CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Minority Leader in the state House of Delegates says he is not expecting any large scale changes in the House under new Speaker Tim Miley.
Delegate Tim Armstead (R-40, Kanawha) said he has seen Miley’s House leadership team before now.
“It’s not going to be, I think, that new in the sense of working with them,” said Armstead. “Unless there’s a huge change in the attitude of the people who will be making those decisions, I’m not extremely optimistic.”
As Speaker Miley (D-48, Harrison) has settled into his new role, he has kept many House leaders who served under former Speaker Rick Thompson in place and shifted others.
Former House Majority Leader Brent Boggs (D-34, Braxton) is the new House Finance Chairman, while former House Finance Chairman Harry Keith White (D-21, Mingo) is the new House Majority Leader.
Delegate Tim Manchin (D-50, Marion) is the new House Judiciary Committee Chair.
It’s enough to raise concerns from West Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts who disagreed with former House Thompson on many issues in recent years.
“The House leadership has taken a decided turn to the left (in recent years) and, I think, we need to talk about that,” said Roberts.
“That doesn’t mean that we can’t work together. It doesn’t mean we’re refusing to work together. Every year we take ideas to the Legislature and every year we end up having to defend against a lot of bad ideas.”
Armstead said Republicans think a lot of issues are being ignored.
“I’d like to say I would hope some of those things would move forward but, again, when you’re talking about basically the same leadership team in different positions, I wouldn’t say I’m seeing that,” he said.