By Mannix Porterfield
CHARLESTON — Signs of economic stress abound from the southern coalfields to the panhandles, but in Wednesday night’s annual State of the State address, Gov. Joe Manchin saw “a state of prosperity” that avoided the troubles suffered by other states.
“I see a state of accomplishment, not a state of disarray,” Manchin told a House chamber packed with legislators and other luminaries, including home-grown actress Jennifer Garner.
“I see a state of responsible financial planning, not a state of economic turmoil.”
After all, he emphasized, West Virginia has avoided the desperation that has seen 32 other states either cutting services or hiking taxes.
Manchin ran through a litany of proposals, including parole reform to ease crowded prisons, creation of a special office to monitor state vehicles, a crackdown on drug dealers and child pornographers, and tax relief for the business community.
With mid-year budget cuts of 3.4 percent, prompted by declining revenues, Manchin said base-building salary raises simply aren’t possible.
Often turning his attention to accomplishments of the past — from privatization of the workers’ compensation system and improved coal mine safety — Manchin offered few proposals in these challenging economic times.
On some subjects, however, he was adamant.
Manchin called on lawmakers to enact legislation that stalled a year ago to assure school children put in 180 days of instruction in compliance with existing law.
“No excuse, we owe it to our children,” the governor said.
He called for more borrowing flexibility for the School Building Authority, now in the midst of $540 million in new construction, the highest amount in its history.
“This will not increase our debt limit, but will allow us to create a steady revenue stream and provide safer schools and more construction jobs at cheaper bond rates,” he said.
In tax reform, Manchin proposed a constitutional amendment to lower taxes on commercial and industrial property as a means of creating better jobs.
As for judicial reform, a perennial topic in legislative sessions, Manchin urged a public financing pilot project for the two state Supreme Court seats up for election in 2012.
Manchin said his intent is to free judicial candidates from raising money and diminish the perception of bias in donating money to them.
A second bill he proposed would create a judicial advisory committee to help him pick circuit judges when vacancies occur.
“This will ensure that only the most highly qualified individuals are considered for appointment and will enhance the transparency in this process,” he said.
Manchin asked for a fleet management office to oversee West Virginia’s entire state vehicle inventory, responding to an audit that uncovered widespread abuse.
“It’s time to set aside excuses and tackle this long-standing problem,” he declared.
Two-thirds of the fleet has been exempted from the Department of Administration since 1990, via legislative and administrative moves, and a companion bill he seeks would eliminate such exemptions.
Manchin called 2009 “a tough year for coal,” and without specifically mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency’s ongoing controversy over stalled permits, he reminded lawmakers of coal’s vital role in the nation’s energy.
“Despite the fact that half of our nation’s electricity is generated by coal, and that our national economy depends on this abundant, reliable and affordable energy, some want to villainize this resource that helped us win two world wars and built the greatest country in the world,” he said.
“We must continue to stand up for our coal miners and their families. We are not asking for a handout. All we’re asking for is permission to work.”
Manchin said West Virginia has emerged as the leader in getting better and newer ways to burn coal, adding a balance can be achieved between economic needs and environmental concerns.
He referred to the “world’s first successful” carbon capture and sequestration project — the Mountaineer plant of American Electric Power in Mason County, along with an advanced carbon dioxide-capturing mission at the Dow Chemical plant in South Charleston.
Moreover, he said, plans are shaping up for a coal-to-liquids project in Mingo County to get more mileage out of the fossil fuel.
Manchin said the war on illegal drugs is making progress, with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation seizing some $13 million from the streets in 2008, up from $910,000 a few years earlier.
Moving to give police a new weapon, Manchin called for a law to let cities collect fees from absentee owners for abandoned properties left to ruin, since they often are exploited by drug traffickers.
“We have a simple message to all drug dealers in West Virginia: Get out of our state now while you still can,” he said.
Manchin called on the Legislature to streamline the parole system so that only violent offenders are kept behind bars. He mentioned the recent move to expand the Beckley Work-Release Center as one way to get non-violent criminals back into society.
“We are not being soft on crime,” he said. “We are being smart on crime.”
In another crime-related topic, Manchin asked for six more state troopers and support staff for the Crimes Against Children Unit, telling lawmakers that 300 children in the state, on any given day, including infants and toddlers, are sexually abused.
And each month, he said, some 1,000 computers in the state either possess or distribute child pornography.
Manchin said he would join law enforcement officers next week in a video presentation “that I’m sure will shock you — as it did me.”
“We will not stand by and lose another child to a predator,” he vowed.
On brighter topics, the governor hailed the opening last year of the new state museum, which attracted some 50,000 visitors, and said this is the 10th straight year the state has budgeted more than $1 billion in state and federal dollars for roads.
Manchin urged all West Virginians to take part in the census, noting the questionnaire covers a mere 10 questions but figures in how $400 billion is shared by states.
Manchin called on technical and four-year colleges and universities to freeze tuition rates in the year ahead, saying graduation rates here are “disappointing.”
Recalling successful efforts to entice the Boy Scouts of America to place its National Scouting Center in Fayette County, the governor called West Virginia “a leader in adventure.”
“The Scouts exemplify the values we West Virginians hold so dear — leadership, strength, teamwork, skills and respect for the environment,” he said.
Garner drew heavy applause after Manchin introduced her as a supporter of Save the Children — a program the governor vowed to give $1 million to help in rural counties.
“Above all,” he said, “our children should always be our top priority.”
— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com
