House of Delegates Minority Leader Tim Armstead says Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s State of the State Address Wednesday night lacked specifics especially when it comes to job creation.
“There were not very many details in this speech,” Armstead said. “It was sort of a discussion of the issues but not necessarily proposals of what we do about them. And what I think was particularly missing from the speech were ideas on how we put people back to work in West Virginia.”
Job creation is a big part of the GOP’s agenda in the House for this session. Del. Armstead says he doesn’t understand the lack of urgency from the Tomblin administration.
“I almost sense that there’s not a feeling that that’s a crisis in West Virginia when we believe it is with nearly 60-thousand people out of work. I would have hoped to see a lot more details and proposals on how we put people back to work,” Armstead said.
The House Republicans have said job creation can be impacted by overhauling the state’s tax structure, its legal structure, the regulatory climate and the education system.
“I hope the legislature will still take the next 60-days to do that but I didn’t really see a game plan or any type of blueprint for doing that in this speech,” Armstead said.