WHEELING - Acting West Virginia Senate President Jeff Kessler said acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's claims that he "reduced the state sales tax" and "gave raises to teachers" are "fiction."
Kessler, D-Marshall, said Tomblin came to him for help in early March when it looked as if Tomblin's legislation to reduce the state food tax had died during the regular session of the West Virginia Legislature.
Tomblin and Kessler are among the six Democrat candidates seeking the nomination for governor in a special primary election on May 14. Kessler spoke of the campaign while addressing students at Wheeling Jesuit University's National Technology Transfer Center Wednesday night.
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Acting West Virginia Senate President Jeff Kessler addresses a group of Wheeling Jesuit University students Wednesday.
"He is taking credit for a lot of things that are a bit of fiction," Kessler said of Tomblin. "He is saying he reduced the sales tax, and forced the Legislature to do it, and gave all the teachers a raise. That's about as far from the truth as you can see.
"His sales tax (reduction) was dead, quite frankly. He actually came to my office pleading for help, asking me to assist him in getting his dead piece of legislation moving again."
Kessler told Tomblin he would do so if some of the state's surplus money was put toward giving all state employees a one-time raise. In addition, he wanted $14 million in local tax dollars redirected toward raising the salaries for starting teachers in the state.
Chris Stadelman, Tomblin spokesman, acknowledged the measure had to pass through the Legislature before becoming law, but said the bill to reduce the state's food tax was Tomblin's idea. Both the House and the Senate had failed to pass the legislation by crossover day - the day by which bills must be passed out of their chamber of origin, Stadelman said.
"When that didn't happen, Tomblin held their feet to the fire and said it had to get passed, or he would call legislators back for a special session," Stadelman said. "If (Kessler) had wanted it to pass, it could have been passed before crossover day."
Kessler told the students - some of them education majors - that he plans to increase wages for teachers if he is elected governor.
"If we don't start attracting our young people coming out of schools with teaching degrees, we don't have a chance," he said. "We need the pay for those folks to be competitive with the salaries in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. They would like to stay, but the wages are so much better there."
Kessler also criticized Tomblin for failing to lead on issues pertaining to Marcellus Shale drilling in the state.
"Strict regulation over Marcellus Shale is needed in West Virginia," he said. "And I don't see that happening."
Kessler said much of the drilling started within Marshall and Wetzel counties, which lie within his district. As such, he said he was among the first in the state Legislature to become acquainted with the issues resulting from Marcellus Shale drilling.
"A lot of legislators thought Marcellus Shale was a linebacker from USC," Kessler quipped.
He said the Senate passed a bill to regulate Marcellus Shale during the recent legislative session, but that it failed to get through the House.
"The House let it die, frankly," Kessler said. "And there was no leadership out of our acting governor on the issue. He sat on the sidelines and never pushed for a bill of any kind. He never talked about it in his state of the state address, never once tried to advance it, or use his bully pulpit to advance an agenda that called for regulatory reform. So the bill died."
West Virginia has always been a coal-rich state, Kessler said.
"But while coal may have been king and created jobs, it didn't create any real wealth for this state," he said. There were a handful of coal companies that came in - while they created jobs, they didn't create opportunities."
In the years to come, there will be a demand for West Virginia's energy sources, Kessler predicted. And he suggests now is the time to start regulating the effects of Marcellus Shale on water and the environment.
"I don't want my 2- and 5-year-old kids to glow in the dark," he said. "I want to make sure our waters and environment are protected and clean. They say there might be enough gas in this basin to power the nation for the next 50-60 years. Let's make sure we create jobs and opportunities for people of this state."