On February 21st, the Swamp Dwellers of the Senate Energy, Industry, and Mining Committee voted to allow large out of state gas corporations to take property away from West Virginians. They decided to hide their sneaky deed behind a voice vote, so there is no exact record of who voted to violate our rights.

That’s right– there’s no way to show the public which of the YES voters took backdoor bribes in the form of campaign donations from the corporate PACs, lawyers, and lobbyists pushing who have been pushing Forced Pooling, Forced Drilling, and Forced Leasing legislation for years.

Given that over half of the committee have fought to bring Forced Pooling to West Virginia in the past, we can make some educated guesses. Read more about the Swamp Dwellers in the Senate Energy, Industry, and Mining Committee here.

HB 4268 has moved to the Senate Judiciary Committee. If they vote to pass Forced Leasing, it will head to the full Senate for a passage vote.

We need you to contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee TODAY. They need to be reminded that a vote for HB 4268 is a vote to let invasive drilling corporations take real property away from West Virginians.

Tell them we don’t appreciate Swamp Dwellers who take backdoor bribes in the form of campaign cash from industry PACs and lawyers and then vote away our rights.

WARNING!
There are at least nine treacherous Swamp Dwellers on this committee, including the Chair and Vice Chair: Trump, Weld, Clements, Cline, Ferns, Karnes, Maynard, Swope, and Woelfel. These traitors had the chance to protect property rights during the Senate’s 2017 vote on SB 576 (Forced Pooling). Instead of defending West Virginians’ rights, they all voted to let out of state drillers steal our property.

We would like to thank the legislators who REFUSED to legalize theft during the SB 576 vote, and ask them to keep defending our property rights by voting no on HB 4268: Mike Azinger, Bob Beach, Glenn Jeffries, Richard Ojeda, Mike Romano, and Randy Smith.

Senate Judiciary Commitee Members
Charles S. Trump IV (Chair): (304) 357-7980; (304) 258-5133; (304) 258-1414
Ryan Weld (Vice Chair):  (304) 357-7984; (304) 670-6605
Mike Azinger: (304) 357-7970; (304) 916-2177
Stephen Baldwin: (304) 357-7959; (no home phone given); (304) 647-4400
Robert D. Beach: (304) 357-7919; (304) 932-7170
Charles Clements: (304) 357-7827; (304) 455-5339
Sue Cline: (304) 357-7807; (304) 222-7484
Ryan Ferns: (304) 357-7918; (no home number given); (304) 280-7133
Glenn Jeffries: (304) 357-7866; (304) 586-1156; (304) 989-2223
Robert L. Karnes: (304) 357-7906; (304) 472-7035; (304) 997-2625
Mark Maynard: (304) 357-7808; (304) 310-1239; (304) 272-3030
Richard Ojeda: (304) 357-7857; (304) 792-9833
Mike Romano: (304) 357-7904; (304) 624-1100; (304) 624-1100
Patricia Rucker: (304) 357-7957; (304) 279-1619
Randy Smith: (304) 357-7995; (301) 616-0575
Chandler Swope: (304) 357-7843; (304) 920-2460
Mike Woelfel: (304) 357-7956; (no home number given); (304) 522-6249

For your convenience, here are the committee email addresses for copying and pasting:
charles.trump@wvsenate.gov
ryan.weld@wvsenate.gov
mike.azinger@wvsenate.gov
stephen.baldwin@wvsenate.gov
bob.beach@wvsenate.gov
charles.clements@wvsenate.gov
sue.cline@wvsenate.gov
ryan.ferns@wvsenate.gov
glenn.jeffries@wvsenate.gov
robert.karnes@wvsenate.gov
Mark.Maynard@wvsenate.gov
richard.ojeda@wvsenate.gov
mike.romano@wvsenate.gov
patricia.rucker@wvsenate.gov
randy.smith@wvsenate.gov
chandler.swope@wvsenate.gov
mike.woelfel@wvsenate.gov