Randy Yohe, Author at West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. League of Women Voters Offers 2024 Legislative Scorecard

The League of Women Voters of West Virginia has released their 2024 Legislative Scorecard. It compiles the votes from all the members of the West Virginia House of Delegates and state Senators on 26 bills that became law during this past legislative session to give an idea where they stand on issues.

Judy Ball, chair of the League’s Legislative Action Workgroup, spoke with Government Reporter Randy Yohe on the scorecard results.

Yohe: What is it that you hope to accomplish by putting out this scorecard?

Ball: West Virginia is one of several states that does not have a voter’s guide that comes out every year to help educate voters. And part of the mission of the League of Women Voters is voter education. So we decided that trying to give voters more information about the people who are representing them and how they’re being represented would be a valuable service. So, last year, we started this scorecard effort and had intended to continue it and this is the second time we’ve done it. And we made sure to get it out in time for this year’s election.

Yohe: The Secretary of State puts out a guide that gives you timetables and when you have to register and the things that you need to do to vote. That’s not the kind of voter’s guide you’re talking about, is it?

Ball: No. Voter’s guides in many states are something that has information about all the candidates that are going to be on the ballot. And oftentimes, a voter’s guide will include substantive information about what those candidates stand for that may be submitted by the candidates. But then it’s all compiled and published and sent out to, or made available to, voters in the state, perhaps online, perhaps it’s sent out in the mail. In the state of Oregon, for example, every voter in the state gets the voter’s guide in their mailbox. There was actually a bill in this year’s legislature to produce such a voter’s guide. There was a bill in last year’s legislature to produce such a voter’s guide. And those bills haven’t gone anywhere.

Yohe: Your scorecard compiles the votes of state Senators and Delegates on 26 bills that are significant to your organization, and they relate to certain policy areas. First of all is strengthening democracy. There are a number of voting and election related bills. What stands out there? I know you have bills you support and oppose.

Ball: What stands out most to me is the bills that didn’t make it through. There were many attempts to try to make voting even harder in West Virginia than it already is. We were opposing, for example, the bill that requires photo IDs to go from the DMV and other agencies to the Secretary of State’s office. The reason we oppose it is we believe that this is an attempt to make photo ID necessary for voting. There were other bills in the legislature that would protect poll workers that didn’t pass. There were other bills to remove barriers to voting that didn’t pass. We supported, however, bills that would do things like update the contested election procedures and to ensure that party affiliation is consistent with a candidate’s voter registration. That’s putting some quality control into the system.

Yohe: Safeguarding equal rights is your next policy area.

Ball: Yes, and one of the ones we oppose is the bill to not permit non-binary on birth certificates. And this is one of those bills that you have to wonder why it happened because non-binary isn’t an option on birth certificates, now. There was a bill to improve some data collection on fatalities and mortalities. Modifying the definition of sexual contact, to eliminate marriage as a defense for sexual assault, we definitely supported that. But there were other bills that didn’t make it through, the Crown Act, for example, died a horrible death in the Senate. And adding sexual orientation and gender identity to human rights law in West Virginia also didn’t make it through.

Yohe: Protecting children and families policy is next. That seems to be a big part of everybody’s agenda.

Ball: Even though this category has the most bills, this category probably has the most bills that never made it through the legislature. One of the principal bills in this category that we oppose is the state budget. Because things that are really critical in the state didn’t get attended to. There is not full funding for Medicaid. There was not full funding to take care of the foster care system or childcare. Additional funding for public education, all those things got left out. We supported the extra coverage for dental care and Medicaid. That’s a good thing, because dental services are really expensive, and people on Medicaid probably can’t afford them. We thought adding to the foster parent information system was a good thing. But that’s sort of nibbling around the edges of the problems in our foster care system.

Yohe: There’s a hue and cry out now that, after this federal education clawback was settled, these budget problems that you mentioned will be fixed in an expected upcoming special session. Are you satisfied with that?

Ball: I’m skeptical that that will actually happen. Let’s just take the evidence that came out of this legislative session. Our legislature spent an enormous amount of their 60 days debating things that were not the most consequential things for the population in West Virginia. I fully expect that the budget discussions will be the same. The legislature will spend a lot of time nibbling around the edges and not addressing the really big issues that are facing this state. I hope I’m wrong.

Yohe: Your final category on policy areas is creating a sustainable future.

Ball: We only ended up with two bills to even highlight in this year’s scorecard. There were more last year. They seem to be addressing local control issues, the legislature keeps trying to take power back from localities. And the things that we didn’t see that would have fallen under this category would have been strengthening environmental protections and bills to expand solar and to provide energy incentives. We didn’t get that from this legislature.

Justice Finalizing Special Session Plans

Gov. Jim Justice said he will make a decision early next week when he’ll call a special legislative session. In a Wednesday media briefing, he said he was hopeful the session would happen in May.

Justice has committed to reversing the Medicaid cuts made in a scaled-down budget passed on the last day, in the last hour, of the regular legislative session.

“I don’t know why we did this,” Justice said. “We stripped money out of the budget that was in my budget, that really and truly was there to help, whether it be Medicaid or whatever. There’s so many people that are in need in this state. We’ll put it back for sure.”

The Legislature passed a so-called skinny budget due to fears over a possible $465 million federal “clawback” regarding federal education funding spent during the pandemic. The U.S. Department of Education eventually granted a waiver, dismissing the “clawback.” Justice said he told everybody all along the waiver would come.

“Lo and behold, the sky didn’t fall, did it,” Justice said. “Now all we’ve done is bring a tremendous amount of anxiety and issues to those that are absolutely hurting the most.”

When pressed to name some specific issues he might include in the call, Justice instead listed generalities.

“I want to see that we take care of our kids, we take care of our seniors, we take care of our vets, we’ll absolutely take care of issues like childcare,” Justice said.

The last special session called in August 2023 was in response to a Department of Corrections staffing crisis and concerns over first responder funding. Justice however, included 44 proposed bills in that special session call.

A finalized state budget for fiscal year 2025 must be completed by June 30.

W.Va. Democratic Party Chair Explains Political Campaign Strategies

While Republican candidates dominate the media leading up to next week’s primary election, there are also Democrats up and down the ballot running for state offices. Their campaign strategy, however, takes a different path.

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party, spoke with Government Reporter Randy Yohe on the efforts to rebuild the party and restore Democrats to state offices.

The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.

Yohe: What has been the Democrats’ overall philosophy for running candidates in the primary election?

Pushkin: During the candidate recruitment process, obviously, we’re looking for community leaders, people who run on a record, and people who are qualified to do the job that they’re seeking. We’re recruiting people who are true public servants, rather than just people seeking political gain.

Yohe: In the state constitutional or Board of Public Works offices, there are single Democratic candidates, except for attorney general. There’s no candidate for state treasurer in the primary. So what’s the game plan for these particular posts?

Pushkin: It’s very difficult right now for Democrats in West Virginia. We feel that the people deserve choices. And we were able to field candidates in all but one of the Board of Public Works races. The thing is candidates on our side are far more qualified to do the job.

Yohe: What kind of work on the ground has gone into finding and running the candidates for all the open state Senate and House of Delegates offices?

Pushkin: It started with helping to rebuild the county Democratic Executive Committees, getting people on the ground in different parts of the state, and that’s a work in progress. We’ve got a whole lot of work ahead of us to rebuild this party, and to start winning back seats up and down the ballot. It is what we feel would result in a better government for the people of West Virginia. What they have now is a supermajority that’s the least transparent government we’ve ever seen and the least accountable government we’ve seen in a long time. It doesn’t really seem to respond to the will of the people.

Yohe: Kanawha County Commissioner Ben Salango was the 2020 Democratic candidate for governor running against Jim Justice. In 2024, it’s Huntington Mayor Steve Williams. However, Salango did consider running again. Can you talk about the agreement between the two men and the party and how that came about?

Pushkin: I can’t comment on private conversations between Commissioner Salango and Mayor Williams, but I do feel we have a great candidate for governor [in] Mayor Steve Williams. He’s the only three term mayor of Huntington and he was elected to three terms because he’s done a great job. People forget when he took over as mayor, Huntington was in pretty bad shape. He has really turned that city around and he’s got a great story to tell.

Recently, Mayor Williams has called on our current governor, Gov. [Jim] Justice, and the Republican legislature to allow the people to vote on a constitutional amendment to restore reproductive freedom in West Virginia. In state after state when the people get to choose, they have chosen to restore this right that has been on the books for over 50 years. I think it’s important to let the people decide and put freedom on the ballot this year. So we stand with Mayor Williams calling for this measure to be put on the ballot.

Yohe: How robust will Williams’ campaigning be leading up to the general election in November?

Pushkin: He’s going to run a great campaign. He has the benefit of not having a primary. On the Republican side, they’ve had a bitterly fought primary. And we have been inundated with commercials that really do not address the issues at all. While they’re fighting over who can run the most shocking ads and bickering over social issues that really don’t have a whole lot to do with the day to day lives of West Virginians, Mayor Williams is actually talking about real issues. He’s going to continue to discuss real issues that affect the day to day lives of West Virginians up until November.

Yohe: There’s the theory that intense primary campaign mudslinging by the Republican gubernatorial candidates might drive voters over to the Democratic candidate come general election time. Your thoughts on that theory?

Pushkin: We watch these ads from the Republicans running for governor. Is there any real difference between any of the top four candidates? I mean, their commercials are really just interchangeable. It’s all about the same things. And all of that is really meaningless when it comes down to the day to day lives in West Virginia. Mayor Williams is talking about real issues, he’s running a real campaign based on real issues that affect the lives of West Virginians. What he’s talking about is actually meaningful, instead of this ridiculous cultural war stuff that we see on the other side. I don’t really see any difference between the major Republican candidates, but we’re providing a real difference and a real choice for voters and Mayor Williams this fall.

Yohe: Anything else you want to tell me about this subject I didn’t ask?

Pushkin: We know what we’re up against here in West Virginia. It’s been rough for Democrats in the last couple of cycles, but we’re going to continue to keep fighting. We feel that people deserve choices. I trust that people are going to make the right choices in many of these races. We’re going to keep working and continue to talk about real issues, while the Republicans try to out-Trump each other.

Rural Appalachia Community Coalition Building Creates Positive Change

A book from an academic researcher covering rural Appalachia shows how marginalized rural communities can create change by forming grassroots coalitions.

In her soon to be published book, “Hauled Away, How Rural Appalachians Leverage Place in the Face of Extraction,” WVU assistant professor of English Erin Brock Carlson balances the history of extractive industries like coal with combating a rural town’s cultural, economic and intellectual extraction.

“The mission of all of this is really that rural communities, especially in Appalachia, are painted in very one dimensional, oftentimes stereotypical life,” Carlson said. “I’m really committed to honoring the expertise of people that live in rural places, because they oftentimes aren’t viewed as experts of their own experience. This project is all about casting those people as experts in demonstrating that rural communities are capable of solving their own problems.”

In her book, Carlson showcases hometown problem solvers. For example, in a former coal hub, organizers involved the cash poor and houseless in economic development. In a town that suspected a local arms manufacturer had polluted its air and water, an environmental activist engaged residents of a Black neighborhood close to the manufacturing facility, as well as elderly white residents who valued the manufacturer’s importance to the local economy.

And in a rural area with little access to broadband, an organizer tried to build an internet network owned by the community, with support from youth.

“The project really shows how going into a space thinking you have one project and really listening to community members to see what are the most pressing needs, and then adapting based on that, is a way to sort of address these other issues, but in a way that meets community needs directly,” she said.

Carlson said successful coalitions must bring those most marginalized, the poor, elderly, young, disabled, people of color, migrant workers and more into the public conversation.

“They are the ones that are most directly impacted or most deeply impacted by these problems,” she said. “When they’re not represented, their needs aren’t heard.”

Carlson said the expertise community members possess is often overlooked in favor of technical insights from lawyers or engineers.

The “Hauled Away” manuscript is expected to be completed in 2025.

‘Operation Smoke And Mirrors’: Largest Methamphetamine Seizure In State History

Illegal drugs seized in the operation include more than 400 pounds of methamphetamine, 40 pounds of cocaine, 3 pounds of fentanyl, 19 firearms and nearly $1 million in cash.

A major illegal drug bust announced Monday includes more than two dozen defendants from West Virginia, Virginia and Georgia who have pleaded guilty to wholesale distribution of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl.

Dubbed “Operation Smoke and Mirrors,’ Southern District U.S. Attorney Will Thompson said dismantling the illegal drug network took unprecedented teamwork by local, state and federal law enforcement.

“That’s the story of this case,” Thompson said. “We’ve gotten past where people used to battle over what’s my turf, not your turf, people are really working together now. We’ve had the FBI and DEA agents working hand in hand, which when they do and then when they pool their resources, we can get incredible results such as this.”

Illegal drugs seized in the operation include more than 400 pounds of methamphetamine, 40 pounds of cocaine, 3 pounds of fentanyl, 19 firearms and nearly $1 million in cash.

Thompson said it has become a law enforcement cliche that drug seizures much less than this would “make a dent” in local supply and demand. He said he wouldn’t be presumptuous, but this bust will “have an impact.”

“You just look at the sheer numbers, the amount that has been taken off the streets,” Thomson said. “We’ve probably saved families, we probably saved people from overdoses. It’s not like you’re taking off a street level drug dealer, he’s replaced the next day. It’s taking some time for these people to get replaced, and we’re working some other operations trying to get the replacements as well. And I think we’re going to be pretty successful on that.”

The announcement comes after the May 2 sentencing of Jasper Wemh, 39, of Charleston, to 16 years and eight months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Wemh is responsible for more than 85 pounds of methamphetamine distributed in 2022. Wemh routinely completed transactions involving multiple pounds at a time, and sold more than 20 pounds of methamphetamine during a single night on Dec. 4, 2022. Wemh stored quantities of methamphetamine, crack and cocaine at a Greenbrier Street residence in Charleston.

Thompson said Wehm was one of a handful of kingpins in a loosely knit network of drug wholesalers.

“There are some significant players,” he said. “This wasn’t one individual, this was a network that worked together. We’re not completely done with all the charges. There are several people who’ve not been to trial yet, but we’ve gotten some significant sentences out of the people who have been found guilty thus far.”

Thompson said “Operation Smoke and Mirrors” is far from finished, and the “final installment will be quite a story.”

Click here for a listing of law enforcement agencies involved and those sent to prison, their charges and sentences.

Attorney General Candidates Discuss Priority Issues

As the chief legal officer for West Virginia’s citizens, state office holders, agencies and boards, the attorney general’s (AG) responsibilities cover the legal gamut. So, where do the candidates stand?

As the chief legal officer for West Virginia’s citizens, state office holders, agencies and boards, the attorney general’s (AG) responsibilities cover the legal gamut.

The four candidates in the upcoming primary races for AG have diverse views on how those responsibilities should be handled – and prioritized.

In balancing legal precedents when it comes to fossil fuels and the advancement of renewable energy, Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva, a Democratic attorney general candidate, does not take sides. She said following the law is the AG’s job.

“The way you do that is advocacy, following the law and advocating for changes in the law where appropriate,” Toriseva said. “Using the court system where appropriate to make sure that West Virginia’s interests are protected. That, in a transition that’s going to happen naturally or forced by the federal government, whatever the case may be, that West Virginians are heard and protected.”

Republican AG candidate, State Auditor J.B. McCuskey, does take sides in state legal energy precedents. He said natural resource energy development is key to America’s power independent future.

“Renewable energy advancements are part of the private marketplace, and if people want to invest in those kinds of resources, that’s fine,” McCuskey said. “But, at the end of the day, the United States cannot run without coal and natural gas. I believe that the future for this country and specifically in West Virginia, will be way better served if we are making electricity as quickly and as vociferously as possible, with the natural resources that we find under our feet.”

AG candidate Sen. Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, and former U.S. Attorney for West Virginia’s Southern District, strongly advocates legal support for fossil fuels over a renewable energy grid he said is still young and overly protected by federal overreach.

“I’m not against renewables, but the science doesn’t match up with the expectations of renewable energy,” Stuart said. “We’re hitting natural gas, we’re hitting coal, we’re hitting the power plant industry awfully hard. We’re taking offline traditional energy sources, while preferring green energy sources, and it can’t keep up. If we continue on the current track, the trajectory we’re on, we’re going to have rolling blackouts, even in places like West Virginia, in which the ground beneath our feet is loaded with natural resources. We need to be smart about this. I certainly expect in the future renewables will play a bigger role in the energy production of this country and in places like West Virginia, but we’re not there yet.”

Renewables have become a bigger part of the nation’s energy mix, surpassing coal. They produce no carbon emissions and are the lowest cost form of electricity. Storage batteries, including the ones that will be built by Form Energy in Weirton, help make renewables more reliable by storing the power they generate for when it’s needed. Natural gas, though, remains the dominant fuel for U.S. electricity.

In combating the illegal drug epidemic. Democratic AG candidate Richie Robb, a Vietnam veteran and former eight-term South Charleston mayor, said state attorneys general must partner with the federal Department of Defense to change a war on drugs to a war on drug terrorism.

“The military monitors arms shipments around the world, certainly that expertise can be employed to monitor illegal drug shipments as well,” Robb said. “In cooperating with other countries, instead of waiting to apprehend drugs, after they’re already in the United States, or even trying to apprehend those same drugs on the border, my proposal would be to stop the drugs at the source much the same way we do with terrorism.”

Toriseva puts second amendment rights and reproductive rights together. She said it’s not the job of the AG’s office, or the government, to tell people how to live.

“I have the same position on a woman’s right to choose as I do on the Second Amendment and my right to carry a firearm, and that is I’ll decide,” Toriseva said. “I do not need the government in my doctor’s office, I do not need the government in my gun safe.”

McCuskey said no one has faced more onerous federal regulation than West Virginia farmers. As AG, he vowed to continue fighting for farmers’ rights.

“Agriculture is going to be an enormous driver of West Virginia’s economy going forward,” McCuskey said. “It’s not just from a food production standpoint, but also from a tourism standpoint, allowing our farmers to showcase what they do in a way that drives new visitors to West Virginia, but also ensures that that not just West Virginia, but the entire East Coast has food security, and that the food that we eat is known to be safe and secure.”

Robb said consumer fraud is rampant on many levels, highlighting the rise of artificial intelligence. He wants to create an AG fraud tip-line.

“With the current Consumer Protection Office, the present attorney general, in his publicizing that service, it’s been woefully inadequate,” Robb said. “It needs to be publicized. The reason for a tip line is many people, particularly insiders, are afraid to openly report wrongdoing. An anonymous tip line will enable them to do that.”

Stuart said his AG’s office will be proactive in creating veteran’s courts and expanding veteran’s outreach.

“Many times they don’t even know the resources that are available to them,” Stuart said. “Substance abuse, homelessness, all the problems that plague society, plague our veterans at even a higher clip than the standard demographic breakdown of our communities. They deserve our support. Veterans’ courts are intended to do this. We want them to get the services that they need for mental health, physical health. We need to do all we can to make sure veterans get every break they can to try to re-acclimate into society.”