FAIRMONT —
Less than 24 hours after Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin took his oath of office, lawmakers are looking into ways to make gubernatorial succession less rocky than West Virginia has experienced over the past year.
Earlier this week, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin celebrated his one-year anniversary in Congress, which also coincides with the one-year anniversary of Tomblin leaving his role as Senate president and stepping in as acting governor.
That’s when the state, which had already been in political turmoil after the death of U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd and the subsequent special election for the seat, jumped right back in a political whirlwind.
When the dust settled, the state was left with the legal opinion that another special election would be required to fill the governor’s seat permanently. Or at least until the 2012 election.
But it’s entirely possible that legislation a House-Senate judiciary subcommittee is considering could save time, taxpayers’ money and legal head scratching if an issue like this comes up again.
The legislation, still in draft form, would ask voters to amend the state Constitution and add the elected office of lieutenant governor.
There’s also a separate proposal before the same committee to address when a governor or other statewide elected executive branch official becomes temporarily or permanently disabled.
It’s a suggestion Tomblin made earlier in the year, even before he shed the title of “acting governor.”
The measure calls for a lieutenant governor run alongside the governor, and serve as a cabinet secretary until called on to fill a vacancy. It also calls for allowing a governor who takes office to fill out an unexpired term to be able to run for two consecutive four-year terms afterward.
Because of the constitutional change, two-thirds of the House and Senate must each approve the change and then the measure will go to the voters. Members of the subcommittee believe the bill will be among the first addressed when the regular session of the Legislature convenes in January.
We strongly agree that this issue needs to be clearly defined. Having been through 18 months of political upheaval and one bitter election that forced yet another, we need to have some stability in the state.
And the legislation will clearly define what will happen if the governor’s seat becomes vacant for any period of time, whether it be two days or two years. Future generations deserve that kind of stability, too.
We’re glad that the Legislature is taking up this issue. It shows foresight and forward thinking, as opposed to dealing with whatever may come down the turnpike.
Opinion
Gubernatorial succession action needed in state to bring stability
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