1. We need to make the WV state budget the priority. Each of the last two legislative sessions have taken longer than they should have, costing the WV tax payer 1.45 million dollars. The state legislature should be able to get a budget done on time. We need new leaders who understand that this level of waste is a terrible thing.
2. WV's economy needs a boost. Our opioid epidemic continues. Recreational Marijuana can help with both. Colorado brought in an additional 150 million dollars in taxes on their more than 1 billion dollars in sales of legal marijuana in 2016. Legalizing marijuana has also lead to a decreased number of opioid deaths in Colorado. If the state legislature wont approve recreational marijuana, then there should be a referendum on the 2020 ballot. Let the people of WV decide.
3. Make hunting legal on Sundays just as it is the rest of the week. During the last session, hunting on private property was legalized on Sunday, but I think we can do more. This would help WV capitalize on hunting tourism to the tune of millions of dollars, and would help to reduce the deer population, which may help reduce car insurance in our state. I know that sounds strange, but its true. According to the state farm address below, WV is the state in which you are most likely to hit a deer, causing car insurance to go up.
4. WV should reduce income taxes on the working class, and make up the lost revenue with increased taxes on the wealthy. Even a small reduction on income taxes for the working class would be a step in the right direction. A tax break for the working class goes right back into our economy. Enacting the Earned Income Tax Credit would benefit the working class nicely.
5. Increase WV's minimum wage to $10 an hour. 123,000 workers in the state of WV would benefit from a increase to the states minimum wage. That's a lot of families with more income. Imagine what that kind of boost could do for our economy? Real WV families with more money to spend. 25 percent of workers in Greenbrier county are low wage earners. They need a raise.
6. WV should protect its Medicaid funding. Right now, the program is to be funded with Excess funds. Medicaid funding should be a priority, it should be protected. Real lives depend on Medicaid, and the way the legislature "funded" Medicaid in 2017 is risky. 560,000 West Virginians rely on Medicaid, the government should protect them.
7. If WV legalizes recreational Marijuana, if we legalize hunting on Sundays, if we reduce the waste by not having the State legislature in extra sessions, and perhaps if we raise taxes on the wealthy, we should give our teachers and state employees a raise. If you want the best education for our children, and we do, then you need to pay our teachers like they're the best. We may then cut into our Teacher shortage. If you want the best at any position, you have to pay the employee well. Thats common sense.
8. Reduced sales tax on guns with built in trigger locks. Using trigger locks makes guns safer around children, and will potentially help to protect from theft. It may increase gun sales as well. If residents of border states realize certain guns are cheaper in WV, gun sales could go up.
9. Gun safety needs to be taught in our schools. Even if thats something as simple as sending kids home with a set of instructions on what to do if they come across a gun on accident, or showing kids this video from the NRA on what to do if they find a gun on accident ( https://eddieeagle.nra.org/) or making the hunter safety education course mandatory to high school students. I think we as a society could do better with Gun safety education. About 6,000 children in the USA are treated for a gun related injury, and 21 percent of those are accidents. We can do better.
10. WV should look into planting trees on reclaimed mine sites. Reclaimed mine sites, from what I've seen, look like fields, without trees. Without the trees there is more rain runoff from the mountains. With more runoff, its more likely to flood. Never mind that trees take in carbon and produce oxygen. Trees help with flood prevention and mitigation.
All of these ideas will help WV, but the most important idea that the WV state government needs to get on board with, is that compromise is key to governing effectively. Whenever either party has both sides of the legislature and the executive branch, they both think they can push through any idea that they want. Its not true. Governor Justice (R) has both the state house of delegates and the state Senate controlled by his fellow Republicans, but the Governor does not have a big legislative victory. The Governor dislikes the current budget so much that he refused to sign it. The only victory that he has attained was given to him by the people of WV, the roads bond. My fellow citizens, hyper-partisanship is not the way. To have a functioning government we all need to remember that compromising with others is necessary. Every day so many of us go to work, and work with others we may not always agree with, to complete our daily tasks. I'm ready to compromise with the other side for the greater good. So, in this upcoming election, vote for common sense interventions, vote for the candidate who is willing to compromise for the greater good, vote for me, Roger Vannoy. Democrat running for the house of delegates, 42 district in WV.
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/business/after-sunday-hunting-approvals-supporters-look-for-economic-benefits/article_6ff0c6cd-2c5b-54e0-8c59-16f7db27a21b.html
2. WV's economy needs a boost. Our opioid epidemic continues. Recreational Marijuana can help with both. Colorado brought in an additional 150 million dollars in taxes on their more than 1 billion dollars in sales of legal marijuana in 2016. Legalizing marijuana has also lead to a decreased number of opioid deaths in Colorado. If the state legislature wont approve recreational marijuana, then there should be a referendum on the 2020 ballot. Let the people of WV decide.
3. Make hunting legal on Sundays just as it is the rest of the week. During the last session, hunting on private property was legalized on Sunday, but I think we can do more. This would help WV capitalize on hunting tourism to the tune of millions of dollars, and would help to reduce the deer population, which may help reduce car insurance in our state. I know that sounds strange, but its true. According to the state farm address below, WV is the state in which you are most likely to hit a deer, causing car insurance to go up.
4. WV should reduce income taxes on the working class, and make up the lost revenue with increased taxes on the wealthy. Even a small reduction on income taxes for the working class would be a step in the right direction. A tax break for the working class goes right back into our economy. Enacting the Earned Income Tax Credit would benefit the working class nicely.
5. Increase WV's minimum wage to $10 an hour. 123,000 workers in the state of WV would benefit from a increase to the states minimum wage. That's a lot of families with more income. Imagine what that kind of boost could do for our economy? Real WV families with more money to spend. 25 percent of workers in Greenbrier county are low wage earners. They need a raise.
6. WV should protect its Medicaid funding. Right now, the program is to be funded with Excess funds. Medicaid funding should be a priority, it should be protected. Real lives depend on Medicaid, and the way the legislature "funded" Medicaid in 2017 is risky. 560,000 West Virginians rely on Medicaid, the government should protect them.
8. Reduced sales tax on guns with built in trigger locks. Using trigger locks makes guns safer around children, and will potentially help to protect from theft. It may increase gun sales as well. If residents of border states realize certain guns are cheaper in WV, gun sales could go up.
9. Gun safety needs to be taught in our schools. Even if thats something as simple as sending kids home with a set of instructions on what to do if they come across a gun on accident, or showing kids this video from the NRA on what to do if they find a gun on accident ( https://eddieeagle.nra.org/) or making the hunter safety education course mandatory to high school students. I think we as a society could do better with Gun safety education. About 6,000 children in the USA are treated for a gun related injury, and 21 percent of those are accidents. We can do better.
10. WV should look into planting trees on reclaimed mine sites. Reclaimed mine sites, from what I've seen, look like fields, without trees. Without the trees there is more rain runoff from the mountains. With more runoff, its more likely to flood. Never mind that trees take in carbon and produce oxygen. Trees help with flood prevention and mitigation.
All of these ideas will help WV, but the most important idea that the WV state government needs to get on board with, is that compromise is key to governing effectively. Whenever either party has both sides of the legislature and the executive branch, they both think they can push through any idea that they want. Its not true. Governor Justice (R) has both the state house of delegates and the state Senate controlled by his fellow Republicans, but the Governor does not have a big legislative victory. The Governor dislikes the current budget so much that he refused to sign it. The only victory that he has attained was given to him by the people of WV, the roads bond. My fellow citizens, hyper-partisanship is not the way. To have a functioning government we all need to remember that compromising with others is necessary. Every day so many of us go to work, and work with others we may not always agree with, to complete our daily tasks. I'm ready to compromise with the other side for the greater good. So, in this upcoming election, vote for common sense interventions, vote for the candidate who is willing to compromise for the greater good, vote for me, Roger Vannoy. Democrat running for the house of delegates, 42 district in WV.
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/business/after-sunday-hunting-approvals-supporters-look-for-economic-benefits/article_6ff0c6cd-2c5b-54e0-8c59-16f7db27a21b.html
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/business/report-many-wv-jobs-don-t-pay-living-wage/article_fd4c79b9-f7c7-5508-ae5c-e5b930288f3d.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/16/legal-marijuana-is-saving-lives-in-colorado-study-finds/?utm_term=.2a52e412b1d0
http://fortune.com/2016/12/13/colorado-billion-legal-marijuana-sales/
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/custom/statehouse-beat-special-session-costs-and-golf-ethics/article_e729ebb6-fd60-5524-a5af-f58e86c0f6ca.html
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/lawmakers-extend-committee-deadline-on-revenue-bill/article_e8a1d43c-c663-59f7-8aef-56443e3379dd.html
http://wchstv.com/news/special-reports/waste-watch-how-much-is-special-session-costing-the-state
https://newsroom.statefarm.com/state-farm-releases-2016-deer-collision-data/#ciVmZPZkHEUgWCDo.97
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-business/20161112/after-sunday-hunting-approvals-supporters-look-for-economic-benefits
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/14/the-5-highest-and-lowest-paying-states-for-teachers-in-the-us.html
https://www.theet.com/prestoncountyjournal/news/higher-education-institutions-forgo-five-year-teaching-programs/article_053f03b3-1913-52c3-9e61-6b3d9b8b3596.html
http://lmi.workforcewv.org/DataRelease/CountyRelease.html
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/custom/gerald-spiegler-wv-missed-out-on-population-wage-growth-daily/article_aa1072b8-74bb-5059-9a13-01247a54fba6.html
http://www.wvpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/WVCBP_SOWWV2017-FINAL-.pdf
http://lmi.workforcewv.org/DataRelease/CountyRelease.html
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/custom/gerald-spiegler-wv-missed-out-on-population-wage-growth-daily/article_aa1072b8-74bb-5059-9a13-01247a54fba6.html
http://www.wvpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/WVCBP_SOWWV2017-FINAL-.pdf
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