Joe Delong, Majority Leader House of Delegates, D-Hancock Co, speaks to Rotary
Photo by Wayne Towner
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Joe Delong, Majority Leader House of Delegates, D-Hancock Co, speaks to Rotary |
Photo by Wayne Towner |
PARKERSBURG — Joe DeLong is proud of the changes he has seen occur since becoming a member of the
West Virginia House of Delegates in 2000. | Currently the House Majority Leader, DeLong, D-Hancock, spoke Monday to the Parkersburg Rotary Club about the situation he found in the West Virginia legislature after first being elected eight years ago. DeLong said the Legislature’s current leadership team has made some very positive changes over the last few years regarding the processes and the atmosphere of the Legislature. “The fact of the matter is that the Legislature that I came into a few years ago was not a place that really allowed for free and open debate and exchange on the issues,” he said. “We’re doing things differently to allow individuals to bring their different ideas to the table in ways that they haven’t been able to do before. When he joined the Legislature, DeLong said the body basically worked under “the golden rule ... those who have the gold make the rules,” he said. Rank and file members were expected to vote as the leaders wanted and not make waves and they would receive funds to take back to their districts, he said. DeLong said he and others decided not to follow that system and worked to bring things around to a more open system. One of the steps taken in recent years was the elimination of the old budget digest system, which allowed legislative leaders to divide up funds for projects as they saw fit around the state. The Legislature now used a community partnership program, providing each legislator with the same amount to be used on projects in their districts, he said. “Legislators don’t feel like they have to vote a certain way or act a certain way to return money to their districts. We’ve made the House where all 100 voices can be heard,” DeLong said. Looking at the 2008 Regular Session, which opened Jan. 9, DeLong said it is different from other sessions in recent years when larger and more controversial issues dominated the sessions, from medical malpractice reform to workers compensation to table gaming. “All of those issues were very important and needed to be addressed, but unfortunately as we dealt with them, they were very contentious and brought about a lot of debate and a lot of controversy and drew our attention away from other things. The nice thing about this session that I’m really looking forward to is we don’t have that one single polarizing issue so I think we’ll be able to address a whole lot of areas of concern and really allow the debate to be opened even more than it has been in the past,” he said. DeLong thinks the Legislature should continue looking at changes to the state’s tax system, primarily the idea of modernizing and improving the tax code in West Virginia. He also wants to see improvements made in the state’s educational system. “We have to get away from this ‘one size fits all’ approach in Charleston,” he said. DeLong, who is a Weirton resident, may be leaving the Legislature this year. He is one of the Democratic candidates for the office of secretary of state in the 2008 primary election. Contact Wayne Towner at wtowner@newsandsentinel.com
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