Editorial:
Legislators Must Act Now To Rein In A.G. McGraw
The
Herald-Dispatch, February 5, 2007
West
Virginia Chief Deputy Attorney General Fran Hughes went to the House of
Delegates Finance Committee on Thursday to defend Attorney General Darrell
McGraw. Legislators want to rein in McGraw for the way he handles money won in
court settlements and of his hiring of private lawyers to pursue some of those
cases.
"It
is a red herring that is being stirred up by the national Chamber (of
Commerce)," Hughes told the committee, according to an article by The
Associated Press.
A
person doesn't have to be a member of the Chamber of Commerce to question what
McGraw is doing.
Six
years ago, McGraw filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state Department of Health
and Human Resources, the Public Employees Insurance Agency and the West Virginia
Workers' Compensation Commission (now BrickStreet) against the makers of the
drug OxyContin. The state received a $10 million settlement.
About
$3 million went to outside law firms hired to handle the case. The rest went to
various state, local and private agencies at McGraw's discretion rather than to
the state agencies on whose behalf the suit was filed.
Several
bills introduced this session would give lawmakers oversight over future special
appointments, require McGraw's office to seek legislative approval of
settlements and deposit them in the state's general revenue fund. They echo
measures pursued during previous recent sessions, without success, according to
the AP.
The
Legislature needs to rein McGraw in. Money received in court settlements is not
his personal money to disburse as he pleases. It belongs to the people of
If
McGraw can't understand or agree to that, the state needs a new attorney general
who will.