Join fight for people's priorities
Published Dominion Post, Feb. 23, 2025. Reprinted with permission.
The legitimate object of government is to do for the people “whatever they need to have done, but cannot do, at all, or cannot, so well do, for themselves.”
— Abraham Lincoln
Governor Patrick Morrisey opened his State of the State address with the observation that many youth in West Virginia face an unfortunate reality, that higher education means seeking career opportunities outside the state.
Unfortunately, the proposed solutions tend to promise more of the same failed ventures of the past.
The WV Center on Budget and Policy (WCBP, Feb. 6, 2025) pointed to what is missing from the agenda: “… public investments, the services and amenities offered to families and businesses, [that] are … integral to understanding what draws people to a place.”
On taxes, WCBP found us competitive already: “West Virginia's tax environment is equal to or better than our neighbors' even prior to 2023's personal income tax cuts.” Still, West Virginia's tax system is “upside-down,” with the wealthiest paying the least.
WCBP concluded, “Overzealous tax cuts can have the opposite of the intended effect, making our state less attractive to families and businesses if they undermine the state’s ability to provide the high-quality public services that people value.”
One example is defunding public schools by systematically directing taxpayer dollars to private institutions, some of which are out-of-state. A strong public school system, which produces well-prepared workers, is attractive to companies wanting to invest here, and quality schools are priorities for families who might consider moving here to work for those companies. WalletHub ranks West Virginia 50th for education.
We suffer from environmental and health issues, which are a direct result of historic and continued reliance on hard labor and extractive industries. Physically dangerous work comes with lifelong health issues, particularly from exposure to coal and silica dust. These industries also give us polluted water, bad air and vast brownfields of undevelopable land. Reinvestments have never been realized, and profits are pocketed and leave the state forever. We only need to look at the southern coal counties to understand the devastation left behind.
West Virginia does have real estate to develop. However, data processing centers are an unlikely solution for stopping our persistent brain drain. We need substantial numbers of professional jobs, but the average data center employs few people (typically, 5-30 people). Without more professional jobs, young men and women will continue to be sacrificed to the hard labor of oil, gas and mining industries. Or they will leave.
Data processing centers also come with environmental costs, including air pollution and carbon emissions, and they require vast quantities of water, much of which is not returned to its source.
Finally, let’s consider our current crop of representatives. During campaigns, politicians frequently promise to listen to your concerns and protect the people in the communities they represent.
Mountain State Spotlight (Nov. 3, 2024) summarized the concerns from West Virginia’s 55 counties: “Everywhere we went, there were common refrains from voters: We need more substance abuse treatment and recovery programs. We need clean and reliable water. Our roads need to be fixed or upgraded. Our community needs more jobs, better schools, affordable child care, and a more responsive government.”
Spotlight also found that West Virginians are tired of politicians trying to tie our concerns to the national parties’ agendas. The consensus, as reported by Mountain State Spotlight: “We also heard that lawmakers focus too much on issues that can tend to divide West Virginians, and not enough on things that can bring us all together.”
“We, the people” have a duty to insist our elected officials attend to our concerns — the reasons we elected them. The League of Women Voters prioritizes legislation in four areas: strengthening democracy, safeguarding equal rights, protecting children and families, and creating a sustainable future for West Virginia. Add your voices to ours; encourage our elected officials to focus on the people’s priorities.