amendments and disagreements are handled between the two legislative chambers. That motion was adopted and the Senate then concurred with and passed the House’s version of the bill 31-2 without any consideration of Garcia’s amendments.
After a short break — and as several attorneys and the chamber’s parliamentarian gathered at Senate President Randy Smith’s podium — Tarr withdrew his initial motion to suspend legislative Joint Rule 3 due to a technical error. The vote would need to be done again.
Another member then moved the previous question to consider the Joint Rule 3 motion again and concur with and pass the House’s version of Senate Bill 474. Again, the Senate voted 31-2 approving the bill.
As motion after confusing motion was considered, the microphones for both Garcia and Sen. Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell — the lone no votes on the bill — were muted while they attempted to call points of order on Tarr’s motions as well as Smith’s rulings.
In an interview after the chaos, Smith, R-Preston, said he also didn’t quite understand the legislative procedures that led to the passage of SB 474. His job, he said, is to preside over the body and the process, but other people tell him what is within the rules and not.
“This was a procedure I’ve never seen in my 13 years in the House or the Senate,” Smith said “… We have a parliamentarian who knows the rules very well, probably better than anybody in the Senate. Sen. Tarr knows the procedure very well … As far as I’m concerned, as the procedure and rules, everything was in order.”
If it wasn’t, Smith said, someone will need to challenge the law’s legitimacy in court. But for now, it heads to Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s desk for approval.
Garcia, in an interview after the Senate adjourned Sine Die for the session, said he believed there is a “legal deficiency” in the legislation.
“I have questions whether this bill actually did pass,” Garcia said. “… [Republicans in the Senate] will take short cuts, break rules, whatever it takes to get their agenda passed.”
Senate Bill 474 bans the offering of specific services or opportunities to people based on their race, color, ethnicity, country of origin and, in some instances, sex.
The bill only applies to DEI policies and initiatives in state and local governments and schools, including institutions of higher education.
Garcia’s attempt to hold up the bill came after his colleagues in the House — mostly Democrats — employed similar tactics. There, 27 amendments were filed by lawmakers. Just three of those were adopted.
Those voted down included moves to include the Crown Act — a policy banning discrimination based on hairstyles and textures — in the bill, as well as adding nondiscrimination measures based on political beliefs and exempting parts of the bill from applying to veterans, among other measures.
Democrats in the body gave fiery speeches against the overall bill, namely Del. Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia, who is one of just three Black lawmakers in the state Legislature.
Hamilton told her colleagues that DEI measures are not about giving people of color or other classes special treatment; they’re about ensuring everyone has equal ability to apply for and access the same opportunities.
She shared her experiences dealing with system racism in West Virginia and, specifically, at the Legislature. Her points were echoed by her colleagues, Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, and Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha, who are also Black.
Not recognizing the existence of racism or sexism, Hamilton said, will only hold West Virginia back.
“Diversity, equity and inclusion matters,” Hamilton said. “If we don’t embrace these principles, we don’t have a bone in the race of this Backyard Brawl. We’ll continue to lose every year … I just pray that we can not only abolish this legislation, we can abolish the mentality and ideology that goes along with it, and the energy.”
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