Bob Wise in 2001 Governor's State of the State speeches
On Budget & Economy:
Limit capital assistance find to new businesses
I ask for some important economic development legislation this year: the long-awaited reform of the West Virginia Capital Company Act. The Legislature created this act to stimulate new businesses. But many well-established companies,
that could have obtained funding in the traditional marketplace, have tapped this fund, and tapped West Virginia taxpayers. This has gone on too long. The bill before you will restrict this money to creating new jobs and new opportunities.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Budget & Economy:
The cupboard is bare, despite national economic growth
Ladies and gentleman, the cupboard is bare. Despite the 3% budget cut which I was forced to impose on the first day of my term, we are looking at a state budget with minimal growth for the next year. We’re paying the price for some reckless decisions
by state government. We have about $9 million in unpaid phone bills, some of them three years old. There have been massive overcommitments on highway projects that we must now fund. The contingency fund that we need to keep in reserve for emergencies has
been depleted-along with several other funds.
We are now at what appears to be the waning days of the longest period of economic growth in our nation’s recent history-and West Virginia has precious little to show for it. I am presenting
a budget that is in balance, a budget with no fat, no frills, and no nonsense. It is a budget that makes tough decisions. It is a budget that says the irresponsible practices that got us in this situation will not be tolerated again.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Civil Rights:
Restrict and regulate video gambling
West Virginia is drowning in a sea of video poker machines. Some 20,000 to 30,000 are in operation. Our convenience stores and gas stations are becoming unlicensed casinos. The current situation breeds disrespect for the law. When the state gives a
wink and a nod to an industry that is clearly in violation of the laws, it sends a message that we are not serious about the rule of law. The bill I will introduce tomorrow will reduce, restrict and regulate video gambling: - The number of video
gambling machines will be limited to 9,000 statewide.
- These machines will be prohibited in any part of a business open to young people, and there will be a limit of five machines at any one location.
- Operators will have to pass a strict criminal
background check and have been state residents for at least two years.
- Anyone who operates an illegal gambling machine will forfeit not only that machine, but also any and all legal and illegal machines under his or her control.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Crime:
$1.5M to raise pay for police and prison guards
Although we value their work, those who guard us against crime are paid far less in West Virginia than in our surrounding states. This is particularly true in the correctional system.
After completing the required training, the starting salary for a correctional officer is $18,000. Severely understaffed and overworked, our correctional officers are spending long days in close quarters with dangerous and unpredictable criminals.
I ask you to pass legislation that will provide a $2,000 annual raise for correctional officers. Our State Police, too, are not paid adequately in accordance with the burden they carry.
And, we are unable, in this tight budget year, to give them all they deserve. But I have set aside $1.5 million in the budget to offer an adjustment in the trooper longevity schedule that will reward our troopers for remaining on the job.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Education:
First priority: PROMISE College Scholarship Program
Our passport to prosperity is education - and education is the centerpiece of my program. My first priority is funding for the PROMISE Scholarship Program. This will provide each qualified student who works hard and plays by the rules with a scholarship
at one of our state colleges, or an equivalent scholarship to be used at a West Virginia accredited program. This Legislature has already passed the basic legislation, but there hasn’t been any money provided to keep the PROMISE. It has to happen.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Education:
Raise teacher salaries by $1,000; plus $2,500 in incentives
Teachers are the heart of the educational system. We must honor the work of our teachers. Therefore I propose to increase the salary of every West Virginia teacher by $1,000, and every school service worker’s salary by $756, effective January 1, 2002. Let me speak directly to our educators. Your salaries have fallen to below 40th place in the nation. I commit to you tonight a multiyear effort to
begin moving you back up the national ladder. We need to do more to keep the best and the brightest educators in our schools. I will commit to working with you on a strategy to develop incentives to keep experienced teachers in class longer.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Energy & Oil:
Renew 5-cent gas tax to pay for road-building
We’re going to continue to build roads in West Virginia. Our Congressional delegation has worked overtime to secure funding for Corridor H and Corridor D. And we will complete these roads, and others crucial to our future.
To keep our road building plans moving, I will ask you to renew the 5-cent gas tax. This is not a new tax, but simply continues an existing tax, and that $55 million is necessary to keep our road program going.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Environment:
Create cabinet Environment post; end tradeoff with economy
It was the prevailing wisdom in the last century, and in previous generations, that economic growth carried the price of environmental sacrifice. We in West Virginia often divided ourselves into two camps - energy on one side, environment on the other.
In so doing, we lost sight of a basic truth: we will share the future of West Virginia together. It is my goal to put behind us the era of divisiveness on the issue of West Virginia’s environment. All of us who love West Virginia - whether we work at
behind a desk or a dozer, at a coal mine or a corporate headquarters - love our hills, our rivers, our woods and our valleys. We can have a clean environment-and we can have good paying jobs. And there must be no higher economic development priority-
therefore-I ask you to elevate the Director of the Division of Environmental Protection to the post of secretary, and add this official to the Governor’s Cabinet to emphasize the importance of environmental protection.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Free Trade:
Protect steel industry from illegal imports
My priority in working with our delegation in Washington will be to stop the destruction of the steel industry by illegal imports. West Virginia’s steel industry has developed efficient processes and adapted to the new international marketplace.
But it can’t survive against an onslaught of subsidized and underpriced steel from abroad. This country must have a strong and vibrant steel industry to remain an industrial power - and West Virginia will be a part of it.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Free Trade:
Require use of US steel in state-funded projects
One step we can take, immediately, to preserve steel jobs, is to require the use of U.S. made steel in state-funded projects. I have prepared a bill to do just that. I respectfully urge you to take up this legislation at the start of business tomorrow,
and to move it through both houses of this Legislature in record time. I promise to sign it the minute it arrives on my desk. We’re in this fight, and we’re in it to win...for West Virginia.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Health Care:
$1.5M to provide healthcare access for every child
This Legislature has acted wisely in establishing a Children’s Health Insurance Program to help the uninsured children of working families. But this program has yet to reach many eligible children. I have included one and a half million dollars
in the budget to cover additional children. And we will work aggressively - and cut through red tape - to make sure every child in West Virginia has access to coverage - whether under CHIP, Medicaid, or private insurance. Every child. That’s my goal.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Health Care:
Improve patient rights by allowing to sue HMOs
We have a patient bill of rights law, so they say, in West Virginia - but patients will tell you, it does not grant them very many rights. I want to fix that. I will present for your consideration a new Patient Bill of Rights,
which includes a fast, impartial grievance procedure for disputes, independent reviews of coverage denials, and the right to sue an HMO for negligence that results in harm to a patient.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Health Care:
More discounts for prescription drugs
We now have a strategy to contain prescription drug costs: we’re going to create a pharmacy benefit program for our poorest senior citizens. We’re going to expand the discount program for seniors above the poverty level. We’re developing a drug
benefit plan that could be an add-on for people on Medicare and employer-based insurance. And we’re going to pool the buying power of all the state agencies that purchase medicine and use this to drive a harder bargain with the drug companies.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Principles & Values:
Treat citizens as customers of government, not as subjects
The people demand that we no longer accept the idea that West Virginia should take last place at the nation’s table. - They demand that we educate our children so that they can have better lives and take advantage of the job opportunities we will
create-and at the same time, they demand that we teach by example and by word the values that have made this a great state and a great nation.
- They demand that we improve our healthcare, and that we provide the means for each citizen to have access to
health care.
- They demand that we make our economy stronger, and that we participate fully in the new economy based on information and technology.
- They demand that we protect the special places that make West Virginia what it is, and preserve our
water, our air and our land for future generations to enjoy.
- They demand that we conduct the business of government in a way that reflects the trust they have given us, and that we treat citizens as the customers of government, not as its subjects.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Tax Reform:
Top-to-bottom review of business taxes & regulations
I will conduct a complete top-to-bottom review of the various tax incentives that have been developed for business over the past several decades. We need to see which ones work, and strengthen them; we need to see if any are ineffective,
and direct those resources elsewhere. And we need to study the tax incentives available in other states and countries and see where we can be more competitive. We will remove obstacles in state government to business start-ups.
We will provide one-stop shopping -available 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the Internet - to entrepreneurs who want to do business in West Virginia. Most new businesses are started by people who already have a day job - and can’t afford to take
time off to stand in lines at state offices.
I am also ordering a review of the state’s regulatory rules and practices. Regulation is important, and can be a shield against unfair practices - if it is effective, and if it is not burdensome.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
On Technology:
Make e-government service available 24/7
Our citizens need 24-hour, seven day a week service from government. Companies like Amazon.com - which are creating new jobs in West Virginia - have shown that people can and will make transactions around the clock.
If we can buy books and CDs at 10 p.m., why can’t we buy hunting and fishing licenses, reserve a cabin in a state park, renew a license plate, apply for a business permit, or check the status of a tax return?
I have directed my Office of Technology to launch an e-government initiative. We will identify - from the consumer’s perspective - the government services that can most easily be carried out on line.
If you’re a customer of a state agency, write to me - or send me an email - and tell me how we can serve you better. West Virginians expect and need better service from government. They deserve it. And they will get it from this Administration.
Source: 2001 State of the State Address to West Virginia Legislature
Feb 14, 2001
Page last updated: Mar 14, 2021