Candidate for WV House of Delegates District 51
https://www.facebook.com/DelegateRodneyPyles
Morgantown/Kingwood Branch of the NAACP 2020 Questionnaire
A. How do you plan to improve access to health care and public health information for minority communities in West Virginia?
I was a cosponsor with Delegates Pushkin and Rowe of H.B. 4371 that would have established a minority health advisory team to advise the Bureau of Public Health regarding the healthcare issues facing minority citizens.
B. In what ways should police departments and bystanding police officers be held accountable for their officers’ violent acts and misconduct?
I support the establishment of police review boards and would support legislation requiring officers witnessing excessive force to intervene.
C. In what ways have you fought discrimination that targeted people of color either in the workplace or in the community?
I have supported legislation to strengthen the WV Human Rights Act. I was a cosponsor of H.B. 4508 to ban discrimination based on hair styles (The Crown Act).
D. What actions will you take against voter suppression?
I will support legislation to make it a crime to intimidate voters or interfere in any way with their right to vote. I support efforts to make it easier for people to vote and was a cosponsor of H.B 2395 that would have established a day for schools to transport students to register or vote, and H.B. 3077 to allow election day registration.
E. Do you support the following bills, which have been introduced in the WV legislature?
- Katherine Johnson Fair Pay Act: YES
- CROWN Act: YES
- Ban-the-Box Act: YES
- Fairness Act: YES
I support all four bills, and was a cosponsor of the Fair Play Act, the Crown Act, and the Fairness Act. In addition, I was the lead sponsor of the resolution calling on Congress to name the NASA facility at Fairmont in honor of Katherine Johnson. I was also a cosponsor of H.B. 2395 to require school nutrition programs to provide take-home meals for low income students and H.B. 3081 Good Samaritan Food Donation Act that would have provided a tax incentive to retailers who provide food to charitable organizations for low income families.