CHARLESTON – West Virginia taxpayers deserve transparency, competitive bidding and millions of dollars in cost savings, all of which my administration delivered with its implementation of an outside counsel policy.
CHARLESTON – As the curtain falls on this year’s legislative session, we all should applaud the members of the West Virginia Legislature for their abilities to tackle big issues, particularly lawsuit reforms, which will move our state forward and into the national mainstream.
CHARLESTON – A statewide legal reform group praised the West Virginia Legislature for the work done in the session that ended March 12. “We applaud the members of the West Virginia Legislature for their abilities to tackle big issues, particularly lawsuit reforms, which will move our state forward and into the national mainstream,” said Roman Stauffer, executive director of West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. “This session they continued to focus on much-needed lawsuit reforms that wil
CHARLESTON – Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has sign a bill into law that will codify current Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s outside counsel policy. House Bill 4007 already had passed once this session, but Tomblin vetoed it because he thought it was too broad and gave the AG too much power. The bill was reworked and passed again. On March 9, Tomblin signed it.
“[T]he public financing of elections – for judgeships or any other positions – is a boondoggle we all should deplore.” That's what we wrote six years ago in an editorial opposing Gov. Joe Manchin's proposal of a public financing pilot project for the two state Supreme Court seats to be contested in the 2012 election.
CHARLESTON – Historic and unprecedented. Those words illustrate West Virginia’s seismic victory recently at the U.S. Supreme Court – a victory that reverberated across the nation instilling hope in the state’s coal industry and forcing bureaucrats to think twice before using executive regulation to bring about radical change. The ruling, issued Feb. 9, immediately stopped President Obama from implementing the centerpiece of his coal-killing agenda. It limits further economic damage by freezing t
CHARLESTON – State and national groups are praising the West Virginia Legislature’s passage of a bill that would codify current Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s outside counsel policy. House Bill 4007 already was passed once this session, but Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed it because he thought it was too broad and gave the AG too much power.
CHARLESTON – A state Senator wants a judge to prevent the state Senate from meeting on Sundays. Sen. John Unger (D-Berkeley) filed petition Feb. 24 in Kanawha Circuit Court against state Senate President Bill Cole, a Republican who also is running for governor. A hearing is set for Friday morning before Judge Jim Stucky.
WASHINGTON — A national group and a state group both are praising a recently passed piece of legislation that would bring West Virginia in line with other states regarding the legal responsibility of drug manufacturers. Senate Bill 15 would adopt the intermediary doctrine as a defense to civil action due to lack of warnings or instructions. The bill now awaits Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's signature.
WASHINGTON – West Virginia's U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin filed an amicus brief supporting the state's effort to stop the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Capito, a Republican, and Manchin, a Democrat, signed the amicus brief spearheaded by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.,) Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and House Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whi
CHARLESTON – There is no doubt that West Virginia is facing an economic and a fiscal crisis. We are reminded constantly of our troubled times. Miners being laid off because of President Obama’s War on Coal. A majority of our adults not working. High unemployment. Dead last in job growth because we are the most over-regulated state in the nation. A $353 million state budget deficit that is only going to grow in the short term because of the dramatic decline of severance taxes and the ripple effec
West Virginia University’s College of Law has published a toolkit to help communities to navigate the thorny issues around a major problem in the state - abandoned and neglected buildings.
CHARLESTON – Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has vetoed a bill creating bidding and qualification procedures for the Attorney General’s office’s hiring of outside counsel. While Tomblin praised the goal of House Bill 4007, his veto message said his office believes it is too broad and gives the Attorney General too much power.
CHARLESTON – As the state legislative session enters its second half, a legal reform group is making another push for lawmakers to consider creating an intermediate court of appeals.
CHARLESTON – The daughter and widow of a mentally ill man are suing the West Virginia State Police for excessive use of force that allegedly caused his death.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform is pushing Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to sign legislation providing transparency to how the state Attorney General's office operates. ILR President Lisa A. Rickard applauded the state Legislature for passing House Bill 4007, which promotes transparency and limits contingency fees when the AG's office hires outside private plaintiffs’ lawyers.
Story CopyCHARLESTON – Since becoming your governor, preparing our state's workforce to meet the long-term needs of business and industry operating in West Virginia has been one of my top priorities.
CHARLESTON – A House bill to codify Attorney General Patrick Morrisey’s outside counsel policy is headed to the state Senate. House Bill 4007 passed the House of Delegates on Jan. 25 on a 96-1 vote. It would restrict fees to outside counsel hired by the state Attorney General’s office and prevent those attorneys from contributing to that attorney general’s re-election campaign while working for the state.
CHARLESTON – Five years ago, when I became governor, we started down a path to strengthen and improve West Virginia's education system. Last week, I was proud to join members of the state Department of Education, representatives from education groups and programs from across the state, and business and industry supporters to highlight changes we've made and partnerships that are strengthening West Virginia's education system.
