Public Comments

HB 4433 will restrict the ability of faith congregations to assist marginalized people.  Giving transportation and assistance to marginalized people is our responsibility as faith practitioners, regardless of someone's legal status.  Please do not criminalize charitable works.

I oppose HB 4433 because it goes against values many West Virginians share. It goes against our dignity, fairness, and compassion.

I don't agree with this bill. This goes against my Christian beliefs that I am my brother's keeper. Human smuggling is not the same as helping a refugee or immigrant get to medical help or feeding them. I understand the difference between letter of the law & spirit of the law. An analogy would be if its illegal to park on the shoulder of a highway. But what if I parked on the shoulder to help a stranded motorist with a flat tire or broken down vehicle. I think the legislation here is going too far with this bill. We need to consider human rights. Intentionally not treating another human with compassion is not only against my Christian values, it strikes me as resoundingly unethical.

Dear sirs/mesdames, Tonight, I re-read the Bill of Rights over and over. You all should, too.  Here is the 14th Amendment, which each of you should all know by heart before you ever ran for politics: "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Notice that it says PERSON in that last sentence. Follow the Constitution and Bill of Rights and quit being inhuman racists.  You may not deny ANY PERSON  regardless of citizenship, religion, race, legal standing, age, gender, sexual preference, political party, education level or any other discriminatory category you care to invent, equal protection under the laws. Stop dividing this state and nation by this persecution of human beings and reject the proposed House law to deny protection and justice to ANY victim of any crime, including sex crimes. Anastasia Hilvers, Registered Republican, although that should not matter.

This bill if passed and enacted would be a clear violation of people’s first amendment rights to practice their religion by meeting people’s basic needs (for food, housing, or transportation), no matter their immigration or citizenship status.

HB 4433 would create significant exposure to criminal liability for not only individual citizens, but also businesses and religious organizations.

This bill would blur what is otherwise a very clear line between criminal smuggling and providing humanitarian assistance  

This bill if passed and enacted would be a clear violation of people’s first amendment rights to practice their religion by meeting people’s basic needs (for food, housing, or transportation), no matter their immigration or citizenship status.

HB 4433 would create significant exposure to criminal liability for not only individual citizens, but also businesses and religious organizations.

This bill would blur what is otherwise a very clear line between criminal smuggling and providing humanitarian assistance.

If passed, HB 4433 would face constitutional challenges in court.

This bill is unnecessary and out of touch with the real issues West Virginians are facing. HB 4433 doesn’t address affordability, healthcare, or community safety and it creates more problems instead.

Lawmakers should focus on real solutions, not policies that divide communities and waste time and resources.  Please oppose HB 4433

I oppose HB 4433 because it goes against values manv West Virginians share. It goes against our dignity, fairness, and compassion.

Our laws should protect families respect human rights, and build communitv trust. This bill does none of those things.

I urge lawmakers to reject HB 4433 and pursue policies that reflect our shared values.

I oppose HB 4433 because it goes against values many West Virginians share. It goes against our dignity, fairness, and compassion.

Our laws should protect families, respect human rights, and build community trust. This bill does none of those things.

I urge lawmakers to reject HB 4433 and pursue policies that reflect our shared values.

I oppose HB 4433 because it raises real- life concerns about due process and constitutional rights of all who live in West Virginia.

It shows concerns about cost and liability for our state and local governments. Expanding enforcement roles usually means higher expenses, more lawsuits, and more risk for taxpayers.

HB 4433 also weakens trust between communities and local government. West Virginia is stronger when families and friends feel safe showing up for their communities, no matter their immigration status. This bill sows fear within West Virginia communities instead of creating safety.

Public policy should bring people together, not push them apart. Your job should be to suggest and pass laws that bring West Virginians together, not separate them further  

There is no need for this bill to be heard in this state’s house. It is a disgusting abuse of power and it should be opposed by all lawmakers in the West Virginia house, on both sides of the aisle.

For these reasons, I urge lawmakers to reject HB 4433.

I am writing to oppose HB 4433. This bill does not make West Virginia safer. Instead, it weakens trust between communities and local government by turning everyday acts of care into something suspicious or punishable. When people fear that asking for help could lead to arrest, separation from their loved ones, or public humiliation, they stop reporting crimes, stop cooperating with investigations, and avoid public services, and ultimately, that harms everyone.

As a pastor, I have been with families in moments of crisis - when they need medical care, when they are escaping violence, when they are simply trying to get a child to school or get to work. HB 4433 would force communities to choose between compassion and criminal liability, and it would pressure neighbors to treat one another as threats instead of fellow human beings.

I believe West Virginia is stronger when families feel safe showing up for their communities, no matter their immigration status. We are stronger when people can seek help from neighbors without hesitation, seek care without fear, and participate in public life without having to look over their shoulder. This bill does the opposite. It creates fear, isolation, and instability, all of which are conditions that make communities less safe.

Public policy should bring people together rather than push them apart. HB 4433 moves us toward suspicion and separation, rather than toward shared safety and belonging. I urge lawmakers to oppose HB 4433.

As a West Virginian, I care about the safety and stability of my community. HB 4433 would create fear and uncertainty for families who live, work, and contribute here every day.

Punitive, surveillance-based policies don’t solve complex issues. They erode trust and make communities weaker, not stronger.

This bill expands government power in ways that would hurt everyday West Virginians, especially immigrant families and mixed-status households who already live, work, and contribute here.

Policies that lead to over-policing without clear safeguards break trust between people and local institutions. When trust disappears, communities become less safe, not more.

Lawmakers should reject HB 4433 and focus on policies that protect civil liberties, due process, and the well-being of our communities.

reduce the cost of supplies by purchasing in bulk or in a discounted format for volunteer fire fighters and emergency medical services first responders.

Something to think about.

Everyone was pro-vaccine until something horrible happened. Its impossible to get a doctor to say, yes, you're child's (issue) seizure, whatever happened, is because of the recent vaccine given.  Manufacturers aren't held accountable, (National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986).  If manufacturers would be held accountable by being sued, maybe we would get change.

“In any fiscal year in which the Legislature appropriates money for the program,”, is this meaning that say if the bill was passed in its current form, that the program could have money not allocated by the legislature in a fiscal year?

Important transparency issue

This part is significant:

• Advisory Group meetings do NOT have to be open to the public

• Their documents are NOT subject to public records (FOIA) requests

In short:

The public cannot attend these meetings or request their internal records.

This is unusual and may raise transparency concerns. I seriously have a problem with this. There is no way that it is reasonable that there is no transparency for this. In fact a report should be published at the end of the year with what the money was used for, and what was discovered by the research group.

Delegate Crouse

It’s difficult to reconcile requiring cameras in schools while opposing cameras in legislative committees. Transparency should start with lawmakers.

1. I would like to support the codification of religious and medical freedom to choose vaccination exemption for ALL children in our public education system. I, personally, know children who have been vaccine injured. Some effects of vaccines are much more obscure but there is much evidence that they could be linked to many lasting and pernicious conditions such as autoimmune disorders and cancers.
2. One reason for my belief is simply reading the list of ingredients in each of the vaccines. They are filled with ingredients that are classified as toxic and carcinogenic to humans.  In addition, human aborted fetal cells and even monkey cells have been used to create these vaccines. Specifically, the MMR vaccine was developed using aborted fetal cell line.
3. It is simply illogical to force people who have real and reasonable concerns to have a foreign substance injected into their body to protect those who have already been immunized and therefore are SAFE from exposure and harm from the unvaccinated.
4. Finally, I find that there is a major double standard in practice throughout our state that should cause MUCH liability to our State and county Boards of education who have ignored the exemption that was put in place by our Governor.  For schools to discriminate against our students and deny them a public education because they are unvaccinated but allow our sports teams to play out of state or private school whose students may be unvaccinated shows a blatant hypocrisy that is akin to bullying.