Model legislation written by lobbyists, introduced by state lawmakers
If delegates are going to have the audacity to copy and paste a bill, then introduce it in the West Virginia House, they should at least know what’s in the legislation they’re promoting.
HB 2174 — the West Virginia Monument and Memorial Protection Act — was approved in the House Government Organization Committee Monday. As we reported, HB 2174 says if monuments, memorials, nameplates, plaques, schools, streets, bridges, buildings, parks, preserves and reserves are built or named in honor of military figures, events or organizations from all wars since the French and Indian War to now, and it’s located on public property, it can’t be relocated, removed, altered, renamed, rededicated or otherwise disturbed (DP-3-15-21). When members asked clarifying questions about specific parts of the bill — including odd dates and why it references the War Between the States rather than the Civil War — its sponsors on the committee said they didn’t write it, so they don’t know.
Allow us to repeat: Lawmakers introduced and sponsor this bill, but they don’t really know what’s in it or why.
This tells us that HB 2174 is likely a piece of model legislation.
Model legislation, sometimes called a copy-and-paste or fill-in-the-blank bill, is written by a special interest group and then sent to lawmakers in multiple states, according to USA Today. The bill may leave blanks so state-specific information can be added, or the language may be left intentionally vague so it could apply to many states with few changes.
Lawmakers don’t write these bills — lobbyists do. Which makes model legislation one of the most insidious ways that special interest groups infiltrate our government. Because unlike campaign donations, model bills don’t have to be reported, so there’s no accountability.
A joint investigation between USA Today and the Arizona Republic used an algorithm that searched for identical language from known model bills in proposed legislation throughout the country. It identified more than 10,000 copy-and-paste bills introduced between 2010 and 2018, of which more than 2,000 were signed into law.
Based on a state-by-state breakdown, West Virginia’s model legislation-based bills mostly come from conservative and industry special interest groups. We would guess HB 2174 likely comes from a conservative lobby, given its ultimate goal of protecting Confederate monuments.
Regardless of where we might fall on the question of removing Confederate statues, we should all oppose the use of model legislation. We elect (and pay) our senators and delegates to write laws that benefit our state and its people. We elect (and pay) them to pass legislation that has our best interests at heart. We elect (and pay) them to represent us.
We don’t send them to Charleston to have a lobbyist or special interest group hand them a pre-made bill. If our politicians want to work for West Virginians, then they’d better work for us. No more lazy legislating. Keep model bills out of our statehouse.
