This page last updated: Sunday, January 30, 2005, 12:04:11 AM EST
January 30, 2005
COMMENTARY: Coming Out for Manchin’s Workers’ Comp Reform Plan Would Get Mountain State to First Base
by Craig A. Hammond
Bluefield News Network Columnist
Bluefield (HNN) — While Governor Joe Manchin’s plan to correct the state’s Workers’ compensation program’s debt may not be perfect — and may indeed leave a nick or two on timber, coal, and natural gas customers — it gets my vote since it is the only proposal on the table. It is easy to criticize an incoming Governor’s new idea, and there have been many critics, ranging from Senate Minority leader, Vic Sprouse, to labor leaders.
They all have one thing in common, in addition to their opposition to Manchin’s bold plan: they don't have an alternative plan for us to consider.
If we want our elected leaders to act more statesmanlike, with policies that truly reflect what’s best for the state as a whole, we must encourage those who have worked out the details to formulate at least some kind of plan. Otherwise, we will be condemned to the patchwork quilt of desperate economic policy that has insured that our state remains at the bottom of the heap.
If Governor Manchin gets his Workers’ Comp proposal through the Legislature and then past the state’s voters, the world will know that West Virginia is trying its best to get its house in order. This, in turn, will serve as a signal that our state is finally willing to welcome new businesses, large and small, with an improving business climate — not outrageous Workers’ Comp premiums.
Will this alone guarantee a humming, private-sector economy in West Virginia, brimming with good jobs. No. But without it, we will never get there. You have to get to first base, economically speaking, before you can ever score a run.
To his credit, Governor Manchin knows this. Deliberate as a head football coach getting out his stat sheets and depth charts, he is putting up the scaffolding that will one day serve as the framework for a new economy in West Virginia — one that is long overdue.
If Governor Manchin succeeds in putting the Workers’ Comp system right, and putting it on a fast track towards a fair-minded privatized program, he will have gotten West Virginia on first base for the first time since the mid-70s.
And if our new Governor is smart enough to reach across the aisle and take a look at former GOP gubernatorial candidate and State Tax Commissioner Robin Capehart’s tax reform strategy, then West Virginia might be finally poised to be a real competitor among Mid-Atlantic states and the talk of the nation’s business circles.
Everyone wins when West Virginia wins — and none more so than Governor Manchin. So sharing some time in the spotlight with his Republican Counterparts could pay huge dividends for him. West Virginians will recognize true bipartisan leadership when they see it.
They may have it — finally — in Governor Joe Manchin.
Craig Hammond is the host of “Radioactive,” a radio talk show on WHIS-AM in Bluefield. He is also news editor of Bluefieldnews.net. and is a former mayor of Bluefield, W.Va.