This bill seeks to amend the Municipal Home Rule Program in West Virginia by explicitly prohibiting municipalities that participate in this program from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances that recognize additional protected classes beyond those specified in state law. The proposed legal language states that any ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation that recognizes additional classes of persons entitled to protection, beyond those recognized by existing state statutes, would be considered void and unenforceable. This change aims to standardize the definition of protected classes across municipalities and prevent local governments from expanding these protections independently.

Additionally, the bill includes a deletion of language that previously allowed municipalities to impose duties on other governmental entities unless part of a legally executed agreement. The overall intent of the legislation is to maintain consistency in the application of nondiscrimination laws across the state and to limit the authority of municipalities in creating their own classifications of protected individuals.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 8-1-5a