It’s time to make up your mind on the 2022 Election.   Early  voting begins October 26 and extends through November 5.  We’ve featured State Senate Candidates Laura Wakim-Chapman (R) and Randy Swartzmiller (D) and their responses to some vital issues.   Next week we’ll feature the House of Delegate candidates’ answers to those same questions.    Voters will also be deciding on four Constitutional Amendments on the ballot. 

I can’t tell you how to vote.   You need to make up your own mind.   I can, however, tell you how I’m  voting and what led me to make my decision:

#1 –  YES.  This  amendment clarifies that no court shall have authority on the impeachment process.   The WV Constitution is clear:  the House of Delegates impeaches; the Senate tries the impeachment.  The end run of the State Supreme Court to intervene in Justice Margaret Workman’s  impeachment process made this amendment necessary.  If a Justice of the Supreme Court is being impeached should the Supreme Court have authority to stop the proceedings?  If your answer is NO then you need to vote YES on this amendment.

#2 – NO.    There’s a lot of verbiage on reducing the property/inventory taxes in this amendment, but I cut to the chase.   The amendment puts the power of making the decision on reducing those taxes in the power of the legislature.  Sorry, that issue is too important to be left to political wheeling and dealings of the House and the Senate and I’m not giving them that power.

#3 – –YES.  This is the hardest one to figure out because it really doesn’t provide much information.    It allows churches to incorporate.   Why would they want to incorporate?  So that they can hold title to their own buildings.   Many times,  if the church falls on hard time or is closed, the title to the building is held by the diocese or the church leadership, sometimes in another state,  not by the people who donated and raised the funds to build or buy the building.  Often times with independent churches,  the ownership is in question if the church splits up. 

#4 – NO.   –   This amendment gives the Legislature oversight over the State Board of Education.  If this amendment passes rules and regulations passed by the State Board would have to be approved by the Legislature and would be submitted to the Rulemaking & Review Committee which meets during Interim Sessions.   Part-time legislators don’t have the time or knowledge to understand the intricacies of the rules and regulations passed by the individual Boards and Commissions (IE: Racing Commission passes horseracing rules) so they rely on lobbyists and attorneys from the Boards and Commission.    Once passed, the rules and regs are “bundled” into one big bill and sent to the legislature where the bill is passed without even a glance at the specifics in each rule.     The Governor appoints people with an educational background to the State School Board.   They include members of both parties.  Let them do their job and not be second guessed by Legislators.