Morrisey centers policies focused on ‘WV values’ as he transitions to state’s executive office • West Virginia Watch

One week after winning his bid to be West Virginia’s next governor, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey on Tuesday shared his plans and priorities as he prepares to advance to the state’s highest office.

Helping Morrisey will be a team of seven transition team “co-leaders” who — along with yet-to-be-named members of the full transition team — will assist the governor-elect in creating policy priorities that he says will allow him to get to work on his first day in office. Among those co-leaders is a former coal lobbyist and operator, House Majority Leader Eric Householder, R-Berkeley, and several Republican political operatives, among others.

All members of the transition team are volunteers, Morrisey said. The transition work is being organized through the West Virginia Prosperity Group, an independent nonprofit organization focused on “advocating for conservative values.”

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, the West Virginia Prosperity Group was formed as a 501(c)4 nonprofit on Sept. 11 and was incorporated by Scott Will, who previously worked as Morrisey’s campaign manager for his attorney general races. Will also worked as a senior advisor with the Black Bear PAC, a political action committee that spent more than $11 million this election supporting Morrisey’s bid for governor, according to Open Secrets. Morrisey said Tuesday that Will — along with Marisa Findlay, president of the state’s Federation of Republican Women — was working as a consultant for the transition 

The goals for a Morrisey administration at this point seem, for the most part, to echo the priorities of his predecessor, Gov. Jim Justice, who is preparing to start his first term as West Virginia’s newest senator. 

“I’m looking forward to building on past successes but really also taking some additional steps to really help West Virginia rise in those economic rankings,” Morrisey said. “I’m not satisfied with being 48th, 49th, and 50th. So I think what you’re going to see over the course of the next four years is an aggressive effort to rise in those rankings.”

In the weeks and months leading up to him taking office, Morrisey said he wants to meet with legislative leaders to discuss legislation that could come up in next year’s regular session and, maybe, reach consensus before the Legislature even gavels in.

“We want to develop a common agenda where the governor, the House, the Senate, all come together and we could move a series of bills that might be agreed to up front,” Morrisey said. “I’m excited to do that, and so I’m looking forward to sitting down at great length with them to develop the agenda.”

Morrisey said he wants to see advancements in the state’s economics and commerce through more investment from the private sector, a focus on policies to help the state reach its “energy potential” and efforts conducive to “maintaining West Virginia values,” including defending the Second Amendment and the “sanctity of life.” 

“I’ve always been very worried that there were agendas coming out of the Biden-Harris Administration,” Morrisey said.

“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 that’s going to be advancing those values,” he continued, referring to the acronym commonly meaning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

As attorney general, Morrisey’s office has spearheaded and participated in numerous legal proceedings to limit the rights of and health care access for people who are transgender. 

Throughout his time in office, Morrisey has been vocally anti-abortion and critical of policies he associates with liberal ideology. He’s been a proponent for “school choice” educational policies — including the school voucher program, which gives public dollars to private institutions — saying during last month’s gubernatorial debate that he wants to see them expanded in coming years.

On the environment, his office has actively fought against measures to increase environmental regulations that reduce the impacts of climate change and hold companies accountable for the damage their extraction activities cause to communities and public health.

On Tuesday, however, the soon-to-be governor said that he wants his administration to work for all West Virginians, even those he disagrees with and those who have been on the opposing side of or targeted by his legal work. Anyone in the state is invited to submit feedback on the West Virginian Prosperity Group’s website, Morrisey said, and he wants to read everything that is sent in.

“I make no bones about it. I am conservatively oriented, but I like to be open-minded to different ideas and listen to people to try to come up with the right decisions,” ​​Morrisey said. “… we have specific values, and I don’t hide what they are. So I will say that, and if we disagree, I think we could disagree respectfully and we can do so in a civil manner. That’s the approach I try to use, and I’ve always tried that and I think people can have a chance to see that.”

Morrisey’s inauguration will be on Jan. 13. He said that more announcements will be made in coming weeks regarding staffing for his administration, policy priorities and more.