FALLING WATERS, WV (WOAY) – Delegate Larry D. Kump, R-Berkeley, and Delegate Tom Bibby, R-Berkeley, today announced they will be pushing for legislation in response to the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic and its ramifications for West Virginia.
Delegate Kump noted that, since his previous suggestion that grocery stores and other retailers provide their employees face masks when dealing with the public, Walmart now is implementing these health and safety procedures, as well as taking other steps to ensure the well being of their employees. He encourages all other West Virginia retailers to go and do likewise.
Further, and in regard to the current West Virginia Governor’s broad executive orders about “stay at home” and mandatory closures, the Delegates expressed concern about the possibility that these executive orders may possibly violate the Bill of Rights, the heart of our Constitution, in regard to our right of “assembly” and “association.”
While the West Virginia Legislature currently is not in session, Delegates Kump and Bibby pledge to explore proposing changes to current West Virginia law to limit the Governor’s executive order authority. They suggest the consideration of more reasonable time limits on the scope and duration of executive orders, unless otherwise approved by a majority vote of the Legislature.
