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REPUBLICAN OF THE YEAR
Weeks pledges new, fairer handling of special project funds
Process that replaced Budget Digest needs more sunshine, accountability
Gubernatorial candidate Russ Weeks said Wednesday he would drastically change the current system that allocates millions of dollars to lawmakers for distribution through so-called “Community Partnership Projects” which are tightly controlled by legislative leaders and the governor and basically used as rewards for lawmakers who vote with leadership.Weeks said at least $14 million a year – through CPP grants, and other special project funds earmarked for education, libraries and economic development -- is set aside for hand-outs by lawmakers for projects in their home districts, but only after they submit lists to leaders in the House and Senate, who in turn decide with the governor which projects to fund. After those decisions are made, lawmakers eventually receive “certificates” signed by the governor which essentially serve as vouchers. “In reality, House and Senate leaders and the governor use this money to reward lawmakers who toe the line in regard to their votes,” said Weeks. “Those who don’t go along with bills or issues favored by legislative leaders are often cut out of the process, or, in multi-delegate House districts, games are played allowing one or two delegates to take credit for funding projects, with other delegates shunned – particularly if they bucked leadership on certain votes.”Weeks said lawmakers seldom know how much money is approved for their colleagues, and the approved amounts vary greatly due to slush funds available to House and Senate leaders that can greatly increase the amounts provided to certain legislators.Also, lawmakers and those receiving the funds seldom know when they can expect their funding requests to be approved or, once approved, when the actual funds will be made available. He also noted that much of the current process was cobbled together only after legislative leaders abandoned the old Budget Digest to end the threat of a lawsuit challenging its legality.“The bottom line is, we need more sunshine on the process,” said Weeks. “As governor, I’ll do away with the slush funds, make sure every member of the House and Senate receives the same amount of funds and know when the funds will be available, and ensure that there is transparency regarding the funding process. "I’ll take the politics out of the process and make sure state government is accountable to the people for the use of their hard-earned tax dollars.” | ||||
Gubernatorial candidate Russ Weeks says more sunshine and fairness are needed in the process that replaced the Budget Digest. Shown above is a new palm card profiling Weeks at various stages of his life and career.
McKinney blasts Dems, says GOP right on wage law
West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Doug McKinney issued the following statement today critical of the Democrat-controlled Legislature's passage of the increase in the minimum wage over the objections of the Republican Legislators:Last week Mannix Porterfield in the Register-Herald confirmed the Republican argument that this was an unnecessary piece of legislation because so many West Virginia jobs are related to interstate commerce the federal minimum wage supersedes the West Virginia legislation.Therefore, only 4,000 or so wage earners in West Virginia are affected by this legislation. Another example of hype overcoming fact.Had our legislators bothered to read George Will’s editorial on the minimum wage while Congress was debating it, they would have found even more evidence against the minimum wage.Will found that when one counted the heads of households of four people making minimum wage in the United States there were only 400,000. Further, those 400,000 were eligible for entitlements which pushed their annual income to more than $45,000 annually. In fact, every $1,000 more income would cost these heads of households $300 in entitlements.Will further expressed his opinion that there should be no minimum wage, i.e., every worker should be free to negotiate his wage, and that most minimum wage jobs are entry level jobs held by workers with minimal, if any, marketable skills. As well, most are second or third jobs in the family.The net effect is that many business owners who operate on small profit margins must cut staffing, i.e., jobs, in order to keep their businesses going.Once again our Democrat dominated legislators spent their time on legislation affecting a very small group in an effort to appear to be champions of the less fortunate, or is it less skilled and less employable, when they could have been debating how and how much to increase the Homestead Exemption for our elderly population, the highest in the country, who have real need.How long will West Virginians put up with legislators with such limited viewpoints and whose major goal is pandering to the uninformed voters to maintain their legislative seats?
The Harrison County Republican Club had a booth at the Blackberry Festival in Clarksburg last weekend, and county chair Sue McKinney says that even some Democrats stopped by asking for Russ Weeks bumper stickers. The Harrison County Democrats had a booth as well, but it was unmanned on Thursday and Friday before someone finally showed up on Saturday.
Harrison GOP active at festival
McCain scores with visit to Marshall football team, launches new 'family' ad
Republican presidential candidate John McCain's visit to the Marshall Thundering Herd football team on Wednesday was a touchdown on all fronts, according to attendees.McCain offered the team a pep talk and discussed his ordeal as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, discussing how the concept of being part of a team helped all the prisoners cope with their captivity.The McCain campaign also launched a new TV ad on Wednesday, focusing on the theme of "family." You can view it here.