Lawmakers Scold Chamber Head Over ‘Pessimistic’ Ads

The Register-Herald, Dec. 13, 2006

CHARLESTON — Lawmakers berated West Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts over a “pessimistic ad” that aired last month, telling him Tuesday the business community should stress the positive.

By that, members of the Joint Commission on Economic Development alluded to major strides in reforming civil justice, insurance lines and privatizing workers’ compensation.

Roberts acknowledged the ad made him “wince a little,” but held his ground that West Virginia lags the nation in creating a business-friendly environment. Specifically, the Chamber leader told panelists the Legislature needs even more reforms in court, specifically in punitive damages, consideration of collateral sources in jury awards, and raising the percentage bar in joint-several liability from 30 to 50.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeffrey Kessler, D-Marshall, suggested the Chamber might have been “sucked in” to a massive election advertising blitz by Massey Energy chief Don Blankenship, whom he didn’t identify by name.

Blankenship targeted certain lawmakers with an avalanche of television commercials and direct mailings in a failed effort to oust them from the House of Delegates in last month’s elections.

“When you continue to beat the drum that we’re the worst damn place to do business, it certainly does nothing but reinforce a reputation of false impressions,” Kessler said.

Lawmakers invited the Chamber official to address the panel, saying it wanted an explanation for the “pessimistic ad” that ran a short time last month.

Roberts likened West Virginia to a flashy automobile that develops a malfunction requiring immediate attention. “But if it has a flat tire, you’ve got to get out and fix it,” he said. “We do have a beautiful state, but we may have a flat tire.”

For instance, he told the panel, West Virginia ’s manufacturing jobs have shrunk from 128,000 in 1979 to a current 62,000.

What’s more, the jobless rate now stands at sixth in the nation, “and that’s in the middle of an unprecedented energy boom,” the Chamber leader said.

Delegate Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, the first lawmaker to object to the ad last month when he termed it “offensive,” pointed to sweeping changes in medical malpractice insurance, workers’ compensation and general lines of insurance, including elimination of third-party bad faith lawsuits. “Why not stress the good things, rather than say it’s a hellhole for business?” he asked Roberts.

While such progress is commendable, Roberts replied, some of the reforms were debated longer than a decade, and some “mettlesome problems” remain to be addressed. “And we don’t want to wait 14 years to fix these other things,” he told Browning.

“We’re not looking for changes that would put West Virginia out of the mainstream. We’re not asking for things that other states haven’t done. Being average would be OK.”

Delegate Sam Cann, D-Harrison, a co-chair of the commission, insisted that current laws aren’t holding West Virginia back. “We want the world to know there are a lot of good things going on here,” he said.

Another panelist, Delegate Mary Poling, D-Barbour, agreed, asking Roberts to provide the commission with proof that this is a sorry place to do business because of the court system. “I’d like to see some credibility to your evidence,” she told the Chamber head.