New West Virginia Senate president naive to think 'social issues' will be taken care of quickly • West Virginia Watch

Incoming Senate President Randy Smith told a TV news station this week that he plans to address “social issues” right away in the 2025 session.

“I would like to get anything like that out of the road so we can concentrate on economic development, creating jobs…” Smith told the station. 

I couldn’t help but find his comments naive. Quaint, even. 

“Social issues” are one of the right’s dog whistles for legislatively bullying everyone from trans kids to librarians. If Smith thinks he will ever be able to get them out of the way to focus on substantive issues, he’d better think again. 

I hate to break it to the Senate president-elect, but once you start trying to appease the anti-liberty movement, they won’t let you stop. You’ll never reach a point where their agenda is “out of the road.” Once they’ve clawed back rights from one group, they’re immediately on to the next. 

Ban trans kids from playing sports? Up next is policing cisgender girls’ femininity. 

Ban gender affirming care for kids? Up next is restricting health care for trans adults. 

Ban abortion? Up next is electronically tracking people’s menstrual cycles. 

Ban same-sex marriage? Up next is eliminating no-fault divorce for everyone. 

This is the defining feature of a movement that lacks real-world solutions for our real-world problems. 

West Virginia is 48th in education. We have the third highest health insurance premiums in the country despite also being one of the poorest states. Tens of thousands lack access to clean water. Our twin crises of addiction and foster care continue to spiral out of control. Our jails are overcrowded and among the deadliest in the nation. 

But rather than find solutions to these complex problems, it’s much easier to demonize our fellow citizens and pit neighbor against neighbor. Somewhere out there, there is always going to be someone who simply has too much freedom. 

But Smith should also be aware that we are every bit as relentless as our opponents. 

While they never stop searching for a group to oppress, we never stop looking for ways to expand the sacred promise encoded in the Bill of Rights. 

Where the other side looks at the world and sees an excess of liberty, we will use every tool at our disposal to get the government out of people’s lives and personal decisions. 

We and our allies have been on the front lines of this fight for more than 100 years and we aren’t going anywhere. 

And we’ll be ready for the Senate president on day one.