Albert Einstein is said to have defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Here in West Virginia we have had one party rule for more than 80 years. That’s more than three generations. Over that time span the economic performance of our state has been, by all metrics, underwhelming. And that’s putting it in polite terms.

It’s hard to effect change within a one party system, but there are indications that change is happening. The political landscape has become more competitive. Whether or not one party rule is overthrown in the next cycle or two, with a more competitive political landscape organizations are being liberated - now able to approach government relations differently.

A case in point is the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. In my humble opinion, in the past the Chamber has tended to go along to get along - perhaps out of political necessity - but more recently it has developed a cohesive legislative program and they are holding elected officials accountable for their voting records. What a concept!

Prominently displayed on the front page of its website is its 2014 Legislative Scorecard for the West Virginia House of Delegates. The opening paragraph states, “Members of the West Virginia Chamber employ over half of West Virginia’s workers. On behalf of our members, the West Virginia Chamber supports policies that promote economic development, provide a quality education for our children and enhance the quality of life throughout the state”. Sounds good to me. Job creation should be a top priority.

The scorecard is based on the actual voting records of each member of the House with regard to important legislation - the specifics of which you can find on their website. Individual Delegates are graded accordingly with 100% being the highest. It’s a report card.

It’s also an eye opener.

The average score for Republicans was 90.1% while the average score for Democrats was only 20.1%. The median was 53.3% with only one Democrat scoring above that mark at 66.7%, which incidentally was the lowest grade scored by a Republican. With regard to promoting economic development, and therefore job creation, the Democrats score very poorly indeed.

Here in Jefferson County there are three legislative districts each represented by a Delegate. In the 66th, Paul Espinosa received the Chamber’s highest grade of 100%. Contrast that with Tiffany Lawrence in the 65th who placed in a tie for 82nd with a grade of only 14.3%. In the 67th, at 8.3%, there was no one who received a lower grade than Stephen Skinner.

Ironically, Stephen Skinner’s brother Andrew is the president of the local Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce. They are also partners in a local law firm.

Like all county Chambers, our local Chamber functions autonomously from the state Chamber or the national Chamber, and they are not always on the same page. Take for example, an editorial issued by the Board of Directors of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce in September of 2012, almost exactly two years ago, that contained an admission of sorts, “…we don’t understand why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks West Virginia 50th for ‘legal climate.’ We, as representatives of the local business community, are pleased with our legal climate here in Jefferson County. The U.S. Chamber has ranked West Virginia close to 50th for some time now, despite all the changes made to our system…” The editorial was entitled “Open for Business”.

They “don’t understand”, but the West Virginia Chamber does. In a recent policy paper it asserts that “West Virginia has made progress in recent years in adopting civil justice reforms… however, additional reforms still must be passed to bring West Virginia into step with the rest of the nation”. It goes on to say, “West Virginia’s system of largely uncontrolled lawsuits and a small cadre of activist judges have hindered business investment opportunities and have hurt employers in their ability to conduct business, employ people and grow in our state. Without enactment of additional meaningful civil justice - or ‘tort’ - reforms, West Virginia will be at a continued disadvantage in the ability to promote itself as being truly ‘open for business’.”

It also acknowledges what the locals “don’t understand” - that “West Virginia has an unflattering reputation outside of West Virginia when it comes to the state’s civil justice and lawsuit environment”. That reputation is furthered by The American Tort Reform Association that ranks West Virginia 4th on its “Judicial Hellholes” list, down two spots from its 2nd place ranking in 2012. The local Chamber notwithstanding, we still have a long way to go.

I am a member of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce. There are a lot of good people involved in that organization doing a lot of good work. However, a Chamber of Commerce is not about special interests. It is about promoting everyone’s economic interests. That’s what commerce is about, the peaceful and voluntary exchange of goods, services and ideas. The rest of the world is trying to tell us something and we need to listen.

We need to improve the business climate in our state. Without a healthy business climate there can be no economic growth, job creation or improvement in our standard of living. The WV Chamber of Commerce appears not only to “understand”, they are listening and doing something about it. They are doing what we all should do: hold individual legislators accountable. Nothing makes a politician more uncomfortable.

I think they’re on to something.