The legislative session is nearly over and very little has been accomplished by the state Senate that would help move the state forward.

The House of Delegates has been working through a package of economic development bills that would help to attract new job creators to our state. Gov. Morrisey has proposed a state budget with a 5% income tax cut. Meanwhile, the state Senate continues to focus on legislation that is not likely to help our state prosper.

West Virginia continues to have the lowest workforce participation rate in the country. There have been no significant job announcements that weren’t already in place before the current leadership team in Charleston took over. The negative metrics continue to pile up and our surrounding states are seeing huge job announcements constantly.

One such metric is a new report from the Urban Institute that tracked median household income in the U.S. by state. According to an article in Newsweek, “West Virginia was the only state where inflation-adjusted median household income declined over the period studied, decreasing from 0.4% from $56,161 to $55,948. From 1970 to 2023, the state went from ranking 28th highest median household income to 49th. The average household income for the nation grew by $18,790.”

Our state is at a real crossroads. We can continue to go down this new path where the legislature is focused on social issues and wedge issue politics, or we can try to get back on the path we had been on over the last decade where we had record economic growth and controlled government spending, which produced the kind of strong economic growth that enabled the largest tax cut in state history.

We need a new crop of state Senate candidates with business and professional experience. As a business owner who has directly created hundreds of jobs and indirectly created thousands of jobs all over the state, I know that economic growth doesn’t happen easily or by chance. West Virginia leaders need a plan. We need big ideas. We need people who have been successful in the private sector that are willing to make the sacrifice to serve the public and help get our state Senate back on track.

Now that the legislative candidate filing period has come to a close and campaigns are under way, it appears that the effort to encourage many such leaders to step up and help has been successful. As we head into the primary election, it will be as important as ever to review who your candidates are and review their backgrounds, in addition to the voting records and policy priorities of the incumbents. West Virginia families deserve leadership who will focus on economic development and creating jobs.

David H. McKinley is the founder of Mountaineer Freedom Alliance and an eighth generation West Virginian. He is the principal owner of McKinley Carter Wealth Services, McKinley Architecture and Engineering, Omni Strategic Technologies, Beyond Marketing, Willow Glen Capital, and McKinley Properties. He also serves as chair of the board of governors at West Liberty University and sits on the Wheeling Park Commission overseeing Oglebay Park and Wheeling Park.