The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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March 15, 2011

Kessler upset over missed bills

By Mannix Porterfield Register-Herald Reporter

CHARLESTON — Acrimony filled the air in the Saturday night finale of this legislative session, and there was enough finger-pointing on both sides of the rotunda to remind observers of a schoolyard spat.

When the dust settled, some key legislation withered on the vine, and many lawmakers were upset.

Acting Senate President Jeffrey Kessler, D-Marshall, was visibly disappointed at the failure to regulate the promising Marcellus shale industry, and to put the money-strapped Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) fund in the black.

Yet, Kessler stopped short of blaming the House of Delegates, although many of his Senate colleagues openly did just that.

“I don’t want to throw blame,” he said.

Yet, Kessler couldn’t hide his dismay that the two key items on the agenda this year went down in flames.

“They didn’t address Marcellus,” he said of the lower chamber.

“We sent our bill over last week, or 10 days ago, and never saw a final product out of them.”

Neither the Marcellus measure nor the OPEB bill ever went to a conference, and as the midnight hour approached, it was evident they wouldn’t get that far.

Had the bills gone to conferees, Kessler said the Legislature possibly could have wrapped up both for passage.

“The Marcellus bill gives us the ability and opportunity to create some wealth in this state over the next decade,” he said.

Kessler said he considered it important to craft a bill in the regular session that deals with both safeguards for citizens and some freedom to drill by the industry.

“It has a huge opportunity as I view to create enormous wealth in this state,” he said.

Almost equally troubling to Kessler was a published report that indicated some of the Marcellus gas in his home county would be piped to Canada without a significant increase in the severance tax.

“I’m not going to sit back and let the state’s resources be sucked out of our state and not create wealth and jobs in our state,” he said.

Kessler said he remains optimistic the contentious bill could be approved during the budget extension.

“I’m not going to cast stones,” he said, although Sen. Mike Green, D-Raleigh, blistered the House as “shameful” for not acting on Marcellus.

Others, such as Sens. Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, and Ron Stollings, D-Boone, were openly critical of the House for the collapse of the coal severance windfall for coal-producing counties.

“I’m proud of this body and proud of the work we did,” Kessler said.

“We didn’t stop. We worked continuously, regularly, and never stopped. We hardly came up for a break for air. We worked until we got everything done. We finished and there wasn’t a thing left on our plate to be done.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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