Business Lobby Meets with Legislators

Jan Vineyard, BIC chairman, said attendance by business leaders and politicians has been strong. About 65 percent of representatives invited to the meetings have confirmed attendance. She added that representatives of the Beckley area were among the best in the state.

“I think sometimes, some of us in Charleston can be shielded by what’s going on throughout the state,” she said. “When you go from Martinsburg to Huntington, you’re going to hear it all.”

She said the meetings not only allow interaction with the lawmakers, but also bring business people together to form a network of people with like-minded interests.

“It’s nice to sit down this time of year, before the (legislative) session starts, and reflect on what we need to do. Our theme is putting West Virginia first in 2011 and we’re all business people. If businesses thrive, if the laws are such that we can thrive — we hire people, we pay taxes and that’s good for West Virginia. What’s good for business is good for West Virginia.”

BIC’s five points of focus for this year’s legislative session are economic/job development, fiscal responsibility, responsible government, education and courts.

Delegate-elect Rick Snuffer, R-Raleigh, said business not only pays the government’s bills, but also hires the people who pay state taxes.

“We’re going to have to get some businesses back in West Virginia, and one of the best ways to do that is going to be to look at some of the other states around us and see what they are doing to grow business and start doing what they do,” he said.

He said the key to growing West Virginia is to grow West Virginia companies with business-friendly legislation.

“I’d like to see the people, who want to be here, who want to come back here, be able to find a good-paying job and that they can take care of the responsibilities of their families. If we do that, businesses and families will come back.”

Sen. Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, said one of his goals is diversification beyond coal and natural gas.

“We are subject to the ups and downs of that energy market,” he said. “On this rollercoaster, when energy is doing well, we are doing well. When it’s not, our state suffers.”

Sen.-elect Greg Tucker, D-Nicholas, said that in addition to diversification, government needs to be more hands-off on businesses.

“We need to let our coal miners mine coal, we need to let our teachers teach, and we need to let our timber people cut timber,” he said. “If we can do that and diversify in other things, we’ll be fine. We’re hard workers, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Ruth Lemmon of the West Virginia Automobile and Truck Dealers Association said she would like to see lawmakers start asking how much a law will cost businesses and not just how much it will cost the government.

She said the inventory tax was particularly harmful to business.

“The inventory tax is one of the most onerous taxes a business owner will pay,” she said. “West Virginia is one of the very few states that you have to pay a tax on your inventory. From a car dealer’s perspective, it’s very interesting because the truth of the matter is, the dealers don’t own those vehicles.”

Delegate-elect John O’Neal, R-Raleigh, commented that over the past few months he has heard a lot about the success of the West Virginia economy, but he insists a balanced budget is not a cause for celebration, but should be the norm.

“My desire is not to be satisfied to say simply, ‘well, we’re balancing the budget.’ I don’t think that is necessarily a measure of how well you’re doing,” he said. “A homeless person on the street has a balanced budget, but they don’t necessarily have a good quality of life. They’re not prospering.”

Looking over the focus point list in a WV BIC brochure, Sen. Bill Laird, D-Fayette, said the organization’s goals were something most Americans would support.

“I’m looking at your focus and to me it looks like apple pie and baseball,” he said. “Certainly fiscal responsibility, economic growth and development ... those are all essential to the growth and development of our economy in West Virginia.”

Delegate Daniel Hall, D-Wyoming, said a “pet peeve” of his that he feels hurts West Virginia involves people who abuse public assistance.

“I think we’re going to have to take the financial incentive out of sitting at the house on the couch,” he said. “We’ve got too many people, all across this country, but in part of our district in the southern part of the state, who are on a cycle of, ‘I’m not going to graduate high school because it’s too hard to get on the check.’ Why go get a job, go get a diploma, or a post-graduate degree if I can just sit at the house on a check?”