Steele picks fight with Ronald McDonald, Morrisey picks fight with NCAA as lawmakers flip-flop through week six
By Matthew Young, RealWV
Week-six under the Big Top proved to be both informative and eye-opening, as the Mountain State’s mostly-elected leaders tackled the major issues impacting our state.
On Tuesday, Del. Brandon Steele fired the first salvo in what will surely become known to history as the “Clown Wars,” when, while giving an impassioned floor speech in the House Chamber, he accused Ronald McDonald of committing serial homicide.
McDonald, the oft-maligned mascot of the McDonalds hamburger chain, was inadvertently drawn into House member’s debate of HB 2752, the Del. Cathie Hess Crouse-introduced bill which seeks to allow operators to stand while riding a motorcycle. An amendment was proposed which would remove the requirement that motorcycle riders 21-years-of-age and older wear helmets, prompting Steele to reference the murder rate of his fast food counterpart in his support of the amendment.
“Ronald McDonald has killed a whole lot more people than a motorcycle crash, and that’s no accident,” Steele said. “If we’re going to protect people from themselves, let’s just amend the bill to outlaw McDonalds.”
“I swear – when I sneak out of here everyday so I don’t have to deal with all of y’all, […] I see half of you walking to Taco Bell and McDonalds, and everything else, and you’re gonna come in here and tell everybody to wear a motorcycle helmet,” Steele continued.
“We lose more people to heart disease in West Virginia than anything else,” Steele added. “I don’t see anybody out in the gallery with signs that say ‘Stop the Big Mac.’ […] Maybe Medicaid should stop paying claims for people who run down to Golden Corral and hook themselves up to a pump of fat and nonsense everyday. […] We love freedom when it comes to food, but not the guy riding down the street without a motorcycle helmet on.”
Despite Steele’s fierce offensive volley, Ronald McDonald won the day, and the amendment was defeated. However, the unamended version of HB 2752 was adopted by the House on Wednesday, prompting House Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty to excitedly blurt out “Vroom, vroom, West Virginia!” on the House floor.
It is unclear if the Legislature will choose to investigate the claims made by Steele against Ronald McDonald. With the capacity of their Commission on Special Investigations being reduced after the Wednesday arrest of Senior Investigator Kenneth McCord for the alleged receipt of child pornography, Ronald McDonald may be the inadvertent beneficiary of an overwhelmed legislative bureaucracy.
However, one investigation that is moving forward this week is that of Gov. Patrick Morrisey and Attorney General J.B. McCuskey into what the governor called “a miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest level.”
Morrisey was of course referring to West Virginia University’s exclusion from the 2025 NCAA “March Madness” tournament, which he believes to be retribution for a 2023 lawsuit he filed on behalf of West Virginia.
“This thing reeks of corruption,” Morrisey charged in a Tuesday morning press conference. “I brought litigation against the NCAA a few years ago. […] West Virginia was out in front suing (the NCAA) in 2023. Is this retribution? We’re gonna have to get to the bottom of that.”
Morrisey then announced that he had directed McCuskey to launch an investigation “to determine if any backroom deals, corruption, bribes, or any nefarious activity occurred during the selection process.”
Morrisey’s reaction to WVU exclusion from the tournament brought West Virginia significant national attention. While WVU alumnus and talk show host Pat McAfee supported Morrisey’s efforts, many others did not. College basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy called the 68 teams selected “entirely predictable,” while ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith called Morrisey’s reaction “embarrassing.”
Perhaps the harshest criticism to Morrisey’s call for an investigation came from USA Today’s Dan Wolken, who, in his Tuesday column, referred to Morrisey and McCuskey as, “A gasbag governor and his obsequious sidekick grandstanding to their political base, sticking their nose into a place it doesn’t belong, and making a mockery of the real problems in a state that has plenty of them.”
The investigation ordered by Morrisey remains ongoing.
Despite the national backlash, it was not Morrisey’s spat with the NCAA that led to party in-fighting with fellow Republican Rupie Phillips. On Wednesday, the senator from Logan County took objection to Morrisey’s refusal to meet with what Phillips called “someone about trying to lower the (utility) rates as they consider microgrids,” referencing Morrisey’s plan to allow more microgrids to operate with the state.
“I tried to set up a meeting with someone about lowering the rates…the microgrids,” Phillips told colleagues Wednesday from the floor of the Senate Chamber. “Well, the gentleman from New Jersey chose not to meet with the group of people I wanted to meet with.”
In response to Phillips’ comments, Morrisey Communications Director Alex Lanfranconi posted on social media, “The gentleman from Logan (Phillips) was a Democrat the entire Obama Administration. If anyone is out of place in the conservative state of West Virginia, it sure as hell isn’t the governor.”
Morrisey’s plan, otherwise known as HB 2014, is currently in the possession of the House Committee on Energy and Public Works.
In the House, the sage of SB 460 – affectionately known as the “vaccine bill” – added two new chapters this week, as lawmakers both removed and returned certain allowable exceptions to West Virginia’s immunization requirements.
As written, SB 460 allows immunization exemptions for those with documented medical reasons, or who have religious or philosophical objections. On Tuesday, the House Health Committee amended the bill, removing exemptions for those with religious or philosophical objections, but leaving exemptions for medical reasons. On Friday, House members voted to reinsert religious and philosophical objections. SB 460 will be on third reading Monday, and the expectation is that it will pass.
SB 460 will codify a January executive order issued by Morrisey. It was passed in the Senate on Feb. 21, by a vote of 20-12. Assuming it passes the House on Monday, Morrisey will no doubt waste little time in signing it into law.
There are now 21 days remaining in the Regular Session. Although Tuesday was the last day for delegates to introduce bills to the House, Senators have until Monday to propose new legislation.
Oh and in case you’re wondering, the bill requiring legislators to pass a drug test before getting paid is still collecting dust in the bottom of the Judiciary Committee’s closet.
