Some major points that Manchin covered in his address were the job climate, the importance of education and how to continue fighting the war on drugs within the state. With all that was being covered, one major item that seemed to be missing was mine safety.
Mine safety was an issue that had previously seen major airtime in Manchin’s three speeches that followed the Sago and Aracoma mining disasters. This time his mining focus was on defending villainous coal as an energy source. According to the prepared text, Manchin even went so far as to say that coal helped build the greatest country in the world. The Governor pleaded that as a state we must stand up for coal miners and their families because they were only looking for permission to work.
In his 2009 State of the State address, Manchin focused on having more rigorous mine inspections as well as more stringent safety standards. It was surprising that mine safety was such a big issue in previous years and Manchin did not give us an update on how these plans had been implemented.
In this year’s address, Manchin told us what he demanded from the mining companies, such as a rapid response system, but he gave no actual statistics regarding the amount of mining deaths. Manchin only mentioned there were a record-low number of mining related fatalities. What he didn’t say was that West Virginia, along with Alabama, had the highest number of mining related deaths in 2009 with a total of three each.
While mine safety took a backseat in the governor’s speech this year, higher education was brought to the forefront. This is new for Manchin since Marshall University and West Virginia University were not mentioned in his 2007 address and were only briefly pointed out in 2008 and 2009 when he spoke about the “Bucks for Brains” initiative.
This year the governor suggested freezing tuition for all technical and four-year colleges and universities within the state. The tuition freeze has potential to be a good break for the students already attending college in the state and are determined to graduate. What does not look as promising is whether it will raise the number of incoming students to the universities or even get them to return for another year.
Manchin has previously touched on the fact the dropout rate in colleges and universities within West Virginia were the major problem with higher education. It is uncertain whether a freeze on tuition will have a direct affect on the dropout rate.
From a personal standpoint, finishing college is something many people are willing to accomplish no matter how much it costs or what one will have to put themselves through to get their degree. Putting a freeze on tuition isn’t going to change the minds of many students that are currently in the mindset of dropping out.
Moving to the war on drugs, Manchin suggested new legislation that would rid cities of the abandoned and run down properties that tend to harbor illegal activities. He plans on doing this by collecting fees from property owners that do not keep their property in good condition.
This legislation is a good move on the part of Manchin because much of the state of West Virginia needs beautified. There are many places in Huntington alone that are scary to walk through just because the condition of the buildings give you an eerie feeling, whether illegal activity is going on or not.
The proposed fee and legislation has the potential to make our cities look better. If our cities are beautified and more people are out walking around to keep an eye on things then the miscreants that would potentially partake in these illegal activities will be less likely to. The more people that are out and about, the more likely someone could see illegal activities happening and report them.
Manchin’s State of the State address this year was more optimistic than those of the past. Overall, the proposed legislation has the capability to make West Virginia a more educated, job-friendly and crime-free place to live.
0 comments:
Post a Comment