CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It’s expected to be cold and snowy for Monday’s Show Up and Stand Up Rally at the State Capitol, an event Senate Minority Leader Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall, 02) called for as a public show of opposition to many bills Republican leaders are moving during this year’s Regular Legislative Session.
“It’s not just about one bill,” Kessler said of the Day of Action he’d originally organized to fight a possible repeal of the prevailing wage. A compromise bill changing the way the prevailing wage for state-funded construction projects is calculated came out of the Senate last week.
With the bill now pending in the House of Delegates, Kessler said lawmakers need to see and hear directly from the people they represent en masse on prevailing wage and a list of other issues.
“There’s all kinds of bills out there — whether it’s charter schools, whether it’s right to work, whether it’s tort reform repeals, taking away the rights of people, watering down the water bill,” he said.
The state Democratic Party and the West Virginia AFL-CIO are among the groups calling on people to attend the Presidents’ Day event. It’s scheduled to start at 12 p.m. Monday on the steps of the State Capitol facing the Kanawha River.
Kessler said he’s interested in legislation that helps make West Virginia better. “I can tell you that the playbook that appears to be being followed is not coming out of the ‘West Virginia Needs’ playbook,” Kessler recently told WMOV Radio in Ravenswood, a MetroNews affiliate.
“That’s what really should be governing the legislation that we pass — what’s good for the men and women and businesses in the state of West Virginia.”
Veterans will also be at the State Capitol Monday. Delegate Josh Nelson (R-Boone, 23) had asked Kessler to reschedule the rally. He’d argued it would be a distraction on a day dedicated to those who have served West Virginia.
Kessler said a special point would be made to thank veterans for their sacrifices.