As I stated previously, some of the best things that happen in Charleston are things that don’t happen. A prime example is HB 4456, introduced by Delegate Jim Morgan (D - Cabell). Faced with a state budget shortfall, Morgan’s legislation proposed raising the West Virginia state sales tax 1.00% from 6.00% to 7.00%. The bill was sent to the house Finance committee never to be heard from again. Had it become law, West Virginia would have had the highest sales tax in the nation, alongside five other states.

The legislative session in Charleston is now, for most intents and purposes, over. There is work yet left to be done on the budget but there won’t be any more legislation to worry about for now. We can all breathe a sigh of relief and look over the damage or in some cases the good things that made it through the legislature…or didn’t. Sometimes the good news lies in what didn’t get passed.

When I was growing up I was taught in school that the United States was the greatest nation on earth because of our freedoms. During the Cold War our press made fun of the state controlled press of the former Soviet Union. I was taught that in other countries protest against the government was forbidden. We were different, we were free. We had rights and our Constitution guaranteed them.

According to Legiscan.com, this year 2035 bills have been introduced in the West Virginia legislature and so far 57 of them have been completed. The number of introduced bills is down 17% from two sessions ago and down 9% from last year. This might sound like a good trend, for those of us that are concerned about the impact of legislation on our lives; however the number of completed bills is on the rise. Last year there were 439 completed bills, up 18% from the previous year and up a whopping 46% from 2011.

The legislative session in Charleston is in full swing. To some this might recall the famous quote “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” There seems to be some debate as to who actually said it. In doing a little research I found several attributions to Mark Twain, the famous American author and humorist. However, it appears that in reality the originator of the quote was Gideon J. Tucker, an American lawyer, newspaper editor and politician, who as a Surrogate of New York in 1866 used the phrase in a decision in a case regarding a will. You can’t always trust what you read in a history book, or on the internet.

Previously, I stated that the establishments of both major parties on the national level appear to be systematically alienating their rank and file. A recent Gallup Poll indicates that Independent is now the most popular voter affiliation in the nation at 42% on average for 2013. Democrats come in second at 31% with Republicans coming in third at 25%. Compare those numbers with twenty years ago and the change is quite remarkable. According to the Statistical Abstract of the United States, in 1994, the year that Republicans picked up an historic 54 seats in the House of Representatives, Independents comprised only 10% of the electorate, with the Democrats at 47% and Republicans at 43%.