This article originally provided by the Charleston Daily Mail
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March 13, 2006

‘Do-nothing' session irks Blankenship

Jake Stump
Daily Mail Staff

Massey Energy President Don Blankenship says the top three priorities for legislators ought to be protecting children, tax reform and job creation.

He said he saw none of those issues successfully addressed at this year's regular legislative session, which ended Saturday night.

"It was probably a do-nothing session," said Blankenship, who's emerged as a conservative political activist willing to back his causes with millions of dollars. "They failed to do anything that they should have been doing."

Legislators passed some bills that may lead to their defeat at the polls, he said.

One is a bill that weakens enforcement of drunk driving laws. The new law allows anyone pleading no contest to drunk driving to have a hearing before the state rather than just automatically having their license revoked.

"It surprised me," Blankenship said.

He also criticized lawmakers for not passing an abortion bill requiring parental notification rights for girls under 18.

"Anyone who has children or grandchildren wouldn't want them having a procedure like that without notification," Blankenship said. "It's important for parents to know."

In an interview Sunday, Blankenship said he's not prepared to single out any legislators.

"I don't think we're down to who to focus on yet," said Blankenship. "It's clear that the parties were voting with the party line (this session) trying to find the right answers for West Virginians. But they're not in touch with the majority of West Virginians."

Blankenship spent millions of dollars in 2004 that helped defeat longtime Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw. He then successfully funded a campaign against Gov. Manchin's proposed bond election last summer.

In January, he vowed to spend money to oppose re-election of House Speaker Bob Kiss, D-Raleigh. Kiss later decided not to run again.

"I don't know if I went through Bob's mind with that," Blankenship said.

He also said earlier this year that he'd do whatever possible to repeal the state's food tax during the 60-day regular session, but the topic was rarely discussed.

Manchin plans to call a special session to tackle tax reform later this year. The governor has said that he'd like to completely repeal the food tax in a responsible manner.

Blankenship has faced scrutiny in recent months with mine safety forced into the forefront. A conveyor belt fire at the Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine in Logan County killed two miners Jan. 19. Aracoma is a Massey subsidiary.

Even a few Republicans have criticized him lately.

Blankenship said it would have no effect if elected officials used the mine safety issue against him in the political arena. At public speeches, he's defended the safety record of his mines and says that this year's accidents were rare events.

"I'm not running for office," he said. "Being critical of Don Blankenship is not an issue. People are not worried about Don Blankenship. They're worried about issues like the food tax.

"It's hard to tell which people are out of touch with West Virginians because there's a large number of them," he said. "The legislative process will prove itself and we'll vote them out. People will know who voted for what this election season."

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