I attended the recent Legislative Wrap Up at the Martinsburg Holiday Inn. It was sponsored by the Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce. In attendance were Delegates Walter Duke, Larry Faircloth, Saira Blair, Mike Folk and John Overington - Republicans from Berkeley County; Delegates Jill Upson and Paul Espinosa - Republicans from Jefferson County; Senators Charles Trump and Craig Blair - both Republicans representing the 15th District; Senator Herb Snyder - Democrat representing the 16th District and Delegate Stephen Skinner, Democrat from Jefferson County. Unable to attend were Senator John Unger, Democrat representing the 16th District and Delegate Eric Householder, Republican from Berkeley County. The moderator was Rick Wachtel, President and General Manager of radio station WRNR in Martinsburg.

The format was that of a forum and with so many participants, it could have become unwieldy. However, the Chamber managed to get the most out of it. Each legislator presented opening remarks followed by a question and answer period. Below are some of the highlights.

In his opening comments, Senator Snyder was critical of tort reform legislation limiting punitive damages to $500,000. According to Snyder, a $500,000 limit is too low. However, Senator Trump, an attorney who is a partner and principle in a law firm, countered Snyder in his opening remarks and set the record straight. According to Trump, that limit is pretty much the standard across the nation. In fact, Virginia doesn’t allow punitive damages at all. According to the American Tort Reform Association, since compensatory damages already serve the purpose of making the injured party whole, punitive damages should be reserved for those extraordinary cases where there is “actual malice” and provides numerous examples where states are raising the bar with regard to punitive damages requiring “clear and convincing” evidence in order to justify awarding punitive damages.

Senator Trump alluded to other legislation that might go a long way toward rehabilitating West Virginia from “judicial hellhole” status. The laws regarding joint and several liability were changed so that defendants can only be held liable for actual damages - rather than being based on who has the deepest pockets. Another success alluded to by Trump is legislation calling for the non-partisan election of judges.

While I agree with Senator Trump that significant progress was made in the last legislative session with regard to judicial reform, I would not concur with his assessment that it was “a great session”. There were too many important things that didn’t get done. One of those was the repeal of Common Core.

Common Core was the hot button question that came from the audience and nearly every legislator chimed in. Delegate Duke, a former educator, asserted that the standards and testing regimen associated with Common Core are having a negative effect on education. Delegate Espinosa had a similar assessment. Delegate Overington made the point that Common Core was approved in West Virginia without any input from the public. This is an important insight and in my humble opinion, it’s an outrage.

With regard to Common Core, Delegate Skinner expressed concern that its repeal would cost the state federal dollars. The amount he suggested was $100 Million. I would respectfully ask Delegate Skinner to substantiate that claim. There have been several states that have repealed Common Core and I have not found one report regarding the loss of a single dollar of federal funding.

Further, I find it disturbing that Republican Bill Coles, the President of the West Virginia State Senate, makes a similar argument. According to MetroNews, “Senate President Bill Cole admitted … halting the bill which would have killed the Common Core teaching standards in West Virginia was very difficult”. It’s always “difficult” to face the wrath of angry voters. MetroNews quotes Senator Coles, “I hate to always go back to money”, putting the price tag at over $100 Million. I think that Mr. Coles has a lot more explaining to do, especially if he has any plans for running for governor. It is my understanding that Common Core tests are extremely costly to implement and that getting rid of Common Core will save money - not waste it.

The uber liberal Delegate Skinner had some other intriguing things to say. He lamented that the so-called Uber bill didn’t pass. Uber is the “ride share” service that uses a slick smart phone application to connect riders with drivers and legislation was introduced in the last session to allow them to operate in West Virginia. Arguing in favor of legalizing Uber in West Virginia, Delegate Skinner said that drunken college students in Morgantown would benefit from the ride share service. While that got a laugh from the audience, to my mind, why are there laws on the books here in West Virginia that prevent innovative companies like Uber from operating here?

Delegate Skinner also praised Governor Tomblin for his veto of the Constitutional Carry bill. Having passed through both houses with healthy majorities, the legislation would have made concealed carry the same as open carry in our state - no permit necessary. According to Delegate Skinner the legislation would have allowed “people from Baltimore” to come into our state with concealed weapons.

That begs the question - who specifically are these “people from Baltimore” he refers to? Who might they be? Enquiring minds want to know!

That said, in Baltimore, as a practical matter, no one is allowed to carry at all - concealed or otherwise. Maryland’s unconstitutional gun control laws are sure to face legal challenge in the near future. In the meantime, anyone from Baltimore that enters West Virginia carrying a firearm is violating the laws of their own state and is therefore by definition, a criminal - our state laws notwithstanding.

A theme that came up during the forum on more than one occasion was that of “bi-partisanship”. Regarding that I have these thoughts for Republicans - please take them in the spirit in which they are intended. You were voted in as the majority party in West Virginia for a reason. Voters are clearly tired of the failed policies (and failed logic) of the last 80 plus years. If you do not differentiate yourselves from those failed policies, you will also fail. You need to start by choosing leaders that don’t sound like Democrats. Then simply stick to principle and you will do just fine.

And another tip of the cap to the Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce for providing a forum through which we get to know our legislators just a little bit better.