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Hunter announced last year that he would not seek a fourth term representing the 14th Senatorial District, which includes all of Barbour, Mineral, Preston, Taylor and Tucker counties, and part of Grant and Monongalia counties.
Howell, 41, of Keyser, has a degree in business management from Frostburg State University. He is CEO of Howell Automotive, a mail order parts company, and a member of several community boards and commissions in Mineral County.
Post-primary finance reports indicated that Howell had received about $5,235 in campaign contributions through the end of May, including more than $4,700 in personal loans. He spent about $8,044 during the same period on signs, advertising and mailing materials.
Williams, 56, also of Keyser, has a bachelor's degree in biology/political science and a master's degree in plant pathology from WVU. He is an instructor at Potomac State College, a farmer and he owns Williams Appraisal Service.
By the end of May, Williams had received about $25,235 in campaign contributions, including donations of $500 or more from employees at International Coal Group Inc. and Tri-State Race Track.
Williams also received donations from political action committees for RJ Reynolds, Eastern Associated Coal, the West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association, State Farm Insurance, Jackson Kelly, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Allegheny Power, Dominion, Pfizer and West Virginians for Coal, among others.
A post-primary finance report indicated that Williams had spent about $25,348 on signs, advertising and mailing materials.
Both candidates fielded questions from The Dominion Post about issues they may face in office.
Q: The State Road Fund is no longer even in a position to play catch-up with the maintenance and the need for new roads in West Virginia. What do you propose to supplement the State Road Fund's declining revenues? For example, would you be in favor of dedicating a percentage of any state budget surpluses going into the State Road Fund or an increase in fees for licenses and permits?
Howell: I am adamantly opposed to increasing fees or taxes. Our people are not under-taxed, they are underpaid. I believe we must seriously examine the increasing practice of the current administration of farming out highway jobs to private companies rather than utilizing our own state highway workers. Highway workers are increasingly complaining that they are left picking up trash and mowing grass while real road work is farmed out to favored private companies, and when they are farmed out, road improvements and new road construction cost, on average, 30 percent more in West Virginia than in neighboring states.
I believe that we should cut the state's fuel tax to provide muchneeded fuel price relief to the citizens of this state and replace and increase WVDOH (Division of Highways) funding from the budget surplus. This approach will accomplish three things. First, it will help the personal budgets of all West Virginians through lower fuel costs; second, it will increase funding for WVDOH, enabling them to improve our roads; and third, it eliminates the need for increased taxes on our citizens.
Williams: One of the primary roles of state government is to provide for the infrastructure necessary to the citizens of the state. Our roads and bridges must be maintained to enable improved economic growth.
Currently, many of our roads and bridges are in substandard condition. As the state road fund falls short of the revenue needs, we must supplement it with additional funds. We should dedicate funds from general revenue to supplement the fund. Without sufficient revenues, our transportation network will deteriorate further and the mobility, safety and overall economic wellbeing of the state will be impacted.
Q: Do you think lawmakers should provide for indexing annual salary increases for themselves rather than putting them off for 14 years as occurred in the last session, which led to a sudden 33-percent pay hike?
Howell: I believe in an idea suggested by Delegate Craig Blair that legislative pay should be directly tied to the wages earned by average West Virginians.
When the people of the state do well -- when their income rises because of good policies out of Charleston -- then lawmakers can get a raise. When the people of the state do poorly -- when their income falls because of bad policies out of Charleston -- then lawmakers can get a pay reduction. I support a formula that indexes legislative pay to private sector pay in West Virginia.
Williams: I believe that the Legislature should vote on legislative pay raises and take the responsibility when their salaries are increased.
Q: What do you see as the most important issue facing West Virginians? If elected, what do you plan to do about it?
Howell: Very simply, attracting better jobs with better benefits is by far the most important issue facing our state, and we will never attract better jobs on a consistent basis until we address the state's tort system.
We must aggressively tackle the roadblocks in our legal system that continue to frighten away companies and manufacturers who are afraid to locate in West Virginia because of the ease in which they are sued and penalized with outrageous judgments. While we must protect the right of injured parties to be compensated, we must instill a level of reasonableness to our judicial system.
Williams: The expansion of the economic base is the most important issue facing West Virginia. In order to continue and grow existing programs, we must expand the economic base, not tax the citizens and businesses. We cannot continue to balance the state budget on the backs of the taxpayers and businesses. If we have a thriving economy, other programs -- including the educational system, senior programs, veterans programs and others -- will prosper.
This can only be solved by easing the burden currently placed on businesses in our state. We must continue the tax reductions on businesses. We must reduce the unnecessary regulatory burden on businesses in order to improve the climate to do business in West Virginia. We all want good jobs with benefits. This can only be accomplished with high quality, successful businesses.
To see more of The Dominion Post or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dominionpost.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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