In a time when our fundamental rights are under increasing pressure from powerful financial institutions, the people of West Virginia are left asking a simple but serious question: Whom do our elected leaders serve?
Senate Bill 663 was a clear, common-sense effort to protect West Virginians from financial discrimination — the growing practice by multi-billion-dollar banks of “debanking” individuals and organizations for their constitutionally protected political views. The bill was designed to ensure that no one in our state could be denied access to financial services simply because of exercising their First or Second Amendment rights. And yet, seven Republican senators, along with House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, took the side of the very corporate powers threatening those freedoms.
Let’s be clear: this bill wasn’t about overregulation or punishing businesses. It was about drawing a firm line against financial institutions that wield unchecked power to silence dissent, shut down gun store owners, punish lawful firearms purchasers, and financially blacklist people for their beliefs. The bill applied only to the largest banks — those with more than $100 billion in assets. These are the same institutions that regularly pressure Americans to conform to politically correct ideologies and threaten livelihoods when they don’t.
But instead of standing for liberty, (7) seven Senate Republicans joined every Senate Democrat to block the bill in the upper chamber. These Republicans, who have accepted substantial backing from the financial sector — argued that the bill might scare big banks away from the state. In other words, the fear of offending their “banking donors” outweighed the responsibility to defend the constitutional rights of West Virginians.
Even worse, after the bill narrowly passed the Senate, it reached the House of Delegates, where it was promptly killed by silence. Speaker Hanshaw, despite leading a Republican supermajority, refused to prioritize the bill or bring it to the floor for a vote. Why? Because lobbyists for powerful financial institutions wanted it that way. Speaker Hanshaw bowed to them, hoping these same institutions might one day grace our state with a few low-wage jobs — the kind that often go to out-of-state hires anyway, due to rigid DEI policies that disadvantage local workers.
This isn’t just legislative cowardice. It’s betrayal. Betrayal of the very people these politicians were elected to represent. Betrayal of the Constitution they swore to uphold. And betrayal of the conservative principles they pretend to champion during campaign season.
Make no mistake: by siding with the banks, these politicians have endorsed a system where your access to a bank account, your ability to fund a political campaign, your right to express your views, and your lawful right to own a firearm could all be taken away. That’s not freedom. That’s tyranny by proxy — where financial power replaces government power, but the effect is the same: silencing dissent and forcing submission.
Republicans in West Virginia must decide who they really are. Are they the party of liberty and the Constitution — or the party of global finance and corporate appeasement? Are they servants of the people — or slaves to campaign contributions and promises of economic development from megabanks?
This is more than a bill. It’s a test of character. And so far, too many in the Republican establishment have failed.
West Virginians are watching. We know who stood up for freedom — and who stood with the megabanks. We remember those who put money before rights, power before principle. And when the time comes, we will hold them accountable. Because the Constitution is not for sale. Not in this state. Not ever.
