Morrisey Handles Funds Responsibly
There can be little doubt of what would have happened a few years ago, had the West Virginia attorney general’s office determined, in the days before an election, that the agency had no specific need of $1 million in its accounts.
Back then, when Darrell McGraw was attorney general, much, if not all, of the money would have been used in a re-election spending spree. McGraw was notorious for using money his office collected in lawsuit settlements for political purposes. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of dollars were spent on novelties such as refrigerator magnets with McGraw’s name on them, to be handed out to potential voters. Funds were spent on “public service” advertising to advance McGraw’s candidacies. Still more was donated to “worthy causes,” no doubt in the hope gratitude would be shown at the ballot box.
Complaints by legislators that the money belonged to West Virginians and should be deposited in the state’s general fund were laughed off by McGraw.
Fast forward to 2016, less than two weeks before an election in which our current attorney general, Patrick Morrisey is a candidate.
Morrisey’s opponent and his special interest supporters are spending enormous amounts to smear the attorney general with what, to be blunt, are untruthful criticisms. One is that Morrisey has not done enough to combat the epidemic of drug abuse in West Virginia.
He has done an enormous amount with multiple effective initiatives. Morrisey may well have done more to fight substance abuse than any other elected official in the state. This week, he did more.
Morrisey had become aware of a backlog in drug testing at the State Police website. More resources are needed for the work.
Throughout his tenure as attorney general, Morrisey has reversed the McGraw approach. Instead of keeping every dime of money collected in lawsuit settlements, he has been returning substantial amounts to the state treasury.
On Thursday, Morrisey revealed his office will be returning another $1 million — in the hope it will be used to help the State Police laboratory reduce testing backlogs.
That much money can, if used as Morrisey hopes, make a big difference. Good for him for restoring West Virginians’ faith in an attorney general’s office that serves us, rather than the incumbent’s re-election machine.