CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Governor-elect Patrick Morrisey will be West Virginia’s 37th governor in two months and he says there’s a lot of work to be done between now and then.
Morrisey announced the seven co-leaders that will head-up his transition team at a Tuesday morning news conference.
Those co-leaders include House of Delegates Majority Leader Eric Householder, R-Berkeley, former West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Conrad Lucas, Deputy Attorney General Doug Buffington, CityNet President and CEO Jim Martin, coal operator Jim Laurita, Raleigh County Republican Executive Committee Chair Julie Kominsky and former federal government administrator Karen Evans.
“These leaders are committed to standing up for the future of our communities, empowering our economy, and fighting for the prosperity every West Virginian deserves,” Morrisey said.
The leaders will help put together a larger transition team that will explore a number of topics like commerce, education, tourism, the environment and West Virginia values.
Morrisey also said input is important. He wants state residents to submit their ideas to the West Virginia Prosperity Group.
Householder, who spoke with MetroNews after the news conference, said the participation by state residents will be key to the transition.
“I think he’s very sincere, Governor-elect Morrisey, when he said he wanted a responsible, accountable and effective government,” Householder said. “West Virginia shouldn’t be 48th and 49th and 50th and I certainly believe that he believes that and I’m certainly going to do everything I can to help him achieve what he’s looking for.”
Householder said communication will be the key during the transition.
“It is to listen. Here’s an opportunity for our citizens to go to westvirginiaprosperitygroup.com, if they want to share any of their policy ideas, if they want to work for the administration, it’s a perfect opportunity for out citizens to be heard,” Householder said.
Morrisey said there will be a lot of review of the state budget over the next 60 days and then the additional 30 days after he takes office before the legislature begins its 60-day session in February.
“We are going to be spending a lot of time on repurposing and resizing government,” he said. “We all know there are always efficiencies that can be brought to bear. Part of the reason I’ve talked about doing personnel reviews and an audit is I want to make sure taxpayers get the value of every dollar that is spent.”
Partnership with legislature
Morrisey said he would like to have a package of bills ready to go for lawmakers to consider when the 60-day session begins. He said ideally the legislation would have been worked on between his office and members of the House and Senate beforehand.
“That’s the best way to do it so we can move rapidly,” Morrisey said. “I think that the legislature and the governor have a mandate to govern and you see through the election results and I’m really excited about the prospects of sitting down.”
Householder, who is leaving the House at the end of the year, said it’s certainly doable.
“I know Governor-elect Morrisey will accomplish that,” Householder said.
West Virginia Values
Morrisey said one of the priorities of the transition group is making sure that West Virginia Values are protected heading forward.
“I think that West Virginians are wonderful-hearted people that care a lot of about freedom, that want freedom to reign across West Virginia. They care a lot about ensuring that their Second Amendment rights are protected, they believe in the sanctity of life and they want to protect kids and their parents,” Morrisey said.
He also listed what West Virginia values are not.
“You’ve heard the word woke before, you’ve heard the word DEI before and those are not, in my mind, West Virginia values and we’re not going to be an administration advancing those values,” Morrisey said.
Morrisey’s cabinet
Morrisey said he’s not yet ready to name any of the members of his cabinet. He said he’s beginning to have conversations with a number of people. He said some members of the transition team may end up working in his office.
Householder said he’d been interested.
“I’m willing to help him out in any what that he feels I can best him out. I’ve not asked him for any specific positions and he has promised me any either,” Householder said.
Future announcements
Morrisey said announcements about the rest of his transition team and various issues would be coming out in the weeks ahead. He said there will be a separate committee working on the events surrounding his Jan. 13 inauguration.