Two Va.’s legislators share thoughts before start of 2012 sessions

BLUEFIELD — In less than a week, state legislators of the two Virginias will be returning to Charleston and Richmond, Va., respectively for the start of the 2012 session of the state legislature and General Assembly respectively. On Friday morning, the legislators from both Virginias shared their thoughts with local civic leaders during the annual Legislative Point of View Breakfast.

“We’ll be going back up to Charleston on Sunday for interim meetings that will go on through Monday and Tuesday,” Del. Clif Moore, D-McDowell, said. “Our session starts on Wednesday, but we’ll already be up there.”

A crowd of about 150 people attended the breakfast at the Quality Inn & Conference Center. The event was jointly hosted by the Greater Bluefield, Princeton-Mercer County and Tazewell chambers of commerce and sponsored by Acme Wood Preserving, AEP, BB&T, Bluefield Gas Co., Carilion Tazewell Community Hospital, First Century Bank, First Community Bank, Frontier Communications, Joy Mining Machinery, MCNB Banks and New Peoples Bank.

“We have been doing it for several years,” Robert Farley, president and chief executive officer of the Princeton chamber said. “We give the public an opportunity to visit with their delegates and senators and ask them questions. I wish more people from the public would attend, but we were satisfied with the turn-out.”

In addition to Moore, three West Virginia state senators attended including H. Truman Chafin, D-Mingo; John Pat Fanning, D-McDowell, and Mark Wills, D-Mercer, as well as State Delegates Marty Gearheart and Dr. Joe Ellington, both R-Mercer. Virginia legislators who participated included Senator Phillip P. Puckett, D-Russell and Delegate James W. “Will” Morefield, R-Tazewell. Breakfast moderator Darryl Hudson explained that Delegate John Frazier, D-Mercer, was returning from Florida, and was unable to attend the event.

In his opening statement, Chafin said that West Virginia has a record to be proud of with a $300 million surplus as of June 2011. Chafin said he is in favor of creating a severance trust fund in association with the state’s Marcellus shale legislation similar to laws in Alaska and Mississippi. He also said he would work to create better reporting laws in cases of horrific child abuse cases.

“I encourage all of you to keep in touch with us,” Chafin said. He said with all of the modern means of communications available including texting, tweeting and other forms of communication, people can make contact with legislators.

“The biggest problem we have is OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits),” Fanning said. OPEB is the part of the budget that funds retired public employees’ health care benefits. Fanning said that issues facing state government including post employment benefits will require funds to address. “The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is coming down hard on the coal industry,” he added. However, he said that the Marcellus Shale business is lucrative and added that gambling brings money into the state.

“We don’t ask you to gamble, but if you do, we want you to pay us,” Fanning said.

Wills explained that Senator Ronald F. Miller, D-Greenbrier, was in Washington, D.C., and was unable to attend. Wills said that Senator Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha “was leading the fight last year” on the OPEB issue, and he looked for him to continue that process during the 2012 session. Wills said that lawmakers will be working to resolve the succession problem to avoid the kind of situation that arose following the death of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd. He said a group of legislators is working to establish a veterans’ clinic in Mercer County.

“I, myself, have some work to do,” Moore said. “I need to restore myself in this community.” Moore spoke about six areas of commitment, including restoration, transformation, leadership, wisdom, hope and rededication. “We know what the issues are,” he said. “We know how to address them.”

Gearheart said that he too drove back from Miami and arrived at 2 a.m., after “watching West Virginia hang 70 points on Clemson,” he said. Gearheart said that as long as there is a funding gap in OPEB, “we’re not doing a real good job of balancing the budget.” He said that the state legislature does its work in “an extremely partisan process.” He vowed to continue efforts to eliminate tolls from the West Virginia Turnpike among other issues.

Ellington also said that an un-funded liability is a debt and not a surplus. He also expressed support for the removal of turnpike tolls and said that the legislature should “attack the drug problem.” He said the state needs to put funds into rehabilitation and education to eradicate the drug problem. As a physician, Ellington said that he frequently sees infants born to mothers on drugs, and that motivates him to work to eradicate the drug problem.

“This is my 14th opportunity to be here,” Puckett said, making reference to his years in the Virginia state senate. He said he was glad to hear there was a lot of interest in the drug issue. He said he carried legislation during last session concerning the development of a drug court. “Tazewell County has a very successful drug court program developed by (Commonwealth Attorney) Dennis Lee.”

Puckett said that Southwest Virginia will face a challenge after losing a pair of veteran legislators — Senator William C. Wampler Jr., R-Bristol, and Delegate Clarence E. “Bud” Phillips, D-Wise, who held positions on the Senate Finance Committee and House Appropriations Committee respectively.

Morefield, 27, said his first term in the General Assembly has already brought him some gray hairs. “Two years ago, we predicted that they would be closing coal-fired power plants,” he said. Morefield said that higher utility costs impact quality of life issues for the people he serves. “Kids are losing touch,” he said. “I am a strong supporter of higher education,” he said, but added that with young people getting multiple degrees, “we’re creating a society we can’t sustain.”

Morefield said he is a strong advocate of vocational education. “There are jobs available,” he said. “We need a drug-free workforce in this region.” He said during his first year in office when he reduced government, a reporter wrote that the bill brought back “echoes of 1861 in the pre-Civil War times.” He said he embraces smaller government. “Too much government and too much regulation will destroy this nation,” he said.

“We were very pleased with the breakfast,” Marc Meachum, president and chief executive officer of the Bluefield Chamber said. “There aren’t a lot of places that do something like this. We think it’s a benefit to the people. Ours is unique because we serve two states. That makes it that much more interesting,” Meachum said.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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